Oncoscope was founded in June, 2006 to develop clinical applications of discoveries in the field of optical imaging pioneered by Dr. Adam Wax at the Department of Biomedical Engineering of Duke University. These discoveries are known as Angle-resolved Low Coherence Interferometry (a/LCI) and arose from work supported by grants to Duke University from the National Cancer Institute, the National Science Foundation, and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation.

In 2007, Oncoscope received exclusive, worldwide license rights from Duke University to a/LCI optical imaging technology and began developing clinical prototypes. In parallel, work continued at Duke University including animal and human clinical testing of a/LCI in esophageal tissue. The results of the first pilot study of 30 patients were presented in May 2009 at Digestive Disease Week in Chicago, IL.

Oncoscope recently completed its commercial a/LCI system prototype and has commenced clinical testing under a multi-center study sponsored by an SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health. The first two clinical sites in this trial are The Center for Esophageal Diseases & Swallowing at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill under the direction of Dr. Nicholas J. Shaheen and the Thompson Cancer Survival Center in Knoxville, TN under the direction of Dr. Bergein F. Overholt.

Since it was formed, Oncsocope has diligently pursued new and expanding patent rights across the field of optical biopsy. Broad U.S. patent claims were received in 2009 and several other key patent filings are pending in the U.S. and abroad.