Image Navigation Appoints Dr. Sotiris Giakis as Chief Clinical Officer
Internationally recognized implant surgeon will lead IGI clinical strategy, advanced surgical workflows, clinician
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Internationally recognized implant surgeon will lead IGI clinical strategy, advanced surgical workflows, clinician education and scientific evaluation.
NEW JERSEY, NJ, UNITED STATES, August 12, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Image Navigation today announced the appointment of internationally recognized implant surgeon Dr. Sotiris Giakis as Chief Clinical Officer (CCO), strengthening the company’s clinical leadership as it advances the development and commercialization of IGI, its real-time dynamic navigation system for dental implant surgery.
In this executive role, Dr. Giakis will lead the company’s clinical strategy, overseeing the development and evaluation of advanced surgical workflows, international clinician education and clinically relevant scientific evidence. Working closely with engineering, software, regulatory and commercial teams, he will ensure that practical surgical experience directly informs product development, training protocols and future innovation.
Dr. Giakis is an implant surgeon, educator and digital dentistry expert based in Igoumenitsa, Greece. He teaches postgraduate implantology and advanced surgical techniques at UCAM Catholic University of Murcia while maintaining a referral practice focused on advanced implant reconstruction, digital dentistry and image-guided surgery, with particular expertise in the rehabilitation of severely atrophic jaws.
Since adopting IGI into his daily clinical practice in September 2025, Dr. Giakis has performed more than 400 navigated clinical procedures using the system. His experience spans routine implant placement, complex full-arch rehabilitation, severe maxillary and mandibular atrophy, and the placement of zygomatic, pterygoid and transnasal implants.
This extensive clinical experience has enabled him to evaluate IGI under demanding real-world surgical conditions while providing Image Navigation’s engineering, software, product and education teams with continuous, clinically relevant feedback.
Dr. Giakis has also explored navigation-assisted workflows in selected oral surgical procedures beyond conventional dental implant placement, including osteotomies associated with bone augmentation, maxillary sinus elevation, the surgical management of impacted teeth and complex apical surgery performed near critical anatomical structures.
In many of these procedures, direct visualization of the operative target is limited during critical stages of treatment. Real-time navigation provides continuous three-dimensional spatial orientation while preserving the surgeon’s clinical judgment and responsibility.
“Dr. Giakis has become one of the world’s most experienced users of IGI,” said Lawrence Obstfeld, Chief Executive Officer of Image Navigation. “His experience spans hundreds of cases across some of the most demanding indications in implant dentistry. His ability to transform clinical experience into better workflows, education and product development makes him uniquely qualified to lead our clinical strategy. His leadership is already helping shape the next generation of IGI.”
A central focus of Dr. Giakis’s work will be the development of standardized, reproducible workflows for advanced implant surgery, particularly full-arch rehabilitation and the treatment of fully edentulous patients. These workflows integrate prosthetically driven planning, real-time surgical navigation, postoperative evaluation and structured clinician training, helping ensure that the continued evolution of IGI remains closely aligned with clinical usability, procedural efficiency and patient safety.
In parallel, Dr. Giakis is contributing to the early-stage evaluation of navigation concepts for anatomically challenging endodontic procedures as part of Image Navigation’s broader exploration of future image-guided applications beyond implantology.
“Navigation should become an integral part of the entire surgical workflow—not simply a guidance tool used during implant placement,” said Dr. Sotiris Giakis. “Technology should evolve around the realities of surgery and the needs of clinicians and patients. My priority as Chief Clinical Officer is to ensure that clinical experience directly guides the evolution of IGI. The workflows we develop must be reproducible, and the evidence supporting them must be rigorous, clinically relevant and trusted by clinicians worldwide.”
Alongside his clinical and corporate responsibilities, Dr. Giakis is actively involved in postgraduate education in oral implantology, digital dentistry and advanced surgical techniques through UCAM Catholic University of Murcia. His academic work also includes advanced postgraduate training in Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at the Medical School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, complementing his clinical interests in tissue regeneration and reconstructive medicine.
Dr. Giakis’s appointment reinforces Image Navigation’s commitment to integrating experienced clinical leadership directly into product development, ensuring that future innovations in IGI continue to be driven by technological excellence, clinical usability, scientific rigor and patient safety.
About Image Navigation:
Image Navigation develops IGI, a real-time dynamic surgical navigation platform designed for dental implantology and future image-guided surgical applications. IGI connects digital treatment planning with real-time intraoperative navigation, allowing clinicians to continuously visualize the position, angle and depth of surgical instruments relative to the patient’s three-dimensional anatomy throughout the procedure.
The platform combines proprietary high-speed tracking with no observable lag, patient-to-image synchronization using MiniLOCK™ technology, and workflow innovations designed to improve surgical precision, efficiency and clinician confidence. Image Navigation is committed to advancing image-guided surgery through clinical innovation, scientific evaluation, workflow development and clinician education.
Lawrence Obstfeld
Image Navigation LTD
+1 646-741-2103
lawrence@image-navigation.COM
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