A medical device developed in a collaboration between PlenOptika and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (MEDIC group at UAM Engineering school) is being used in experiments on the Polaris Dawn mission this week, the first of its kind technology to be used in space flight.
QuickSee Free base technology was invented in the Catalyst Fellowship program, a biomedical technology innovation program supported by Comunidad de Madrid (Fundación para el conocimiento madri+d 2010–2015). All four Fellows who invented the technology are co-founders of the commercializing company PlenOptika, and three are executives in the company. PlenOptika’s engineering team is based at Parque Científico de Madrid, and is led by Dr Eduardo Lage, CTO, co-founder, and Associate Professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication technology at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. MEDIC group is also part of the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de la Fundación Jiménez Díaz (IIS-FJD).
Here is more information on the experiment our technology was involved in:
Relatively recently, it was discovered that astronauts were experiencing Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS), which symptoms include swelling of the optic nerve, changes in the shape of the eye, and changes to vision. It is thought this is due to the absence of gravity acting on the body, causing a headward fluid shift and may lead to changes in pressure in the brain and eye. To identify the initial adaptation of the eye upon entering microgravity, the Polaris Dawn crew will don smart contact lenses with tiny micro-sensors that continuously measure pressure inside their eyes. The crewmembers will also measure whether their vision changes on-orbit. This data could confirm fluid shifts are indeed causing changes to the eye, which may ultimately contribute to SANS.
We’re very proud that our technology, which is already being deployed globally to improve access to vision care, met the extremely demanding requirements for deep space flight certification.
A new work called Ametropia Detection using a novel, compact, wavefront autorefractor has been published in the prestigious OPO Journal. Key Points of this research are
Refractive prescriptions obtained from an autorefractor can be an effective tool for extending eyecare coverage to a broader population base, especially in low- and middle-income countries and remote areas where there is shortage of optometrists and facilities to deliver refractive care services.
Most studies assessing the accuracy of autorefractors have used subjective findings obtained by an experienced optometrist for comparison. While this methodology is commonly accepted, it fails to consider the inherent variability of the subjective refraction.
This paper proposes an alternative approach for assessing the accuracy of an autorefractor by comparing the difference between the autorefractor and two subjective findings versus the difference between the two subjective results.
The paper is published in open Access and can be found here
El principal objetivo de esta jornada se centra en mostrar diferentes actividades y salidas profesionales relacionadas con la Expresión Gráfica y el Diseño Asistido por Ordenador (DAO) en las que podrían acabar participando los graduados en diferentes disciplinas técnicas como ingenierías o arquitectura. También se reflejarán las exigencias o expectativas de empresas y perspectivas laborales en un futuro a corto-medio plazo en este ámbito.
Our last Research paper has been just published in an Special issue in Artificial Intelligence of the Journal of Optometry. This work shows that Machine Learning / Artificial Intelligence techniques can be used on wavefront aberrometry data to enhance the performance of refraction technologies.
The results obtained in this work suggest that a ML approach, implementable via software, may potentially improve upon the accuracy of the handheld autorefractor used in the study in a cost-effective manner. An important point to note is that since the most influential variables for the models were the standard variables in aberrometry, this approach could potentially be extended to other autorefractors, supporting the use of the proposed methodology to improve access to vision correction by non-technical eye care providers in health disparity populations.
At a ceremony in San Francisco on January 26, PlenOptika was named the Prism Award winner in the Biomedical Devices category. The awards, presented by the SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, honor the best new optics and photonics products on the market ranging from scientific instruments to virtual reality and autonomous driving.
“It’s a great honor to be recognized by the esteemed panel of judges,” said PlenOptika CEO and cofounder Shivang Dave, PhD, “we’re proud to be counted among so many other excellent companies by technical and industry leaders.”
