WaveImplant produces the first industrializable version of its single-use ultrasound transducer necessary to carry out preliminary clinical trials
Nantes, France: May 11th, 2021
Thanks to the support of its subcontracting partners, WaveImplant has succeeded in producing a first industrializable model of its single-use ultrasound transducer. Simple and easy to use, this probe will be produced without any difficulty in volumes and at costs adapted to the characteristics of the addressed market.
With the achievement of this important milestone, WaveImplant has taken a key step in the development of ImplantUS. At this stage, the main technological barriers have been lifted and the path to obtain the commercial device and the certification expected in early 2023 is now perfectly clear.
As shown in the illustration below, the ultrasonic probe, which allows the measurement of the stability of dental implants, must be screwed into the implant. An electrical excitation is produced by a handpiece placed in contact with the the probe. This excitation is applied to a piezoelectric sensor which generates an ultrasonic wave propagating through the implant and then to the implant-bone interface. If the osseointegration is of good quality and the stability of the implant is satisfactory, the ultrasonic wave reflected at this interface will be of low amplitude. The score displayed by the handpiece will then be high, which corresponds to a level of stability compatible with a safe placement of the prosthesis. Otherwise, the score will be low, thus indicating that the practitioner should be cautious in loading the prosthesis, while awaiting for a better osseointegration.
Handpiece
Magnet
Probe
Implant
Guillaume Haïat, co-founder of WaveImplant and R&D manager, declares: “We are particularly satisfied and optimistic, because this is a decisive advance for WaveImplant, as we have succeeded in making our probe reiable while optimizing its performances and preserving a simple and low-cost manufacturing process”.
WAVEIMPLANT, a French Medtech start-up specializing in the development and marketing of decision support medical devices, particularly in the field of dental implantology, is focusing on the development of ImplantUS, a new ultrasound medical device resulting from the research work of the team of Guillaume Haïat PhD, within the Laboratoire Modélisation et Simulation Multi-Echelle (MSME, UMR CNRS 8208, Créteil, France). ImplantUS provides a better framework for the increasingly widespread dental implantology surgical procedures and better guarantees their success in the short, medium, and long terms.
In the months to come, WaveImplant will continue to develop its probe in order to refine its characteristics, design and to offer a complete range adaptable to all types of implant currently on the market.