ECS04
MACHINEMD LAUNCHES NEOS™ – THE WORLD’S FIRST NEUROPHTHALMOSCOPE
P. Norris1,*
1machineMD, Bern, Switzerland
machineMD is a medical device startup innovating at the intersection of neuroscience and ophthalmology. The company was founded in 2019 as a spin-off from the Eye Movement Laboratory of the University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland, where it retains headquarters, and now also has a subsidiary in Boston, USA.
We believe objective eye exams increase healthcare provider efficiency, reduce clinical error and improve patients’ quality of life.
Launched in 2024, machineMD’s flagship device is neos™ – the world’s first neurophthalmoscope – an automated medical device that supersedes the need for manual assessments of eye movements and pupillary function that are conducted daily by optometrists, comprehensive ophthalmologists, and general neurologists.
Current starndard of care is manual, time-intensive, subjective examinations. Misdiagnosis in primary and secondary care is evident in 50% of neuro-ophthalmic referrals, leading to significant harm for 26% and unnecessary procedures for 80% of those patients. Median referral time to a neuro-ophthalmologist is 200 days, with a recognized shortage in filling these subspecialty fellowships and full-time positions.
To address this unmet need, neos™ enables medical assistants to perform a fast, objective, standardized examination of eye movements and pupillary function, leveraging an industry-leading VR headset with gamified stimuli. High-frequency eye tracking enables neos™ to empower primary, secondary, and tertiary care providers with quantitative reports compatible with electronic health record systems.
Abnormalities in eye movements and pupillary function are closely linked to neurological disorders, with the potential to serve as important digital biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of inflammatory and neurodegenative disorders. Together with neurologists, machineMD’s solution is already used to study people living with Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Myasthenia Gravis, and beyond.