The Prism awards annually recognize organizations developing the most exciting photonics and photonics-enabled technologies and demonstrating strong potential for widespread impact. The judging panel included MKS Instruments’ Marc D. Himel, the FDA’s Zane Arp, Femto Blanc’s Uri Abrams, iFocus’ Adi Diner, Berkeley Catalyst Fund’s Laura Smoliar, Engender Technologies’ Cather Simpson, Luminate Accelerator’s Sujatha Ramanujan, Notal Vision’s Nishant Mohan, Teledyne Princeton Instruments’ Jason McClure, and Chromacity’s Shahida Imani.
In a statement from SPIE, CEO Kent Rochford said, “These companies with their scientists and engineers — and I am including the award finalists as well — are ensuring that key technologies and products are reaching, energizing, and continually growing the photonics market. Their critical, innovative work is impacting lives across the globe.”
Today, PlenOptika was named a finalist in the 2022 Prism Awards presented by SPIE. The awards, presented by the SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, honor the best new optics and photonics products on the market.
“The 2022 Prism Award finalists represent the most impactful innovations of the optics and photonics industry,” said SPIE CEO Kent Rochford in a press release today. “Whether they are working on healthcare-related technologies, quantum-focused advances, or making self-driving vehicles safer for our roads, these are the scientists, engineers, and companies that are striving to make our lives better by bringing these exciting commercial products to market. We look forward to recognizing and congratulating all the nominees as well as announcing the winners in person at Photonics West.”
“We’re excited to be selected as finalist,” said PlenOptika CEO and cofounder Shivang Dave, PhD, “especially considering the technical expertise of the SPIE community and the exceptional award alumni.”
Prism Award winners will be named in a ceremony in January 2022 at SPIE Photonics West.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, November 4 – PlenOptika, Inc., creator of QuickSee™, the world’s most accurate handheld autorefractor, was recognized with an Eddie Award from Mass Innovation Network. Previous winners of this prestigious award include Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Staples, Genzyme, MassChallenge, Carbonite, KRONOS, ZipCar, iRobot, Keurig, and Vistaprint.
“PlenOptika is grateful for the recognition of our technology and its value to people in the U.S. and around the globe,” said Shivang Dave, PhD, CEO and Co-founder of PlenOptika, following the announcement at a special event in Lincoln, Massachusetts. “We are humbled to be among an elite cohort of companies that have had such profound impact on the world, and the other startups in this edition who also have bold plans for the future.”
Previously known as the New England Innovation Awards, they were rebranded as the Eddie Awards in a nod to Thomas Edison and his prolific work (and 1,093 innovation patents!) in a variety of industries. Any business headquartered in New England that has a revolutionary product, technology, or process may be nominated for the Eddie Award.
Earlier this year, PlenOptika was one of five “most promising” deep tech startup companies recognized by the Mass Ventures START program, which helps deep tech startups convert their Small Business Innovation and Small Business Technology Transfer research (SBIR/STTR) into businesses.
QuickSee is an essential tool to address the challenge of uncorrected refractive error, a matter of major global concern, including wealthy nations. Poor vision tremendously impacts quality of life, education, and workforce opportunities. A report published by The Lancet in February 2021 estimated that over 1 billion people worldwide had distance-or near-vision impairment, resulting in at least $410 billion in productivity loss annually.
During the last 25th of Febraury, the event “Learn about the best TFG of the 2019-20 academic year and how Deloitte participates in innovative and entrepreneurial projects” took place in the Autonomous University of Madrid. This time online, as a result of the current situation. Among other attendees, representing the UAM was Mr. Javier Ortega García, Vice-rector of Innovation, Transfer and Technology, who made the introduction to the event, and from Deloitte, Mr. Francisco Faraco, Partner at Deloitte – Fraud Prevention, who gave the award to the winner of the best bachelor thesis at the E.P.S. during the 2019-20 academic year, enrolled in Cybersecurity, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence categories. As it was said in the event ‘At Deloitte we reward talent and innovation with initiatives of this type’.
