UK medical technology start-up Siloton has been awarded an £8.4 million contract to accelerate the development of its portable eye imaging system. Based on optical coherence tomography (OCT), the company’s GiraffeOCT device generates detailed retinal images for detection and monitoring of a range of treatable eye diseases.
OCT is a non-invasive optical technique that creates high-resolution, depth-resolved images of biological tissue. While OCT is the clinical gold standard for diagnosing retinal diseases, existing systems are large and expensive and typically only available in hospitals and optometry clinics. By using photonic chip technology to shrink the bulky optical components onto a single coin-sized chip, Siloton is developing an easy-to-use, handheld binocular-style system.
The contract, from Innovate UK, will massively accelerate development of both the in-clinic GiraffeOCT system and the at-home version, which will have built-in automation and guidance so that users can reliably image themselves. “The contract will reduce the time to market for the medical device by one to two years,” says Alasdair Price, CEO of Siloton. “It will also allow us to grow the company, bringing in new skills around manufacturing and regulation, both of which are critical to the next stage of the business.”
Continuing clinical trials
In 2024, Siloton was the first commercial organization to demonstrate sub-surface imaging of a human retina, using its first-generation Akepa OCT photonic chip. The following year, the company trialled its device with patients for the first time, imaging their retinas to identify the presence and progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Testing continued as the system developed, with a second cohort of patients imaged earlier this year.
In addition, the Project Ginan consortium in Australia has purchased a GiraffeOCT research system and independently evaluated its retinal imaging performance with a group of healthy volunteers.
Over the course of the two-year Innovate UK contract, Siloton will work with Sunderland Specialist Eye Hospital in the UK to perform clinical trials of the in-clinic device, giving patients access to the technology during its development. “These trials will be based around the prototype for the full medical device, providing additional post-processing and improved ergonomics compared to our research-use only product line,” Price explains.
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The funding will also support the development and internal testing of Siloton’s second-generation CheetahOCT system, a research-use device that will measure different layers of the retina, expanding the number of conditions that it can detect. CheetahOCT incorporates the company’s second‑generation BlueJay chip – the same architecture used in the system that Siloton is building for astronauts – and will be available from early 2027.
“The image performance will be significantly improved, increasing the number of biomarkers that it can be used to measure. This means you will be able see more of the eye and in finer detail,” Price tells Physics World. “CheetahOCT will also be much more compact, as we continue to miniaturize other parts of the system that fall outside the photonic chip.”
- Siloton was a winner of a business innovation award from the Institute of Physics in 2023.