Heru, a Bascom Palmer Eye Institute medical technology company developing an AI-powered vision diagnostics platform for commercially available augmented and mixed reality (AR/MR) devices, has recently come out of stealth mode to announce its class I listing with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its cloud-based AR platform’s first diagnostic application for visual field exams.
Following the closing of a USD $2.7 million seed investment round in June this year, the company has been able to use the funding to facilitate the completion of current clinical trials for FDA clearance of Heru’s wearable AI platform and subsequent commercialization efforts. Heru stated that the funding was led by Maurice Ferre, MD, Frederic Moll, MD, and a consortium of investors with extensive experience developing, launching, and scaling cutting edge medical technologies.
According to Heru, its platform can autonomously diagnose a user’s vision defects and customize individual vision augmentation based on their unique requirements. Heru’s solution involves cloud-powered infrastructure, AI, web portals, and apps, with no need for dedicated exam rooms. Instead technicians and patients alike can perform tests in any setting, be that in a clinic, a pharmacy, or from home. As a result, Heru states that its AI software platform provides a convenient and accurate solution that is ideally positioned to enable increased access for critical eye health diagnostics, screening, and visual augmentation for patients.
Heru states its software is developed to work with commercially available XR devices, including the Magic Leap 1 and Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 headsets. The company’s goal is to provide physicians and patients access to smarter, more accurate and portable technology to diagnose and treat visual field loss, double vision and other vision disorders. The company added that additional diagnostic applications are under development to deliver objective diagnostic tests that use some of the advanced sensors found on mixed reality wearable devices. These tests will monitor a patient’s interactions with visual stimuli, then use this information in real-time to map the visual field and evaluate for various vision defects.
“Gone are the days where large and cumbersome devices occupy exam rooms and medical-grade furniture. Heru’s modern approach to diagnostics enables eye care professionals to deploy light-weight cloud technology both virtually and in person, saving time and space while maintaining the clinical standard of care,” said Eduardo C. Alfonso, M.D., Professor and Chairman at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
“As a cloud-based software technology, Heru’s applications can reach care providers instantly, in all settings,” said Ferre. “Now more than ever, it is important that we leverage best-in-class technology to help patients diagnose and manage their vision health.”
John Trefethen, Chief Marketing Officer at Heru, commented: “Healthcare technology has changed. We are experiencing a fundamental transition away from physical devices to the software that controls them. We must scale to address the growing need for patient care.”
For more information on Heru and its mixed reality solutions for visual field exams and testing, please visit the company’s website.
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