In this occasion the awarded was our engineer Ignacio Salinas Sánchez for his work “Development of a Calibration system for a Visual Simulation device”. The medical device was the SimVis developed by 2eyesVision: a system that prescribes multifocal lenses allowing patients to know if they adapt correctly to their needs before to surgical implantation.
The project consists not only of a software part that includes three main modules: camera, communication and image processing but also a hardware prototype with the function of carrying out verification and validation tests.
“It has been a unique opportunity and a pleasure to collaborate in the development of medical devices with the objective of helping other people, which gives you an added bonus of desire, energy and enthusiasm”, were some of Ignacio’s words.
The Jury also awarded some Special Mentions with their corresponding Diploma of Recognition to Alberto Ruiz Guijosa, Marta Simón Pinacho and Diego Sainz de Medrano Otero, for the quality of their works submitted to the contest.
In addition, during the session other topics were discussed such as Smart Stadiums, Gaming projects, “a life experience” by Álvaro Pérez (Senior Analytical Consultant at Google) and finally a success story from the entrepreneurship office of the UAM – UAM Emprende.
Thank both, Deloitte and UAM for giving us the opportunity to participate in this kind of innitiatives, where all the work, effort and time invested in these projects is recognized.
A new study published in PLoS ONE, “Assessment of the QuickSee wavefront autorefractor for characterizing refractive errors in school-age children,” finds QuickSee ideally suited to refracting children in school screenings and public health outreach.
QuickSee shown to outperform other portable automated refractors in the field in this study by Anindya Samanta, Akaanksh Shetty, and Patricia C Nelson. The study aims to to conduct a systematic literature review of the accuracy and effectiveness of available portable automated refractors compared to the current standard of care, subjective refraction (SR).
More than 400 million people suffer from visual impairment globally, with more than half due to uncorrected refractive error. Autorefraction (AR) is the most common examination performed prior to prescribing glasses. As technology advances, so has the accuracy and number of portable autorefractors available. Portable technology has become acutely important with the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the conversion of in-person clinical evaluations to remote telemedicine encounters. Patients and providers want to do as much as possible remotely. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review of the accuracy and effectiveness of available portable automated refractors compared to the current standard of care, subjective refraction (SR).
Results There were four portable autorefractors (Netra, Quicksee, Retinomax and SVOne) studied against SR. There was high patient acceptance of glasses prescriptions by the Quicksee alone, with 87% subjects seeing the same or better than SR. Quicksee was more accurate than Netra and Retinomax. SVOne was preferred over Netra and outperformed Retinomax in multiple measures, despite Retinomax being the fastest test.
June has been a great month in terms of publications. Finally and after a long review process, 2 Journal papers validating 2 versions of the QuickSee device have been accepted for publication.
The press conference, was led by Prof. Susana Marcos (Director of VioBio Lab, Co-Inventor of the SimVis technology and 2Eyes Vision co–founder), and María Viñas, Researcher at VioBio Lab, with the attendance of Carlos Dorronsoro, (Co-Inventor of the SimVis technology and 2Eyes Vision co–founder),Álvaro Sánchez-Lozano, Business Developer of 2Eyes Vision, and Enrique Gambra, CTO of 2Eyes Vision
e-See is high caliber autorefractor designed and developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spin-out, PlenOptika, Inc. (USA)
e-See offers ease of use and accuracy for ophthalmologists and optometrists with its innovative PlenOptika wavefront Refractive Engine (WRE) technology which ensure that the testing process is dynamic, smart and intuitive.
PlenOptika WRE technology produces exceptional results, In fact it offers the closest results to subjective refraction as compared to conventional autorefractors. Having the nearest starting point to subjective refraction ensures fewer changes in the trial frame lenses, resulting in time saved.
