Berkshire-based medical device manufacturer Occuity has secured £2.85m of investment to develop a new device that would allow people with diabetes to monitor their blood sugar levels via an eye scan.
Occuity’s original funding goal of £1.8m was reached within 24 hours of launch on crowdfunding website Seedrs.
The Occuity Indigo was described as a non-contact, optical glucose meter and fits into the hand easily. It could also be used to screen for diabetes in just a few seconds, according to the company.
CEO and co-founder, Dr Dan Daly said: ‘Diabetes is a growing, global problem and we believe our technology will enable health services throughout the world to monitor and screen for diabetes, improving the clinical outcomes for hundreds of millions of people who are unaware they have pre-diabetes or diabetes.’
Design director Daniele De Iuliis spent 27 years as part of Apple's industrial design group and is now leading the design team for the Indigo. She said: 'For too long now, the way in which we discover and monitor chronic diseases like diabetes has been routed in repetitive finger stick blood testing with all the pain, discomfort and inconvenience that brings.
'In contrast, the Occuity Indigo will be a discrete handheld product that will simply scan the eye to take a glucose measurement providing a pain-free 21st century solution that is long overdue.'