Ultrasonic X-rays

Nevada startup S-Ray develops a radiation-free alternative to the dental X-ray.

Innovator: Steve Baird Age: 60 Chief executive officer of S-Ray, a Reno, Nev.-based startup with four full-time employees Form and function ClearView Scan, a combo of ultrasound hardware and 3D-imaging software, is meant to take the place of dental X-rays. It emits no harmful radiation and, its inventors say, makes more precise measurements than X-rays do. Origin Baird formed S-Ray in 2008 to develop the product after Oregon dentist Ken Johnson brought him a prototype based on the ultrasound devices used to examine lumber. Funding Some 200 individuals, including Johnson and about 100 other dentists, have invested about $10 million in S-Ray