AI and Robotics : EyeLib™, an ophthalmic station designed by MIKAJAKI thanks to the expertise of SEGULA TECHNOLOGIES, obtains the CE mark

11 janvier 2022

EyeLib™ is an innovative automated diagnostic station that promises to revolutionize the management of the growing number of patients with vision disorders. Combining artificial intelligence and robotics, it can perform 100 different measurements of the eye in less than 6 minutes and enables the automation of around 20 diagnoses from cataracts to myopia to glaucoma detection. The result of close collaboration between MIKAJAKI and SEGULA TECHNOLOGIES’ teams, it recently obtained European certification authorizing its marketing, and 30 of these stations have already been ordered.

The shortage of ophthalmologists

It is estimated that within five to ten years, the use of screens could lead to a 30% increase in ophthalmology consultations. The life expectancy of the population is increasing and with it, vision disorders such as AMD (age-related macular degeneration). However, the number of ophthalmologists is constantly decreasing, as the number of retirements exceeds the number of new ophthalmologists. Another problem is the disparity: there are many more practices around large cities than in rural areas. Getting an appointment for a new patient is becoming problematic, and the pandemic has also increased the delay for consultations.

EyeLib™, the diagnostic station that is revolutionizing patient care

Faced with this shortage, MIKAJAKI, a Swiss start-up with expertise in ophthalmology, has designed EyeLib™, an automated ophthalmological analysis station that enables advanced, rapid and very complete diagnoses thanks to the use of artificial intelligence and robotics, backed by the expertise of the teams at SIMRA, a subsidiary of SEGULA TECHNOLOGIES dedicated to industrial production.
The latter provided the design and engineering of a version 2.0 of EyeLib™ in order to make the model more accessible and industrializable, they are now accompanying the deployment in this industrialization phase.
After a year of development at the SEGULA site in Saint-Nazaire, MIKAJAKI has just obtained the CE mark, i.e. the green light from the European authorities to market EyeLib™ throughout Europe. The station is already installed in three specialized centers in Paris (75), Nantes (44) and Provins (77).

Dr. Michael Assouline, co-founder and medical director of MIKAJAKI, states:

“It is a huge satisfaction to see such an ambitious vision and project materialize in such a short time. EyeLib™ is a revolution, a concrete medical response to a problem that affects all continents: the shortage of ophthalmologists. This device is intended to compensate for various shortages: of practitioners, of time,
expertise, and resources, by offering very high quality medical information. Fulfilling our first orders is a real achievement.”

Stéphane Parpinelli, Open Innovation Director at SEGULA, comments:

“It is a great source of pride to have participated in the development of EyeLib™. SIMRA’s teams in Saint-Nazaire are heavily involved in this project, which mobilizes all their skills and enriches them with those of SEGULA TECHNOLOGIES’ Process Division, such as automation or electrical wiring. The successful prototyping and industrialization of a technological platform that represents a real medical breakthrough illustrates both our agility and our ability to add value to the most complex products.

A rapid examination and a complete diagnosis

Combining artificial intelligence and robotics, EyeLib™ enables rapid, highly advanced and comprehensive ophthalmological diagnoses that are fully automated and then refer patients to the appropriate specialists. The device is presented as a station that can be automatically adjusted to different morphologies and is accessible to people of all sizes as well as to wheelchair users.

A station that adapts to all morphologies, accessible to people in wheelchairs

At the reception desk, the patient will first be faced with a virtual agent (chatbot) driven by artificial intelligence that will propose an online questionnaire After answering it, he or she will benefit from a quick succession of opto-electronic measurements of the eye. In a few minutes, EyeLib™ analyzes about a hundred objective parameters and generates a detailed report that also includes very detailed imaging of the eye’s anatomical and optical structures. These results are then combined with the subjective data collected by the questionnaire, to generate by means of several artificial intelligence algorithms an exhaustive pre-diagnosis as well as all the optical prescriptions with an unequalled precision (glasses, lenses, implants for cataract or myopia surgery).