I Start a Company
Order and Orientation
One day I looked at the six-film cassette that I had designed. Three cassettes, totaling 18 films, could run in the processor on one cycle. I noticed that the configuration of the six films in one cassette was the same as all three sections of the most common 18-film mounts. I laid out three cassettes on a table, and turned the middle one sideways. The three cassettes were configured exactly the same as the full set mount. I had discovered a way to give complete organization to film mounting after processing. I made the three cassette holder shown above. When the assistant exposes the film in the patient’s mouth, instead of placing the film willy-nilly in a cup, then having to re-organize the film when they are mounted, which can cause mounting errors and take up to five minutes, the films are placed in their corresponding slot in the cassettes. They are then processed maintaining that organization. After processing, the films can be very quickly and easily mounted error free, in about thirty seconds. Since then I have been amazed that dentists have processed film in a completely disordered fashion for over 100 years; amazed that someone did not have this idea before me. I listed “order and orientation” as one of the many advantages of this processor.
I Need Injection Mold$
Up to this point in the evolution of the developer, I used welded wire cassettes (film holders) like the one shown above left. I had rather expensive jigs made so the wire could be bent properly. There were about twenty manual welds that had to be done for each cassette. I used several companies that did this type of work. All of them faded out quickly because of the high amount of manual handling required to construct each cassette. I knew that, if I were to start a company, I could not depend on wire cassettes. It would be a major problem if I had sold developers but I didn’t have cassettes to go with them.
I decided that the only way to make dependable, professional looking, cassettes was to construct an injection mold. I also needed an injection mold for a four way manifold that filled and emptied the reaction tank. To have the part cut on a CNC machine (a computerized cutter) would be prohibitively expensive. The drawings for the molds were going to cost $5,000. The cassette mold would cost $25,000. The manifold mold would be $16,000. Total: $46,000. Spending this kind of money meant that I had to be very deeply committed to this project. I sat my wife down and had a serious talk with her about her feelings of putting up this kind of money for the developer. I didn’t want to proceed without her full support. Karen gave me that support. I ordered the drawings and the molds.
Previously the cassettes cost about $30 each and the manifold $200. The new injection molded parts were about $1 each. If I were to sell many developers, I would recoup the cost of the molds fairly quickly. The new plastic cassettes looked far more professional than the wire cassettes. They also held pedo (child) film, as well as normal adult film.
I now was completely committed, emotionally, intellectually, and financially, to this project.
I Come Up With an Automatic Replenisher
One night I was in the lab playing with the processor. It really needed an automatic replenisher, since the chemicals are in a tank that cannot be seen by the user. If the chemicals go low, a sensor is triggered, and the display warns the user that “DEVELOPER IS LOW” or “FIXER IS LOW”. But if I could find a way to automate the chemical levels, and at the same time spritz a little fresh chemical into the storage tanks, which is what a replenisher does, the processor would be just that much more efficient. The answer came quickly. Because a vacuum pulls the chemicals back into the storage tanks from the reaction tank, I figured, why not use that suction to force a little chemical into the storage tanks? I placed bottles of chemical next to the processor. I ran hoses into the storage tanks from above. The ends of the hoses inside the storage tanks were at the exact level that I wanted the chemicals. The vacuum pulled chemicals into their tanks, which caused a slight overfill. The excess was then siphoned back into the bottles, leaving the storage tanks at perfect level. The user would simply have to make sure the bottles had chemical in them, which was easy to check. I tried the replenisher in my office. It worked great. I now could add a simple, cheap, but efficient replenisher to my developer advantages.
After talking to large dental companies such as Kodak, Rinn, and DentX, and basically getting a lot of interest, then getting “shined on” by them, I decided that if I was going to sell this developer I would have to start a company myself. The “NIH” (not invented here) rule is an absolute. Selling the developer myself would be the only way to really get the processor going in the marketplace. I had honed my skills as an engineer to such a degree that I was ready to go on my own. I became proficient in electronics, programming, plastic design, sheet metal design, and CAD, by working on the models that I had put together, and learning from Scott Steel. Scott ran out of time to work on the processor (he probably got tired of working at 3:00 AM) as his company had projects from large companies to complete. He gave me a few tips on how to operate a CAD program. I took the program home, and started drawing squares and circles, moving them around, then attaching them together. Before I knew it, I was able to draw simple parts. After a while, CAD became like riding a bike. I could sit, and almost let my mind wander, and draw the greatest looking parts. It almost became automatic. I designed and had constructed all of the molds and parts for my “molded model”, the one pictured here. (top left)
I formed Blume Imaging LLC. I rented a booth space for $2,200 at the California Dental Convention in 1995 for my big unvailing. I was only going to have two completely built processors by showtime. Several friends came over and helped me get the units assembled, which we did just in time for the convention. (top middle, right) I wanted to look good. I purchased a new and very professional looking booth for $5,600. Dental sales reps who ventured into my dental office had gotten the full sales pitch. I would lead them into my darkroom, and they got to see the Vision-DS in operation. My assistants were excited about the processor, and they, of course, validated everything that I had to say, and they were also great demonstrators. Two of the reps were so sold on the venture that they offered their services for the convention pro bono. They figured they would be in on the ground floor of what should be a very successful company. We had several “board meetings” at my home in preparation for the big day. (top right) We were going to look pretty professional. At one board meeting I came into the room and the two reps were having a heated argument over who would have the northern half and who would have the southern half of the United States! How funny! I had two developers in my garage, one working in my office, and these guys were nearly coming to blows! How ridiculous.