Product innovation continues to advance healthcare systems across the globe with nominee PlenOptika’s Quicksee, a portable eye test that anyone can use, improving eye health in developing countries, and SurgiBox an inflatable tent that operates as a sterile operating theatre in remote areas. More speculative creations include designers Liz Ciokajlo and Maurizio Montalti’s Growing a MarsBoot, transforming human sweat into a boot suitable for life on Mars.
The New York Times publish an article about the global need for eyeglasses. It speaks about the work of our collaborators Aravind Eye Care System and Eyelliance among others. Read this interesting article here.
Aurolab, a non-for profit company which is among the largest manufacturers of ophthalmic products in Asia, launches the e-see Autorefractor at AIOS 2018
Unlike the casually dressed students milling around Berkeley, on a rainy January afternoon, Shivang Dave, PlenOptika’s CEO and co-founder, wore a sports a blazer and tie.
Shivang Dave and his team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology students have what they hope is a $1 million idea, but it’s not a killer app or the next big thing in social media.
The Universidad Autónoma de Madrid launches the First Edition of the UAM Innovation and Knowledge Transfer Awards to recognize the work of its Teaching and Research Staff who have contributed significantly to the development of activities of generation, dissemination and transfer of knowledge seeking to solve the essential problems of society. In this first edition, MEDIC has been awarded in the Experimental sciences, health and engineering category
“This is a reward for a lot of innovation and work,” said Rodolphe Tessé, President of Saargos, PlenOptika’s distribution partner in France. “PlenOptika shares our values to bring better vision to people through technology.”
The new QuickSee Free handheld wavefront autorefractor, winner of the Silmo D’Or prize for optical material & equipment.
QuickSee Free is PlenOptika’s new medical device designed to make accurate objective refraction measurements—the critical for accurate eyeglass and contact lens prescriptions—more accessible. “We designed QuickSee Free to help you, the opticians, optometrists, and ophthalmologists, improve your care for your patients and customers in your stores, hospitals, and clinics,” said Shivang Dave, PlenOptika CEO, upon receiving the award. “But also so you can transform how you reach people who might be not able to reach you. We’re hoping this helps you continue to reach everyone in the world.”
The SILMO D’Or Prizes are given each year at the SILMO international optics and eyewear exhibition, which is attended by more than 34,000 people. The prize recognizes the excellence, creativity, and innovation of manufacturers and brands from all around the world. In addition to the equipment category, prizes are given for lenses, children’s eyewear, eyewear technology innovation, sunglasses brands and designers, eyewear frame brands and designers, and sport and protective eyewear.
“This is such an amazing event,” said Dave. “We’re honored to be a part of the innovation exhibited here.”
Uncorrected refractive error, which can be treated with inexpensive eyeglasses, affects about 33 million people in the United States, and 1.1 billion people globally. PlenOptika designs technologies that replace outmoded legacy technology and address the critical shortage of trained professionals to meet the exam demand. QuickSee Free’s accuracy and ease of use enable task-shifting to trained operators, expanding workforce capacity, enabling new care modes in private practice and large scale clinical enterprises as well as in community and global health initiatives.
Desde la Comunidad de Madrid y el Ayuntamiento de Madrid, a través de la Fundación Madri+d junto a MIDE (Madrid Innovation Driven Ecosystem), se celebro una sesión de los InnoDays Madrid. La sesion se centro en conocer las principales tendencias, oportunidades y retos en tecnologías biomédicas para nuestro ecosistema, así como casos de éxito y referencias de otros ecosistemas de los que podemos aprender
Our last research has been just published in Scientific Reports.
In this initial investigation we have demonstrated that dynamic retinal image analysis can improve the accuracy and precision of autorefraction results relative to subjective refraction. The dynamic algorithm seems to behave as an efficient filter which select those measurements within the dynamic sequence that are more representative of the refractive error that is closest to the subjective refraction of the patient. Our results also suggest that accounting for the dynamic variations of low- and high-order aberrations rather than iterating only over different low-order corrections helps to provide a better estimate of the refractive error.
