Siloton secures £8.4m to speed development of portable retinal imaging system
Handheld optical coherence tomography device will make diagnosis and monitoring of eye diseases more affordable and accessible The post Siloton secures £8.4m to speed development of portable retinal imaging system appeared first on Physics World .
UK medical technology startup Siloton has secured £8.4 million in funding to hasten the development of its portable eye imaging system, dubbed GiraffeOCT. Utilizing optical coherence tomography (OCT), GiraffeOCT produces high-resolution, depth-resolved images of retinal tissue, aiding in the detection and monitoring of various treatable eye conditions.
OCT is already the clinical gold standard for diagnosing retinal diseases; however, current systems are bulky and costly, limiting their availability to hospitals and optometry clinics.
Siloton's innovative approach involves employing photonic chip technology to condense bulky optical components onto a single, coin-sized chip. This enables the creation of a handheld, easy-to-use binocular-style system for both in-clinic and home use. The £8.4 million contract, awarded by Innovate UK, will significantly expedite the development process of both the in-clinic GiraffeOCT system and the at-home version.
The contract will also allow Siloton to expand its workforce, bringing in expertise in manufacturing and regulation for the next phase of the business.
Clinical trials commenced in 2024, with Siloton being the first commercial entity to demonstrate sub-surface imaging of a human retina using its initial-generation Akepa OCT photonic chip. Subsequent trials saw the device tested on patients to identify age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The company has also secured a research system from the Project Ginan consortium in Australia, which independently evaluated its retinal imaging performance with healthy volunteers.
Over the duration of the two-year Innovate UK contract, Siloton will collaborate with Sunderland Specialist Eye Hospital in the UK for clinical trials of the in-clinic GiraffeOCT device. The trials will focus on the prototype for the full medical device, incorporating post-processing and enhanced ergonomics compared to their current research-use-only product line.
The contract will also fund the development of Siloton's second-generation CheetahOCT system, a research-use device capable of measuring different layers of the retina. The CheetahOCT system, which will employ the company's second-generation BlueJay chip, will be available from early 2027.
With improved image performance, CheetahOCT will be able to detect a greater number of biomarkers, allowing for a more detailed view of the eye and increased identification of various conditions. CEO Alasdair Price expressed optimism about the future, stating that the image performance will significantly improve, enabling the detection of more retinal biomarkers than ever before.
Written by urgent.news from Physics World's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
