Voxel Metrics: 3D scanning startup offering affordable solutions to precision measurements

By Chris Zimmerman
For WisBusiness.com

In today’s world of medical equipment, precision is important. So important in fact that mere millimeters can make or break custom-fit prosthetic and orthotic products. And these products are becoming increasingly common, ranging from prosthetic limbs and braces to orthopedic soles and compression sleeves.

That need for precision is what inspired UW-Milwaukee engineering grad Jesse DePinto to found Voxel Metrics, a three-dimensional scanning software and hardware startup that hopes to streamline 3D scanning in the medical and engineering fields.

“I’d worked at a few different startups, but this is the first that’s had a primary focus on the medical industry,” said DePinto, the company’s CEO. DePinto has started three different companies prior to Voxel, the most recent a technology consulting firm that built and sold 3D printing and scanning technology.

Now he’s focused on providing a fast, reliable, and affordable 3D scanner to medical equipment suppliers and others who rely on precision measurements for custom applications.

Voxel’s first product line features a handheld, barcode-scanner-shaped device that can scan an entire human body in 30 seconds and send a lifelike, 3D image to a connected laptop installed with Voxel’s proprietary software. The software and device package costs less than $3,000.

At that price, Voxel is providing scanning equipment to industries that is up to 10 times cheaper than the competition. They’re able to do this by using off-the- shelf components to build their scanners, avoiding the high costs of research and development to produce customized components. Voxel is also the first 3D scanning company to collect and catalog measurement data, allowing their customers to view trends in medical equipment.

They’re also planning to develop a wireless 3D scanner that will run on the cloud, allowing users to pay $10 per scan, an affordable option for low-volume users. DePinto stresses that Voxel is a “solutions” company, not only providing 3D scanning hardware but also the software to go along with it. Working on both of these components has allowed Voxel to create easy-to-use scanning products that can be connected to a laptop and provide users with precise measurement and imaging data in seconds.

“When I started out, I wasn’t planning on working on both software and hardware,” DePinto said. “But now that’s something that differentiates us from our competition.” That competition includes more expensive, high-resolution scanners such as the Artec Eva and Creaform Go!Scan.

The 3D scanning industry is still relatively new, but its role in the future of medical practices is becoming increasingly evident. DePinto says that the U.S. prosthetic and orthotic market is growing at a rate of 6 percent annually and is valued at over $3.5 billion, with 20,000 U.S. retailers offering fitting services that could benefit from 3D scanning technology. The aging baby boomers and an increase in sports injuries both contribute to this market growth.

DePinto hopes that the growing market will help Voxel get the equity financing needed to increase 3D scanner sales and help with the development of their pay- per-scan business model.

— Zimmerman is a senior in the UW-Madison Department of Life Sciences Communication.