Please check out the complete paper (open Access) here
We are proud to welcome our new member Dr. Juan Aguirre Bueno. Recently, he has obtained the most prestigious research fellowship from Comunidad de Madrid (Atraccion Talento 2020) which has allowed him to return to Spain and to start his tenure track at the Autonomous University of Madrid. In MEDIC, he will lead a new research branch centered in Medical Sensors and their applications.
Bioscketch Dr. Juan Aguirre Bueno studied physics and applied mathematics in Spain. After completing his PhD in biomedical imaging in Madrid, he worked as a researcher in labs in Barcelona, Crete (Greece), and the University of Pennsylvania, USA. In 2013, he received a Marie Curie grant to join the Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI) at the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Chair of Biological Imaging at the Technical University of Munich. He has been the group leader of the optoacoustic mesoscopy in IBMI from 2014 until 2021.
Research Focus Dr. Aguirre research is focused on the conception, design and development of medical imaging and sensing technology meant to outperform established methods in terms of resolution, contrast, speed or quantification accuracy among other factors. These tools are in most cases intended to quantify biologically and medically relevant features that were not possible to be monitored before, in order to make real improvements in the clinical routine of major diseases, like cancer, cardiovascular, metabolic or dermatological diseases.
Handheld autorefractor to be used in Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) research
Cambridge, Massachusetts, November 29 – PlenOptika, Inc., creator of QuickSee™, the world’s most accurate handheld autorefractor, announced today it is participating in research to understand the impact of spaceflight on vision as part of the Translational Research Institute for Space Health’s (TRISH) research complement. QuickSee will be used to measure refractive error of a private visitor to the International Space Station (ISS) prior to departure next week and upon return 12 days later.
“We are excited to join this research to understand the impact of spaceflight on vision,” said Shivang Dave, PhD, CEO and Co-founder of PlenOptika. “It’s humbling and profoundly motivating to be part of the more than 60-year tradition of space medicine driving technology innovation that benefits the billions of people living on Earth.”
QuickSee will be used to measure the pre- and post-flight visual acuity of Yozo Hirano, a Japanese citizen who will travel with Yusaku Maezawa to the ISS on a 12-day mission by arrangement with Space Adventures, Inc. They will travel on the Soyuz MS-20 commanded by Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Dec. 8, 2021. Their experience in space will be shared on Maezawa’s YouTube channel.
The vision testing is part of TRISH’s EXPAND (Enhancing eXploration Platforms and ANalog Definition) program, which collects pre-flight, in-flight, and post-flight health data to increase human health and performance research on commercial spaceflights. TRISH is a virtual institute empowered by NASA’s Human Research Program to find and fund innovative solutions the challenges of human deep space exploration. Meeting TRISH’s rigorous requirements for accuracy and usability in demanding conditions, QuickSee is the only autorefractor selected for the mission. Mr Hirano’s participation in testing is expected to help understand the health impacts of spaceflight for the benefit of future explorers.
“PlenOptika’s QuickSee will provide valuable information about the effects of spaceflight on vision and will inform on the most important risks to human health in low earth orbit,” said Dorit Donoviel, PhD, TRISH executive director. “We are excited to have PlenOptika join TRISH’s EXPAND program and we are eager to see the results from this mission.”
Read the complete post at PlenOptika´s website here
Launched in 2017, Wild Card is backed by EIT Health – one of the largest healthcare networks in the world, counting 150 world-leading organisations as partners and supported by the European Union. Every year, Wild Card builds two new ventures that break new ground, push boundaries and troubleshoot some of European healthcare’s greatest challenges. We attract the brightest talent, mentor founders-to-be and invest up to €1.5 million in the two most promising ventures.
