Reyedar is a spin-off company of the Ophthalmology Department of the University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands. Established in early 2020, it is a fast-growing startup that aims to make healthcare more inclusive and affordable by developing non-invasive, portable diagnostic tests using eye movements. Reyedar’s tests detect degenerative retinal conditions at early stages using a combination of eye-tracking and artificial intelligence. Thanks to this innovative technology, Reyedar’s solution cuts assessment times by 80% and, for the first time, enables accurate and objective functional vision testing outside hospitals.
There is a scarcity of eye doctors available in Europe and the Netherlands. Less populated areas are particularly affected by this issue, where long waiting times for a specialist visit have become the norm. This long waiting delays interventions on patients whose vision loss could have been prevented. An example of ophthalmic diseases that would benefit from a widespread screening system is Diabetic Retinopathy, which requires frequent monitoring with specialized equipment.
Within ODE, Reyedar will develop a telemedicine system for remote functional vision testing. We will develop tools to measure the retinal sensitivity loss and eye movement alterations occurring in Diabetic Retinopathy. Our proposed solution will consist of an eye-tracking wearable device and advanced analytics based on Deep Learning. Data will be collected locally by General Practitioners and Opticians and analyzed in the Cloud. Then, the Cloud will send the results to a remote Ophthalmologist for a quick check. We aim to bring healthcare closer to the people who need it most while alleviating hospitals’ pressure.
Our project aims to involve many stakeholders in the healthcare landscape: hospitals, GPs, opticians, patient associations, and data science centers of expertise. “We chose ODE because we strongly believe in the power of networks,” says Alessandro Grillini, Managing Director. “We aim to create a virtuous new diagnostic healthcare model in the Northern Netherlands, where its need is critical, to set an example of excellence that could be adopted nationally and internationally.”
Picture from left to right: Camiel van Vught, Ilyas Haciomeroglu, Carlo Enrico Petrillo, Annemarie Booijenga Crouched: Alessandro Grillini
