DUNDEE-based CarieScan's dental imaging device is to be sold in North Africa, the Middle East and Turkey after its parent company 3D Diagnostic Imaging signed a set of new distribution deals.
Meanwhile, the directors of 3D said they are experiencing rising sales and are continuing to explore ways of strengthening the company's balance sheet following "adverse trading" in 2011.
The news prompted a rebound in 3D's shares, which have struggled recently after an initially successful listing on the junior Alternative Investment Market in late 2010.
The stock rose 0.025p or 4.5% to close at 0.575p. It originally listed at 6p and its shares initially traded as high as 9p before plunging to a low of 0.45p last week.
Graham Lay, chief executive of 3D, said: "We are clearly delighted with the extension of the company's sales reach, but perhaps of more significance is the rising trend in monthly sales that we are seeing so far in 2012, albeit from a modest starting point.
"The company has now sold products into 13 countries and received its first product reorders from three of its distributors.
"There remains much to do but these recent developments are most encouraging."
3D's core product is the CarieScan Pro device, which uses electrical currents – too low to be felt by the patient – to test for dental decay, potentially uncovering problems not detected using conventional techniques.
The new arrangement will see German-based distributor Orangedental, which already handles CarieScan's products in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, sell it into North Africa and the Middle East and parts of the former Soviet Union.
This will give CarieScan access to markets containing 172,000 dental practitioners.
The agreement includes a commitment from Orangedental to purchase a minimum of 60 CarieScan Pro devices and 800 of the disposable sensors used in the device between now and September 2012.
The first batch of these units has already been shipped.
3D said that the agreement also envisages certain minimum annual sales levels being achieved thereafter.
Meanwhile, the Isle of Man-based group has also signed a distribution agreement with family-run Turkish dental technology company Lider Dis. This will cover the Turkish market where there are some 17,200 dental practitioners.
3D conducted a £1.4 million fundraising in October 2010 to finance a drive into North America and Europe.
However, it has struggled to build sales momentum, which it has blamed on the economic downturn, the large amounts of stock held by distributors and the impact of a manufacturing defect.
3D's sales drive is the latest attempt to commercialise technology measuring bone density developed at St Andrews and Dundee universities after Dundee-based university spin-out IDMoS went into administration in 2008, four years after flotation.
CarieScan's Pro device is made by SKF in Livingston and the sensors by Interplex in Arbroath.
Eight people are employed at CarieScan in Dundee.
In February 3D's non-executive chairman James Noble announced he was stepping down due to an increase in workload at other companies.
Non-executive David Snow has been chairing board meetings in the meantime.
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