H2020 Innovation Action IMCUSTOMEYE, coordinated by VIOBIO Lab, kicks off

The IMCUSTOMEYE project, a competitive H2020 Innovation Action of the Photonics KET Program, has just been launched under the leadership of the Visual Optics and Biophotonics Laboratory (Institute of Optics, CSIC; Principal Investigator: Susana Marcos).

IMCUSTOMEYE will develop a novel non-invasive label-free imaging-based in-depth diagnostic tool to create a step change in the paradigm for diagnostics of vision-threatening conditions including keratoconus, myopia, glaucoma, cataract and presbyopia, some of which potentially lead to loss of independence and productivity, with an impact on their treatment. The prevalence of these conditions ranges between 0.05% (keratoconus) to 100% (presbyopia in population >50 yr), and increase with age. Current standards for diagnosis and therefore treatment rely on limited quantitative information preventing treatments to be customised for individual patient’s needs. The proposed in-depth diagnostic paradigm will make use of morphological, biomechanical and optical biomarkers acquired from a new imaging device, based on Optical Coherence Tomography. These will allow creating predictive customised eye models that can guide diagnosis and treatment of individual patients. The optimisation and customisation of diagnosis, which has not been possible before, are expected to lead to significant improvement in both the provision and cost of eye healthcare.

The consortium is formed by leading institutions  and companies in optical imaging, ocular biomechanics and ophthalmology.  Partners include Academic Institutions: University of Liverpool (UK), Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland), National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland); Eye Hospitals: Instituto Oftalmológio Fernandez Vega (Spain), and University College London Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital (UK) and companies: IROC Science to Innovation AG (Switzerland), 2EyesVision SL (Spain), Oculus  Optikgeräte GmbH (Germany), Optimo Medical AG (Switzerland)

More information and updates of the project will be found at www.imcustomeye.eu and @IMCUSTOMEYE