Shocking as it may seem, until recently the standard way to track the advent and development of glaucoma has been simply to compare two retinal photos side-by-side and look for differences between them--not the most technologically sophisticated approach.
Enter
EyeIC, a tech startup based in the Philadelphia suburb of Narberth that has developed a software technology that animates two retinal images taken at different times from the same patient, causing any changes to appear as motion.
The company calls its software MatchedFicker, referencing flicker chronoscopy, a method employed by astronomers since the 1920s whereby two exact photos taken at different times are animated to show changes in the position of the stars.
EyeIC has also built into its software the ability for eye doctors to write notes and document changes directly onto the animated images, save them and send them to colleagues for advice and discussion. The software is device-agnostic, so any kind of retinal image an eye doctor takes can be loaded into it and animated. There is also an easy-to-use, read-only version that allows an eye doctor's colleagues that do not have MatchedFlicker to download the animated files and view them.
EyeIC's technology, which the company plans to market to eye doctors worldwide, will enter the rapidly growing market for glaucoma monitoring. In the U.S., glaucoma is the second leading cause of irreversible blindness with 10 percent of the population over the age of 40 at risk. It is estimated that over four million Americans have glaucoma, but only half of those know they have it.
EyeIC was founded in 2004 with a portfolio of intellectual property from the University of Pennsylvania. In November 2008, the company completed a round of funding for $1.9 million from MentorTech Ventures, Ben Franklin Technology Partners and private investors.