Digital Vision Screening Platform Aims to Decrease Vision Loss Rates for Patients With Eye Disorders

Retina Technologies OcuVue\u2122
Demonstrating OcuVue\u2122 VR Module Prototype in Primary Care Setting

Retina Technologies, Inc. ("RetTech") is advancing the development of OcuVue™, an affordable, digital vision screening platform with integrated machine learning. Studies show that in the United States alone, more than 180,000 new cases of undiagnosed vision loss and blindness are discovered each year, and more than 80 percent of these people would still have their vision with early detection and currently available treatments. RetTech aims to bring general practitioners and vision specialists closer together with a fully integrated digital vision screening platform.

RetTech was founded by a team of medical students from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, NY who encountered many patients with undiagnosed vision loss and blindness while volunteering in clinics in underserved communities. RetTech is working closely with the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary (NYEE), part of the Mount Sinai Health System, to advance the development of OcuVue^™.

This set into motion the development of OcuVue™, a modular vision screening solution with integrated machine learning to assist health care providers with early detection and provide guided referrals. Its design is lightweight and portable and can be used remotely or fully integrated into any physician's workflow. OcuVue™ has the potential to improve the quality of primary care vision testing, and with early detection, gives vision specialists a much better chance of successfully treating eye disease and preventing vision loss.

"We are in the middle of a revolution in digital healthcare where digital and medical technologies are rapidly merging in an effort to deliver improved outcomes for more patients," said Dr. James Tsai, President of NYEE and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Mount Sinai. "I think the ability to get regular vision screening for early detection would be a big win-win for both doctors and patients." 

OcuVue™ is unique in its modularity, extensibility, and ease-of-use virtually anywhere. This modularity allows for patients to get fast, comprehensive vision screening exams and retinal images in 15 minutes, eliminating the time-consuming need to move between multiple machines and testing rooms, and can provide physicians interpretations and referrals in seconds.

"We are very excited to be working with Retina Technologies to advance the development of OcuVue™, and the potential to expand vision diagnostics to new markets," explains Dr. Tsai. 

Currently, RetTech is working to deliver the virtual reality (VR) module for visual function examinations and the retinal imaging module for early detection of retinal abnormalities. The company has worked with leading ophthalmologists and oculoplastic surgeons to successfully complete two clinical trials for six accelerated VR functional vision tests that are essential to comprehensive in-office examinations. The validation of these vision tests emphasizes the potential OcuVue™ has in allowing faster more rigorous testing to be performed in time-sensitive settings such as primary care. 

"We believe we are at a critical inflection point in the adoption curve and growth of integrated digital medical devices," says Randy Serafini, CEO of RetTech. "To successfully develop, deploy, and support these types of devices requires hybrid organizations with both deep medical expertise and experience in complex digital technologies and IT integration," he continues.  "Our team has over 60 years in delivering leading edge technology solutions, and with our relationship with Mount Sinai, we have tremendous depth and breadth in ophthalmic expertise and experience."

"In order to ensure deployment within generalist facilities and broader physician workflows, and build reimbursement strategies for OcuVue™, we brought in Sumeet Murarka, MBA as our Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Serafini continues. "He has decades of experience integrating leading edge technologies into physician workflows through his time as CIO and CTO at the largest private physician group in New York." 

OcuVue™ is based on technologies developed at Mount Sinai and licensed to Retina Technologies. Mount Sinai has a financial interest in Retina Technologies.

RetTech is currently crowdfunding on StartEngine: https://www.startengine.com/retina-tech.

For more information email: info@retina-technologies.com, or visit: https://www.retina-technologies.com, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter.