Manchester Imaging Secures £600,000 Seed Funding to Advance Commercialization of AI-Powered Dental Diagnostic Software

Digital dentistry has been a trend in recent years, while innovations in the field of intelligent diagnosis are relatively rare. VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that Manchester Imaging, a dental diagnostic software company based in Manchester, UK, recently announced it had secured £600,000 in seed funding. The round was co-led by the GM&C Life Sciences Fund under Catapult Ventures and NPIF-Mercia Equity Finance under Mercia Fund Managers.The funds will be used for the development and commercial launch of the first series of dental imaging diagnostic software products.

Manchester Imaging is a dental diagnostics software company spun out of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2014, it was co-established by Jim Graham (Technical Director), Jim Heron (Co-founder), Prof. Hugh Devlin (Co-founder), and Tony Travers (Chief Executive Officer).

The company focuses on the dental field, leveraging machine learning and computer vision software, as well as technologies in statistical shape and appearance modeling and classification, to develop highly sensitive image analysis software for dentistry. In August 2017, it obtained the European medical device registration certificate.

These software applications are specifically designed for the early detection of dental caries and other potential oral health issues, enabling patients to prevent and manage dental problems more promptly and effectively. This helps avoid costly and unnecessary restorative procedures down the line, thereby reducing healthcare expenditures.

According to available data, the core technologies of imaging machine learning and computer vision software stem from over a decade of academic collaboration between Professor Hugh Devlin, a prosthodontics expert at the University of Manchester, and Dr. Jim Graham, an imaging scientist.

The company’s flagship product is CARIESDENT, a pioneering software solution in dental imaging medicine. Leveraging machine learning and computer visualization technologies, it automatically detects early signs of enamel caries that are difficult for dentists to identify with the naked eye, requiring only the press of a start button. This enables timely intervention to prevent subsequent tooth decay.

Detecting early enamel caries can avoid later challenges such as fillings; however, detecting early enamel caries through visual examination alone is difficult and time-consuming.

CARIESDENTComputer-Aided Dental Diagnostic Software Primarily Overcomes the Challenge of Early Detection, this advanced technology can pinpoint signs of decay with the press of a button and seamlessly integrates with existing digital X-ray and practice management software to automatically identify caries in the early stages.

Mr. Tony Travers, Chief Executive Officer of Manchester Imaging, who joined the company in June 2015, said: “I am delighted to collaborate with Catapult Ventures and Mercia Fund Managers. This financing will accelerate the commercial launch of CARIESDENT. I look forward to CARIESDENT helping dentists and their patients detect dental caries at an early stage, thereby enabling preventive treatment or early intervention to avoid progression to severe caries.”

Dr. Mark Wyatt, Investment Director at Mercia Fund Managers, commented: “We are pleased with the progress the company has made and with its experienced team, which boasts strong commercial leadership. Having previously invested in the company through Mercia’s EIS Funds, we are delighted to continue supporting Tony and his team in establishing Manchester Imaging as a leader in dental diagnostic software.”

In addition to the investment, Kevin D’Silva, a partner at Catapult Ventures, will join the board of directors of Manchester Pictures as non-executive chairman.

Kevin D’Silva has held multiple non-executive director and chairman positions, including at Monica Healthcare (acquired by GE Healthcare), Crystallon (acquired by Judges Scientific), and Imorphics (acquired by Stryker Corporation). He also serves as a director and former chairman of Surface Transforms and Hallmarq Veterinary Imaging Ltd., and founded Salusinvest in 2006.

He commented on this financing round: “I am delighted to join the company at this pivotal moment as it prepares to launch its CARIESDENT product, and to participate in corporate governance as both a director and an investor. I believe that its unique patent-protected technology, coupled with early-stage partnerships with leading multinational dental suppliers, will provide robust pathways and channels for market expansion.”Our next step will be to strive for a commercial breakthrough.“