Startup develops hand-held oral cancer screening tool

 Device to used for screening, detection and biopsy guidance of oral cancer

Startup develops hand-held oral cancer screening tool

OralScan, an indigenously developed hand-held imaging device for screening, detection and

biopsy guidance of oral cancer, has been developed by a startup here.

OralScan, an indigenously developed hand-held imaging device for screening, detection and

biopsy guidance of oral cancer, has been developed by a startup here.

The startup, M/s Sascan Meditech Pvt Ltd, which was incubated at TiMED, the Technology

Business Incubator of the city-based Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences &

Technology, is launching the device, a press release said.

Oral Scan, a Make-in-India initiative with seed funding from the National Initiative for

Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) scheme of the Department of Science &

Technology (DST), Government of India, was designed and developed entirely in India and

supported by Biotechnology ignition grant of Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance

Council (BIRAC), INVENT (DST) and Kerala Startup Mission.

The company recently received investment from Unicorn India Ventures.

State Health Minister K K Shailaja, will launch OralScan at a function here on Wednesday.

An online event kickstarting the product sales and distribution network will also be held in the

presence of dignitaries, oncologists and channel partners identified across the country.

Dr Asha Kishore, Director, SCTIMST will perform the first sale to Ketan Parmar, Innovative

India, Surat.

According to Dr Subhash Narayanan, CEO of Sascan, oral cancer is a growing concern in India

with more than 80,000 fresh cases reported each year.

The disease has a high mortality rate due to the delay in detection.

Current practice relies on oral examinations using torchlight to detect early-stage cancers of

the oral cavity.

Various studies have demonstrated that this screening technique is not very reliable and often

oral potentially malignant lesions (OPMLs) go undetected in the early stages, the release said.

Even experienced clinicians find it difficult to locate the optimal site for a biopsy based on

conventional oral examination.

This leads to multiple biopsies, increased expenditure and false-negative reports which can

delay diagnosis and outcome.

Proprietary software in the device assists the surgeon in taking a biopsy from the most

appropriate site which is likely to confirm the diagnosis of malignancy.

This will avoid multiple biopsies and false-negative reports.

The device will be marketed for Rs 5.9 lakh.

This will be a one-time investment for hospitals and laboratories without any additional costs

of consumables.

Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/health/startup-develops-hand-held-oral-cancer-screening-

tool-161831