Ran Poliakine
The reimagined X-ray that may change the world
July 26, 2019
By Ran Poliakine
The world has a problem. A medical imaging problem, to be exact. Early detection by medical imaging is perhaps the most important factor in the nearly 8.8 million lives lost each year to cancer, according to the World Health Organization. Yet, despite all the modern healthcare advances worldwide in recent decades, the fact remains that two-thirds of the world’s population still has no regular access to medical imaging. And, in many cases, even those who do have access to the technology still must wait weeks or months for medical scanners to become available. When detected early using medical imaging systems like CT scanners, cancer has a 70 percent to 99 percent survival rate, according to Marshfield Clinic Health System Foundation. Yet even in a highly developed country like the U.S., some insurance companies will only cover a medical imaging procedure, such as a mammogram, every two years. This means that diagnostic results often arrive too late and people do not get treated in a timely manner.
There are three key reasons that access to medical imaging remains a problem:
1. Price. CT scanners can cost $3 million, even before the high cost of maintenance is figured in, an amount well beyond the means of most healthcare systems. Most of the cost goes to addressing the heat issues associated with an average x-ray machine today. Because a filament has to be heated to 2000 degrees Celsius the machines require an extremely complex cooling system. An X-ray tube alone can cost anywhere between $150,000 to $500,000.
2. People. A lack of trained technicians worldwide causes delays for patients and slows the treatment of cancer and other medical conditions. Even in developed countries like the United Kingdom, the workload of interpreting scans has increased by 30 percent since 2012 but the number of radiologists has increased by just 15 percent, according to the BBC.
3. Technology. At the technological heart of every X-ray imaging system is an analog tungsten filament. This technology has remained unchanged for the past 125 years, since the X-ray’s discovery in 1895 by the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen. Also, behind even our most advanced X-ray equipment is the same analog bulb from Röntgen’s era. These bulbs cost around $150,000 to $200,000 each, need to be replaced frequently and produce high amounts of heat. In fact, the rotating section of a CT-scan machine is designed to dissipate this heat, as it would otherwise melt through the machine at more than a thousand degrees Celsius.
But what if, despite these obstacles, we could democratize medical imaging? What if we could make it less costly and easier to use with a goal of providing at least one medical screening for every person on the planet every year? What if we made medical imaging as available as a doctor’s statoscope?
The new technology: a game changer
After 15 years of research and development and $1 billion invested, a scientific team has not simply finally re-invented the X-Ray machine but designed it so that so price-friendly that the whole world can benefit.
Our scientists have developed a medical imaging machine using an electron field emission called cathode silicon. Instead of using heat to generate X-rays, these “cold cathodes” use an electric field to draw out the electrons that eventually become a stable X-Ray stream at low voltage. This digital technology is light and compact. It offers beam uniformity, precise exposure control, and dynamic focal spots, creating a superior image quality, increased imaging speed and reduced exposure time. And with a temperature that remains at room-level, patients don’t have to wait for the tube to cool down.
What makes this even more exciting is that, while we know that cold-cathode technology has been tantalizing the industry with its potential in recent years, we have found the key to mass production. Using breast scans as an example: unlike some conventional breast tomosynthesis which has a big X-ray tube and a precisely moving arm loading the tube, the Nanox solution has no moving mechanism and each source is compact and simple. Therefore, we will be able to provide a less costly stationary DBT solution due to the reduced cost of the fixed array X-ray source, with the additional benefits of the increased longevity of the Cold cathode technology.
The bottom line is that we are hopeful this new technology will bring digital imaging well into the preventive zone of medicine worldwide. The long-term version is to turn scan sessions into a commodity. Regarding the aforementioned challenges, the new technology addresses:
1. Price. The new CT systems will cost only around $10,000 for the full scanner and only $100 per replacement unit.
2. People. The system will employ medical AI analysis, addressing the lack of trained technicians.
3. Technology. The reimagined X-Ray has finally been updated so that the heat/cooling issue is solved.
What’s to come: 1x1x1
It is our stance that medical imaging must cease to be the privilege of the few. Bringing the X-ray into the digital era is a critical step in achieving true democratization of healthcare. Through their ubiquity, cold-cathode X-ray machines can make that happen. We envision a 1x1x1 world -- a world in which we see 1 medical scan per person on the planet every year.
About the author: Ran Poliakine founded Nanox in 2012, the developer of a pioneering technology known as “cold cathode” X-rays that overcome the limitations of current technology to revolutionize medical imaging through an X-ray source that is portable, operates at room temperature, and emits less radiation. Mr. Poliakine is also the leader of Nanox.Vision, a global consortium leveraging Nanox’s science to democratize early detection through the “1x1x1 vision” of every human being having access to at least one full-body scan, once a year, everywhere in the world. Widely considered to be a visionary for his ability to identify and react to trends in the health and consumer marketplaces, Mr. Poliakine has been at the cutting edge of technology for the past 25 years, founding many companies that have enhanced people’s lives through access to better, more dignified medical care.
