Israeli tech startup AEYE Health partners with Finnish camera maker Optomed to develop the world’s first handheld AI camera for diagnosis of medical conditions

Today, over a billion people worldwide and over 75 million people in the US alone are considered at high risk of developing various sight-threatening and life-threatening conditions. Over 75% of them never get checked. Enter AEYE Health, a New York and Tel Aviv, Israel-based digital health startup focused on automated, AI-based diagnostic screening solutions for retinal imaging.

AEYE Health’s system is designed to enable clinicians to detect a variety of medical conditions, prevent blindness, and save lives. AEYE Health collaborates with advanced academic medical centers in the United States and its solution is already in use in primary care clinics to help improve patient outcomes.

Today, AEYE Health announced it has entered into a clinical and commercial collaboration agreement to develop and introduce an AI fundus camera Aurora AEYE. The collaboration includes a clinical trial with the aim to receive U.S. FDA approval for autonomous AI for retinal screening. This new camera is supposed to change it and democratize eye checks – in developed and developing countries.

Once the clinical trials are commenced and successfully completed, the Aurora AEYE will include Optomed’s handheld fundus camera Aurora and AEYE Health’s AI-based retinal screening system that aims to provide analysis of the retina for diabetic retinopathy changes and receive diagnostic results within 60 seconds.
The Aurora AEYE simplifies the retinal screening process by providing an easy-to-use retinal screening system to examine these patients outside the ophthalmologist’s office, including primary care and endocrinology clinics or pharmacies.

Commenting on the partnership, Zack Dvey-Aharon, Ph.D., Co-founder and CEO of AEYE Health, said: “Today, we are taking a big step forward in the direction of providing an accurate, affordable and useable solution to detect retinal conditions, prevent blindness and save lives. The use of our advanced AI algorithms and Optomed’s quality handheld fundus cameras set to democratize diagnostic eye screenings and ensure that all patients who need treatment will receive it on time. We are delighted to team up with Optomed and we look forward to spearheading global efforts to develop AI-based solutions for the early detection of a wide variety of retinal diseases.”

Laura Piila, Optomed’s Vice President Devices, added: “We are very excited to begin our cooperation with the AEYE Health team as it enables us to provide another innovative and affordable solution for diabetic retinopathy screening. The solution is perfect for our growth strategy and supports our growth especially in the U.S. as the Aurora AEYE is expected to be the first handheld AI fundus camera available in the U.S. market.”