Horse sense | Ariel Wilcox's scanning device could relieve equine pain - and then some
Photo/David A. Rodgers
Ariel Wilcox of Yarmouth, founder and president of Signal Insight Inc.
A Yarmouth nurse who’s spent years trying to alleviate pain in humans is now working on a device that could do much the same for animals.
Ariel Wilcox, founder and president of Signal Insight Inc., is preparing to go to market next year with a handheld detector that can identify inflammation in soft tissues, the first applications of which will be used on the legs of horses.
The technology, called Sonotect, previously developed under the name Access Sonotect Corp., consists of a wand and computer with a display screen that enables a technician to scan a region of the body to detect inflammation in the tissues. The device uses a continuous acoustic signal that has an affect at an inflammation site that can be detected with a receptor on a wand, “like a metal detector scanner at the airport,” says Wilcox.
Signal Insight’s board, including Paul Dobbins, formerly of Westbrook-based Idexx Laboratories Inc., John Frantzis, formerly of NDO Surgical Inc. of Mansfield, Mass., and Wilcox, say the technology could be used some day to identify and assess injuries in humans in emergency rooms.
But veterinary applications for cats and dogs, and foremost for horses, will be the first markets targeted, particularly since animals cannot say where it hurts.
“Many conditions have inflammation associated with them,” says Wilcox. “Muscles strained, bones broken, [they] can increase swelling, blood flow and pain and prevent proper function. A horse owner can run a horse with unknown injuries and worsen its condition because the activity adds demand.”
Wilcox expects the initial version of the device will sell at $9,000. Although other tissue scans are now on the market, Wilcox said some are cost prohibitive, not portable or do not give as comprehensive information as the Sonotect device.
For instance, ultrasounds for horses cost a few hundred dollars, but are limited in that they show only the structure of the tissue. Wilcox says Sonotect will provide more sophisticated real-time information on how tissue is functioning, helping to pinpoint the status of blood vessels, muscles and other material properties.
“It’s a direct measurement on the condition of the tissue,” she says. “It makes the invisible, visible.”
How those images will be displayed is still under development. Sonotect benefited from three awards of more than $300,000 from the Maine Technology Institute and collaboration with veterinarians and the University of Maine. Signal Insight is now looking for $2 million to fully develop its display screen. Wilcox said the display screen could present information in a format ranging from true images to spectral data, with the potential for video records and anatomical models.
Signal Insight wants to target sales to 5,500 handlers in the equine market, with a total anticipated market of $86 million, and 23,000 small animal clinics in the United States, with a total anticipated market of $200 million, with similar prospects for foreign sales, the company said in a report. Wilcox projects $4.6 million in revenues the first year. The company is currently talking to two Maine contractors about manufacturing Sonotect.
A nurse therapist, Wilcox came up with the idea for the device while working in pain treatment at her private practice, Access Wellness in Bangor, which has since closed. She funded the prototype with private money, and support from friends and family, she says. Now she’s seeking venture capital to bring Sonotect to the market.
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