The world has a problem. A medical imaging problem, to be exact. Early detection by medical imaging is perhaps the most important factor in the nearly 8.8 million lives lost each year to cancer, according to the World Health Organization. Yet, despite all the modern healthcare advances worldwide in recent decades, the fact remains that two-thirds of the world’s population still has no regular access to medical imaging. And, in many cases, even those who do have access to the technology still must wait weeks or months for medical scanners to become available. When detected early using medical imaging systems like CT scanners, cancer has a 70 percent to 99 percent survival rate, according to Marshfield Clinic Health System Foundation. Yet even in a highly developed country like the U.S., some insurance companies will only cover a medical imaging procedure, such as a mammogram, every two years. This means that diagnostic results often arrive too late and people do not get treated in a timely manner.
There are three key reasons that access to medical imaging remains a problem:
1. Price. CT scanners can cost $3 million, even before the high cost of maintenance is figured in, an amount well beyond the means of most healthcare systems. Most of the cost goes to addressing the heat issues associated with an average x-ray machine today. Because a filament has to be heated to 2000 degrees Celsius the machines require an extremely complex cooling system. An X-ray tube alone can cost anywhere between $150,000 to $500,000.
2. People. A lack of trained technicians worldwide causes delays for patients and slows the treatment of cancer and other medical conditions. Even in developed countries like the United Kingdom, the workload of interpreting scans has increased by 30 percent since 2012 but the number of radiologists has increased by just 15 percent, according to the BBC.
3. Technology. At the technological heart of every X-ray imaging system is an analog tungsten filament. This technology has remained unchanged for the past 125 years, since the X-ray’s discovery in 1895 by the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen. Also, behind even our most advanced X-ray equipment is the same analog bulb from Röntgen’s era. These bulbs cost around $150,000 to $200,000 each, need to be replaced frequently and produce high amounts of heat. In fact, the rotating section of a CT-scan machine is designed to dissipate this heat, as it would otherwise melt through the machine at more than a thousand degrees Celsius.
But what if, despite these obstacles, we could democratize medical imaging? What if we could make it less costly and easier to use with a goal of providing at least one medical screening for every person on the planet every year? What if we made medical imaging as available as a doctor’s statoscope?
The new technology: a game changer
After 15 years of research and development and $1 billion invested, a scientific team has not simply finally re-invented the X-Ray machine but designed it so that so price-friendly that the whole world can benefit.
Our scientists have developed a medical imaging machine using an electron field emission called cathode silicon. Instead of using heat to generate X-rays, these “cold cathodes” use an electric field to draw out the electrons that eventually become a stable X-Ray stream at low voltage. This digital technology is light and compact. It offers beam uniformity, precise exposure control, and dynamic focal spots, creating a superior image quality, increased imaging speed and reduced exposure time. And with a temperature that remains at room-level, patients don’t have to wait for the tube to cool down.
What makes this even more exciting is that, while we know that cold-cathode technology has been tantalizing the industry with its potential in recent years, we have found the key to mass production. Using breast scans as an example: unlike some conventional breast tomosynthesis which has a big X-ray tube and a precisely moving arm loading the tube, the Nanox solution has no moving mechanism and each source is compact and simple. Therefore, we will be able to provide a less costly stationary DBT solution due to the reduced cost of the fixed array X-ray source, with the additional benefits of the increased longevity of the Cold cathode technology.
The bottom line is that we are hopeful this new technology will bring digital imaging well into the preventive zone of medicine worldwide. The long-term version is to turn scan sessions into a commodity. Regarding the aforementioned challenges, the new technology addresses:
1. Price. The new CT systems will cost only around $10,000 for the full scanner and only $100 per replacement unit.
2. People. The system will employ medical AI analysis, addressing the lack of trained technicians.
3. Technology. The reimagined X-Ray has finally been updated so that the heat/cooling issue is solved.
What’s to come: 1x1x1
It is our stance that medical imaging must cease to be the privilege of the few. Bringing the X-ray into the digital era is a critical step in achieving true democratization of healthcare. Through their ubiquity, cold-cathode X-ray machines can make that happen. We envision a 1x1x1 world -- a world in which we see 1 medical scan per person on the planet every year.
About the author: Ran Poliakine founded Nanox in 2012, the developer of a pioneering technology known as “cold cathode” X-rays that overcome the limitations of current technology to revolutionize medical imaging through an X-ray source that is portable, operates at room temperature, and emits less radiation. Mr. Poliakine is also the leader of Nanox.Vision, a global consortium leveraging Nanox’s science to democratize early detection through the “1x1x1 vision” of every human being having access to at least one full-body scan, once a year, everywhere in the world. Widely considered to be a visionary for his ability to identify and react to trends in the health and consumer marketplaces, Mr. Poliakine has been at the cutting edge of technology for the past 25 years, founding many companies that have enhanced people’s lives through access to better, more dignified medical care.