I will never forget what it was like on the first morning of my first convention. I had been incredibly busy the few days leading up to my big moment. I was nervous about the show, but I was so busy that it wasn’t too overwhelming. Naturally I tossed and turned while trying to sleep the night before. I got up at 6:00 AM, showered, and dressed. Karen was still sleeping. I took a look at myself in the mirror. I had beads of sweat on my forehead. I became even more nervous. I said to my reflection in the mirror, “What do you think you are doing? How do you think you can possibly compete with these huge companies? You idiot! Why are you doing this?” I was really losing my confidence and nerve. Then, as I got in my car, a strange calm came over me. I drove up the freeway in a very high and confident mood. I got to the Anaheim Convention Center, and went to the booth, which was in the middle of an immense convention hall. My entire inventory was at the show, sitting on two pedestals. I took a look around. My booth was next to some huge dental companies, which I didn’t notice the night before.; I was so busy setting up our booth and installing the processors. For some reason, for a few minutes, I felt tiny and uncomfortable again. Just think; me next to Kodak, AGFA, Dentsply. I turned the units on. Everything worked great. They ran smooth. My confidence came back. I couldn’t wait for the first customer. Demonstrating the unit to the dentists and assistants that came to the booth quickly became really enjoyable. I knew that what I had made was good, and that came out in my sales pitch. I sincerely believed that I had invented the best dental film processor in existence. My daughter, Tami, and Shelly, the wife of one of the reps, did a great job of demonstrating the processor. (bottom center) A lot of sales reps came over for a look, and wanted to represent my processor. My developer wowed the people who ventured in to take a look. One of the sales reps said I was the “talk of the convention hall”. My total first convention sales: one unit for $4000 to Dr. Larry Wheeler, a very cool dentist who practiced in Arizona. He had the courage to purchase one of the units on the floor. He packed it in his car right after the convention. Even though there was a lot of interest, dentists are very nervous about purchasing from a brand new company with no track record. But, I was so excited about the outcome. Everything worked well, and we had hundreds of leads from interested dentists. Karen, Tami, my son Doug, and I went for a walk on Balboa island the next day. Our heads were spinning. We were all excited.
From conventions during the next two years I sold 25 processors. I had processors in Florida, Washington, Canada, Hawaii, and Arizona. The processors that I have installed have functioned like Sherman tanks; far better than the roller processors put out by multi-million dollar companies. To date they have processed several million films.
Click on the lower left arrow to see QuickScan in operation.
I Invent QuickScan and Receive My Second Patent
My Vision-DS processor has an amber front window (upper left photo) which looks into the reaction tank. Films rotate into the tank and are then bathed in developer chemical. When this happens, an opaque image of the tooth forms on the film, much like an ordinary photograph. The film doesn’t become transparent until the fixer chemical comes into the tank. When I wanted to see the film quickly, I started using a magnifier (upper center photo) with a small light. I could then see the image quickly and move on with my treatment if I was doing a root canal, or had an emergency. I later purchased a super low-light close-up video camera (upper right photo) which I mounted on the window in front of the film. I ran a video cable into my operatory and attached it to my intra-oral camera (TV) monitor. The results were astounding. I could see the blank film on the TV screen, and the chemical flowing into the tank. The image would form on the screen in seconds. (lower left photo) This turned out to be an outstanding tool that I used frequently in my practice. I applied for, and received my second patent on this device. I also designed the device so that it would work with a table-top manual daylight developer for dentists that would want to use it in their operatories. (lower right photo)The developer was incredible, the best in existence, and now I had an additional astounding new option to go with it. I called this new device Quickscan.
Click on the lower left arrow to see DigiScan in operation.
I Invent DigiScan and Get My Third Patent
I then started working with small video cameras and testing them in front of the light boxes that dentists use to view x-ray film. (photo above) The images I got from dental x-ray film was far better than the digital images that dentists pay tens of thousands of dollars for. I was able to show my patients their x-ray pictures blown up on the TV monitor screen. This made case presentations a snap. My patients could at last really realize what I was trying to tell them. I purchased digitizing software, and I was able to digitize the images for emailing, and insurance authorizations. I applied for my third patent on this device, which I called DigiScan. There was nothing that would stop me now, with Vision-DS, DigiScan, and QuickScan. I had enough equipment to be a really successful company, except………………….
