Moorfields Eye Hospital, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology (IoO) and Topcon Healthcare launched a London-based medical technology company on May 9 called Cascader, which aimed to transform the detection and management of eye disease through artificial intelligence (AI).
Through combining the AI research and translational expertise of Moorfields and UCL IoO with the technical capabilities and international reach of Topcon Healthcare, Cascader aimed to accelerate the development of real-world clinical tools to benefit more patients, faster.
The company also sought to build on the field of oculomics, using retinal imaging to uncover insights into systemic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration and dementia.
Ali Tafreshi, CEO of Topcon Healthcare, said: ‘Cascader reflects our shared vision of how AI and ocular data can reshape eye care and enable new frontiers in precision medicine. This collaboration supports the broader mission of connecting ocular data to better health outcomes – both within eye care and beyond.’
Peter Ridley, chief executive of Moorfields Eye Hospital, added: ‘We are proud to support the founding of Cascader. This new venture represents the next step in our commitment to translating world-class clinical research into tangible benefits for patients and the NHS.’
UCL Business (UCLB), the commercialisation company for UCL and its partner hospitals, was also said to be instrumental in the set-up of the new venture. Associate director Mark Fisher commented that partnering with industrial leaders in oculomics should accelerate routes to market for AI technologies.
‘It exemplifies the value of close relationships between academics and clinicians in creating technologies that will bring major benefits to patients as a result of earlier diagnosis in a range of diseases,’ he said.
Areas of focus
Macular diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, will be the initial focus for Cascader, building on work led by Moorfields and UCL IoO. This included a collaboration on Google DeepMind and the development of RETFound, the first foundation model in ophthalmology, published in Nature in 2023.
The British-American AI research laboratory DeepMind and Moorfields began collaborating in 2016 to investigate how AI could help to better analyse eye scans for an improved understanding of eye disease. This was hoped to lead to earlier detection and treatment for patients and to help to avoid cases of preventable eye disease.
The AI system RETFound, developed using millions of eye scans from the NHS, demonstrated the potential to identify sight-threatening eye diseases and predict or identify other health conditions, including heart attacks, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease.
Professor Pearse Keane, chief medical advisor and co-founder of Cascader, plus consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital and professor of artificial medical intelligence at UCL IoO, commented that the previous research established ‘proof of concept that an AI model could accurately detect eye conditions on par with human experts’.
Keane told Optician that Cascader would aim to develop a robust AI system for assessing macular and retinal diseases so that community settings like opticians could prioritise referring people with sight-threatening conditions to ophthalmologists.
He said Cascader intended to create clinical tools for the earlier detection and management of a whole range of eye conditions, not only macular and retinal disease, but also glaucoma, for example.
‘In the long term, we are also hoping to explore the potential of AI tools for early detection of systemic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and dementia. We have already demonstrated this potential in a research setting, establishing the rapidly growing field of oculomics – using biomarkers in the eye as indicators of systemic disease, with the help of OCT imaging and large-scale eye health data,’ he said.
While Cascader was in the ‘very early stages’, Keane added that the company’s aspirations to develop accessible technology could ‘make a difference to millions of people around the world, preventing sight loss and improving health outcomes’.
Moorfields’ Insight Health Data Research Hub will support AI development at Cascader – through access to curated data and advanced computing infrastructure. Insight, comprising 35m retinal images linked to clinical metadata, was said to enable secure, anonymised data access for approved researchers, supported by advanced AI infrastructure, curation services and active patient involvement.
Cascader was also said to mark a significant step in translating oculomics into clinical care and aligning with broader global efforts, including Topcon Healthcare’s ‘Healthcare from the Eye’ initiative – ‘to harness ocular data as a gateway to more proactive, connected and equitable healthcare’.
Chief executive officer and co-founder of Cascader, Peter Thomas, a consultant ophthalmologist and chief clinical information officer at Moorfields, said the partnership presented a huge opportunity to reshape how eye care is delivered by bringing AI to frontline services – whether in hospitals, clinics or the high street.
‘Cascader will play a key role in translating groundbreaking research into real-world tools that support both patients and professionals,’ he said.
