OcuSciences Announces Publication Showing Potential to Detect Retinal Diseases with High Sensitivity

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OcuSciences, a medical device company developing ocular imagers to detect early disease by assessing retinal metabolic activity, today announced a publication in Frontiers in Ophthalmology journal. By assessing the flavoprotein fluorescence in the retina with its flagship device, the OcuMet Beacon, these findings suggest that the novel FPF measure can detect retinal diseases with a high degree of sensitivity.

This cross-sectional observational study, led by Richard Rosen, M.D., Chief of the Retina Service and Vice Chair and Director of Ophthalmology Research at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, included 88 eyes, with cohorts of retinal vein occlusion (RVO), diabetic retinopathy (DR), exudative age-related macular degeneration (exudative AMD), and central serous retinopathy (CSR). Patients were imaged with the OcuMet Beacon between October 2021 and August 2022 to capture and measure their overall FPF intensity and FPF heterogeneity. Patients in all four cohorts, which make up some of the leading causes of visual impairment worldwide, were shown to have significantly elevated FPF measures.

“Similar to our prior publications in glaucoma and diabetic macular edema, these findings suggest that flavoprotein fluorescence is a robust and reliable measure when investigating retinal diseases,” said Dr. Rosen. “This further supports that FPF could become an everyday tool in the detection and monitoring of retinal disease.”

“While these results pertain to four of the most common retinal diseases seen in clinical settings, we have also begun investigating inherited diseases, such as sickle cell disease, and its impact on retinal health,” explained lead author Sofia Ahsanuddin, Retina Research Fellow at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.

The OcuMet Beacon is an automated, rapid retinal imager that assesses mitochondrial function by interrogating flavoproteins. The OcuMet Beacon uses specific spectral signatures and advanced software to help clinicians identify early markers of disease. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been documented as a precursor to apoptosis, or cell death, and is implicated in many retinal diseases and disorders.

The OcuMet Beacon is currently being used under Institutional Review Board at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary at Mount Sinai.

About OcuSciences, Inc.

OcuSciences, Inc., is a commercial-stage biotechnology company developing retinal imagers to identify metabolic dysfunction occurring in the retina for the early detection of disease. Its flagship device, the OcuMet Beacon, has been developed to automatically and non-invasively assess retinal metabolic function by detecting the degree of flavoprotein fluorescence (FPF), a well-studied precursor to retinal cell death, in a patient’s eye. OcuSciences has shown preliminary clinical utility in a number of different disease states, including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. Learn more at www.ocusciences.com.