Friday, June 28, marked the launch of an innovative clinical research study at the UF College of Dentistry where researchers are teaming up with HT BioImaging Technologies to test a new way to detect premalignant and malignant oral lesions using an infrared device.
The device, HTOScan, was designed by engineers and doctors at HT Bioimaging Technologies, an Israeli startup company that chose the University of Florida to run the first-ever clinical trial of the device. The technology is based on the measurement and registration of heat diffusion and dissipation in the examined tissue, leveraging the unique heat-flow properties of various tissues, for diagnostic purpose. This process is followed by a comprehensive signal analysis, further translated into an image, depicting the probability for cancer in the examined tissue.
After completing a 50-patient preliminary trial in Israel, the pilot study moved to the U.S. and UFCD. The college’s research team collaborating with HT BioImaging is composed of specialists from oral medicine, oral pathology and oral surgery – Dr. Indraneel Bhattacharyya, Dr. Joseph Katz, Dr. John Hardeman – in addition to a clinical research staff.
The study will run for a year with a goal of enrolling 300 patients in the trial with a clinically suspicious lesion in the oral cavity, necessitating a biopsy. Prior to the biopsy performance, the HTOScan will be used to assess the lesion, and later be compared with the pathology report at UF. This detailed analysis will enable the continuous ongoing amendment of the analytical algorithms for increased detection capabilities.