Carestream Dental is pleased to announce that one of its esteemed researchers, Victor Wong, Ph.D., was recently recognized as a nominee for the Rochester Intellectual Property Law Association’s (RIPLA) 2017 Inventor of the Year award. Victor is a senior research scientist at Carestream’s—Carestream Dental’s parent company—research and innovation division in Rochester, N.Y., and has contributed to the technology behind the CS 1200 and CS 1500 intraoral cameras and the CS 3500 and CS 3600 intraoral scanners.
The CS 1200 and CS 1500 intraoral cameras capture clear, detailed 2D optical images of a patient’s teeth and gums, which enables a dentist to accurately identify and diagnose potential caries. In addition, the high-quality images captured with these cameras serve as a patient education and communication tool. The CS 1500 has been recognized for its role as a diagnostic and patient communication tool; it received the 2010 U.S. DrBicuspid Dental Excellence Award for Best New Diagnostic Device and the “Best Product 2013” designation from Dental Product Shopper.
Intraoral scanning has changed the way doctors capture impressions, and Carestream Dental’s CS 3500 and CS 3600 intraoral scanners have taken this digital technology even further. While competitors’ products typically have the drawback of requiring spray powder or liquid in order to capture 3D color models, Victor’s patented innovations use interferometry to overcome the disadvantages of these competing dental products. Capturing 2D and 3D images, the CS 3500 and CS 3600 create a 3D color model of the patient’s tooth structure and soft tissue, enabling users to create accurate digital impressions more easily—without messy or uncomfortable plaster molds—for restorative, orthodontic and implant planning.
Both scanners have won several industry awards for their innovation. The CS 3500 was the recipient of the Dentistry Today 28th Annual Readers Choice Top 100 (2014) award; the 2015 and 2016 Dentalcompare Top 10 Products award; and the 2015 Bronze Edison Award for Dental Scanners and 3D Printers. The CS 3600 was recognized with the Dentistry Today 30th Annual Readers Choice Top 100 Award (2016); the Dentalcompare Top 10 New Dental Products award for 2016; and was rated "Excellent" in rapid acquisition and margin detail capture and "Good-Excellent" in ease-of-use and intraoral access by Clinicians Report in 2016.
As a result of Victor’s innovative work, he has been listed as an inventor on 32 U.S. patents for Carestream within the last eight years, as well as 29 patents in European and Asian countries. In addition, Victor is an inventor on 82 pending patent applications for Carestream