Pushing the Boundaries: X-Nav Takes “Gigantic Step Forward” With Integration of Relu® Engine AI
For X-Nav, the goal is simple: help dental surgeons advance patient care while improving doctor productivity. With the X-Guide® Dynamic 3D Navigation system, featuring the only live, 360-degree single-view of drill position and anatomy during surgery, X-Nav is leading the way in the field of dental implant surgery. Now, with the integration of the Relu® Engine AI-driven tool into X-Guide, X-Nav is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and revolutionizing dental surgery along the way.
X-Nav’s navigation system integrates with cone beam imaging systems, providing doctors with turn-by-turn guidance that improves the precision and accuracy of implant position, angle and depth. The addition of AI takes the X-Guide® system to a whole new level.
Groundbreaking views and brilliant 3D images
“AI segmentation is a gigantic step forward,” says Dr. Robert W. Emery, Chief Medical Officer, expert in dental implantology and oral and maxillofacial surgery, and one of the three co-founders of X-Nav. He’s referring to the significantly expanded visibility into roots, bone, nerves, sinuses and more that is now integrated into the X-Guide® system, providing dental surgeons with truly groundbreaking views and brilliant 3D images – along with automated segmentation and setup.
IconiX AI is the name of the new AI segmentation functionality in X-Guide®. It’s powered by Relu® Engine, which combines AI and advanced imaging techniques to process, analyze and segment CBCT images.
An oral surgeon in private practice in Washington, DC, Dr. Emery isn’t just a co-founder – he’s also a doctor with hands-on experience with IconiX and subsequently a unique perspective of the impact that this technology will have. “The technology is transformational,” he says. “It’s really important to understanding where I'm going to put that implant or what I'm going to cut. It’s consistent. When I look at it, and I'm trying to register the patient or bring the patient into the digital world, I can touch things consistently on the images and they exist when I touch the patient. It’s under the hood stuff, but it’s really a big deal.”
Benefits for patients and doctors
Ed Marandola, co-founder, President and CEO at X-Nav, explains that there are three key areas where IconiX is making a difference: enabling better communication with patients, providing expanded visibility for doctors, and improving navigation. “First, it enhances communication with patients. Without IconiX processing, images can have a lot of noise, and things in the image that make it difficult for the patient to understand what the doctors are actually going to do. Now, it's so much easier for them to understand what the doctors are planning,” he says. “Our software allows them to interact with that image. So the doctor might say, ‘I'm going to remove two teeth.’ And with a click of the button the patient can see how it will look when the two teeth are removed.”
“Second, the doctors benefit because they're more likely to see things correctly with the AI processing. And that’s hugely impactful to the doctor,” he continues. “Third, our navigation system benefits too. The fact that the surface there is already marked, so we can use that as part of the registration of the CT world to the optical world – that registration is the most important part for our accuracy. The level of clarity that we get with IconiX is significantly higher than we would have with traditional thresholding.”
Saving time
The time saved by using IconiX averages about 10 to 15 minutes per case. Automation means that doctors and technicians “can just put in the images and go,” says Jason Gibbs, VP of Software at X-Nav. “Previously defining things like landmark registration by hand could be burdensome. In addition, it's not dependent on the abilities of the user nearly as much, as the work for a lot of these steps is done automatically.”
Smooth integration process and support with regulatory clearances
From the first meeting with Relu to having an AI product fully integrated into X-Guide was a straightforward process. “I was really happy with how quickly the initial integration went,” says Gibb. “Within a couple of months we had something that we could start to put some cases through and be confident that this was going to be effective.”
The integration went very smoothly, with full support from the Relu team, including with the regulatory processes and obtaining FDA and European MDR clearances. (Regulatory clearances for other countries are in the works). “We were very appreciative of the professionalism and speed,” says Gibb.
Marandola agrees. “Of all the AI technologies that we've evaluated, Relu is by far the best. The experience has been wonderful. It's great communicating with Relu, and we've had a great experience in every aspect in the development process,” he says. “From my standpoint, it's a great partnership.”
The arc of innovation
Christopher Scharff is the third co-founder of X-Nav, along with Dr. Emery and Marandola. What the trio first conceptualized back in 2012 has become a leading navigation system for implant surgery, used by surgeons across 52 countries and in 23 languages. “We think of our mission in two parts,” says Marandola. “We want to improve patient outcomes, and we want to improve the doctor's productivity, and make their lives easier. Our navigation system is the technology that allows us to do that.”
Now, with the expanded functionality and visibility enabled by IconiX with the Relu® Engine AI, X-Nav can support doctors and patients around the globe with even safer, faster and more efficient implant surgical procedures. The goal: continue to expand the boundaries of innovation, partnering with groundbreaking tech leaders with a shared vision of the future.
