The National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health has awarded Theia Imaging an SBIR Phase II Award of approximately $2.0M. This award will support the development and regulatory clearance of an interchangeable widefield lens for Theia's forthcoming T2 handheld optical coherence tomography (OCT) system.
In adults and older children, OCT is the gold standard for diagnosis and management of retinal diseases. Most clinical OCT systems are large, tabletop devices that require a compliant subject, capable of positioning in a chin rest and fixating on a target. These limitations typically result in the exclusion of infants and young children from OCT imaging. These patients have one of the greatest needs for OCT imaging due to their inability to communicate about disturbance or loss of vision before irrecoverable vision loss occurs.
Premature infants are at high risk for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) , and are increasingly making up a larger proportion of babies born in the US. While the use of handheld OCT systems for point of care imaging has led to significant insights into the pathophysiology of ROP, the clinical adoption of these technologies has been limited due, in part, to the limited field-of-view of these systems.
The team at Theia believes that the development of a widefield handheld OCT system will significantly improve the diagnostic utility of handheld OCT for assessment of ROP and other diseases, including those involving the peripheral retina. This technology will ultimately improve access to care for these patients while also reducing costs.
Theia is currently working to bring to market the Theia T2, a handheld OCT system with a non-contact lens and moderate field-of-view. With support from this new grant, Theia will be able to launch a widefield lens alongside the standard T2 non-contact system. The resulting T2 platform will feature a modular scan head that accepts interchangeable lens bores. The flexibility and cost reduction provided by this modular platform will significantly improve access to OCT imaging for infants and young children.
Learn more at theiaimaging.com.
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