Mikajaki Partners With Segula Technologies to Develop Ophthalmic Diagnosis Device

Swiss startup Mikajaki is teaming up with engineering group Segula Technologies to develop the first operational series of EyeLib, an automated diagnostic station that aims to revolutionize the management of the growing number of patients with vision disorders, according to a company news release.

Combining artificial intelligence and robotics, EyeLib allows for rapid, fully automated advanced and comprehensive ophthalmological diagnoses and consequent referrals to the appropriate specialists. The device is presented as a mobile station that is automatically adjustable to different morphologies. After answering an online questionnaire through a virtual agent (chatbot) driven by artificial intelligence, the patient benefits from a rapid succession of opto-electronic measurements of the eye. In a few minutes, EyeLib analyses around 100 objective parameters and generates a detailed report that also includes highly 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 a comprehensive pre-diagnosis by means of several artificial intelligence algorithms.

While the very first prototypes of the EyeLib cabins are already in place in Nantes and Paris, and Mikajaki is already registering 20 pre-orders in several European countries, Segula Technologies is bringing its experience as an industrial engineer to the startup to currently assist in the design of the commercial machine. The EyeLib is easy to industrialize, fast and accessible to people of all sizes, as well as to wheelchair users. Several Segula teams are working on the project, which requires skills in industrial design and automation.

“We are delighted to be able to provide our expertise to a leading startup like Mikajaki in the study and production of the first series of its EyeLib station, which represents a real breakthrough for the medical world,” Stéphane Parpinelli, Open Innovation Director at Segula, said in a company news release. “This collaboration highlights the ability of our HeXplora startup hub to support, in a relationship of mutual trust, young innovative companies in the prototyping and industrialization of their products thanks to the mobilization and agility of Segula’s various pools of experts.”

Michael Assouline, co-founder and medical director at Mikajaki, stated “In less than two and a half years, we have been able to complete the prototype development phase and create an innovative process to generate an intelligent report of great medical value. We see this as a revolutionary solution to the problem of the shortage of ophthalmologists in France and worldwide. We hope that this cooperation will enable us to make our vision a concrete reality, widely distributed throughout the world.”