A new month brings a new investment for Topcon Healthcare, Inc., as the company announced a strategic investment in Senseye, Inc. and its ocular biomarker-powered mental health diagnostic platform.
And as with other recent investments (and acquisitions), this marks yet another to support Topcon’s Healthcare from the Eye initiative.
Let’s start with this initiative.
The Japanese-based ophthalmic medical devices and software solutions manufacturer first introduced the Healthcare from the Eye initiative in May 2024.
What to know about that initiative: As we’ve previously covered, this clinical strategy utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) disease detection and management with noninvasive retinal imaging.
- The intent: Enabling earlier detection and better management of ocular and systemic diseases.
Now to Senseye.
Founded in 2015 and based in Austin, Texas, the neurotechnology company has developed the world’s first diagnostic platform that objectively assesses mental health via artificial intelligence (AI) and a brain-based methodology.
- To be more exact: This technology utilizes the eye as a non-invasive window into the brain.
In the words of founder and CEO David Zakariaie: “We envision a world where mental health conditions are as visible and treatable as an arthritic knee. Where objective mental health diagnostics and monitoring lead to a new era of personalized care that helps people to live their best lives.”
So how does the ocular component factor in?
Senseye’s platform is designed to capture video of the eye and deliver “highly accurate and objective data” on a person’s mental health.
Specifically: The platform uses an evidence-based approach that integrates with both a proprietary machine learning algorithm (the AI component) and computer vision (CV) to provide a quick ocular test—all via a person’s smartphone.
Exactly how quick is this test?
15 minutes, Senseye reports.
And what does it entail?
The entire process begins with downloading the Senseye mobile app.
- Once downloaded, the app will measure how a patient responds to multiple visual tasks
- During this time, Senseye’s patented CV technology captures the patient’s experience
- Simultaneously, the system records data metrics like pupil gaze, heart rate, and iris biomechanics
- This extracted data then has Senseye’s proprietary machine learning algorithm applied to it to calculate the results into validated digital biomarkers
- Once calculated, a results report is generated and the patient’s mental health diagnosis (including severity) is shared with a clinician
What mental health conditions does this assess?
Senseye can be used to support the diagnosis and monitoring of:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Major depressive disorder (MDD)
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
Nice! Now let’s talk potential.
According to the companies, the system could enable primary care providers—often on the front lines of the initial diagnosis, treatment, and management of mental health conditions—to “incorporate objective mental health screening into routine exams, particularly in underserved settings where behavioral health specialists are scarce.”
And for eyecare providers (ECPs): The thought, according to Topcon, is for this technology to allow them to both "identify and flag” potential neuropsychiatric concerns discovered during routine annual eye exams.
- Once a concern is identified, an ECP would then refer that patient to primary care for additional evaluation and care.
This sounds like right up Topcon’s alley …
It does, doesn’t it? President and CEO Ali Tafreshi said as much, noting that Senseye’s technology not only exemplifies the company’s ongoing initiative but also expands “the role of ocular data beyond eye and systemic disease into psychiatry.”
Even further: The new investment also paves the way for Topcon to explore potential new diagnostic modules by embedding Senseye’s technology with its Harmony platform.
- For a refresh on this clinical image and data management platform, click here (and take note: this is central to the Healthcare from the Eye initiative).
Last question: How can I learn more about Senseye?
Reach out to the company for a demo (or click here to participate in an investigational-use-only study on it).