Growth-Stage and Series A-ready PlenOptika has managed, with funding that’s largely undilutive, to launch and commercially scale a new portable autorefractor called QuickSee in 30 countries, addressing a global need for vision testing. While the company’s top goal was to improve access for people in low resource settings, its product is as accurate as more expensive autorefractors, making it attractive for both low and high income settings.
The winner was our engineer Ignacio Salinas Sánchez.
This Bachelor Thesis presents the development of a calibration system for a visual simulation device: the SimVis, developed by 2eyesVision. This system prescribes multifocal lenses allowing patients to know if they adapt correctly to their needs before surgical implantation. To approach the project, the functionality of the calibration system has been divided into three main modules: camera, communication, and image processing, which are finally integrated into a main program. In addition, a calibration cradle prototype has been built to perform verification and validation tests.
Thank both Everis and the UAM for giving us the opportunity to participate in this type of competition, in which all the effort and time that students invest in these works is recognized.
According to the IAPB, The Eye Health Heroes program is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating “young and upcoming frontline staff, volunteers, support staff and more within the eye health sector,” focusing on “change-makers, innovators, and emerging leaders from across all areas and backgrounds in eye health.”
The Silmo d’Or is a prestigious award which rewards creativity and inventiveness in the optical and vision science research industry.
The sciences of vision have progressed a lot in recent years thanks to the numerous research works and innovations made in the materials. This new knowledge has led to significant changes in the methods of correcting vision defects, prescriptions and the development of equipment. To help all the professionals of the eye in the daily practice of their profession, to give them access to the latest research, the MONDIAL DE L’OPTIQUE welcomes since 2010, SILMO ACADEMY, a place of progress and exchanges, a meeting of reflection of high level for the optical sector-eyewear. This area of knowledge and training offers professionals who want it the information and experience they need today to understand the issues and changes in the sector. Created in 2010 under the leadership of Guy CHARLOT, SILMO ACADEMY is composed of a Scientific Council, responsible for validating the relevance of the content of the symposia. He is the guarantor of the scientific scope of the conferences
Congrats to Carlos S. Hernandez, Marcos Rubio and Team for wining the Live Health Track of the last edition of Hackaton Salud performed at UAM Medical School in June 2019
Dr Lage had the opportunity of joining a children screening team from Kenya during a mission in which 2 schools were visited. The first one was in a remote area of the country (Gatagati school, Nakuru) and the second one in an urban area (Tumaini school, Nakuru). The team was able to screen more than 260 kids using the QuickSee Technology in only 1.5 days of work.
Thanks Essilor and Kenya team for this great experience!!
APM Terminals Inland Services Kenya has partnered with non-profit group TwoBillionEyes Foundation to offer free eye tests and corrective glasses for truck drivers. The partnership not only improves safety for all concerned, but also creates new employment opportunities.
This time last year, Shivang Dave and his colleague Aaron Chang were sitting at a table in the District Architecture Center in downtown Washington, D.C., patiently taking questions as they watched a rotating group of engineers, industrial designers, manufacturing and supply chain experts, and journalists tinker… Conitnue Reading
Last Friday, April 13th, Carlos S. Hernández (Director of Engineering at PlenOptika Inc.) was invited to the third edition of biomedical engineering job fair “III JEIB” organised by CEEIBIS at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. In the event, he talked about his experience after finishing his university degree in Biomedical Engineering, the future of their professional career and providing useful information for freshly graduated biomedical engineers.
La Comunidad ofrece desde 2010 a los mejores investigadores científicos del mundo apoyo económico para sus proyectos junto con el Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts
Catorce hospitales públicos han incorporado, desde 2009, unidades de apoyo a la innovación. Se trata de departamentos en los que trabajan ingenieros y periodistas, entre otros licenciados a priori ajenos a la asistencia del enfermo, para realizar una labor desconocida hasta la fecha: poner en contacto el conocimiento de los médicos y, más difícil todavía, materializar la chispa creativa que sabe aprovechar esta sinergia para atender necesidades clínicas reales.
