# Low cost retinal optical coherence tomography for point of care use

> **NIH NIH R44** · LUMEDICA, INC. · 2020 · $499,919

## Abstract

The objective of this research is to create a clinical prototype of a new optical coherence
tomography (OCT) system suitable for diagnostic retinal imaging at the point of care.
The target system price will be one third the price of currently available research OCT
systems while providing performance comparable to other entry level OCT imaging
systems. By breaking the $15,000 system barrier we will provide an incisive tool that will
be disruptive to the market by making OCT accessible to clinics and health care
professionals who previously could not afford this technology. We have spoken with
ophthalmologists and optometrists who confirm the need for a low-cost portable system
in the detection and monitoring of diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, retinopathy of
prematurity, and macular degeneration.
Increased access to OCT can have a profound effect in ophthalmology. By significantly
reducing instrument cost, this OCT system will be affordable for retinal screening at the
point of care and in a wide range of research applications. This price point also opens
markets in developing countries where the value of clinical OCT is understood, but
currently clinical systems are too expensive. The research plan, proposed here, will
create a prototype of the low cost OCT instrument suitable for clinical ophthalmic use.
We propose to achieve the following milestones: (1) Improve design of low cost OCT.
We will transition from off-the-shelf to custom parts to reduce system cost and improve
performance over the Phase I prototype including increasing the A-scan rate to 80,000
lines per second. (2) Integrate OCT with handheld fundus camera. Our market research
shows that this capability is important for clinical acceptability. (3) Develop new software
for instrument control and image analysis. We will transition our software from Windows
to Linux-based to increase performance. New image analysis packages will be
developed with aid of a collaborator. (4) Test system on human subjects. Clinical
performance will be assessed in a small clinical feasibility trial with our collaborator, Dr.
Ulrich at the UNC Kittner eye center.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9969370
- **Project number:** 5R44EY026480-03
- **Recipient organization:** LUMEDICA, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** William Brown
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $499,919
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-01 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9969370

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9969370, Low cost retinal optical coherence tomography for point of care use (5R44EY026480-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9969370. Licensed CC0.

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