A Global First for Medalytix

The British company, Medaltyx, 15 percent of which is owned by the ONCE Business Corporation (CEOSA), has pioneered and launched innovative technology for automated retinopathy screening in Scotland. Therefore, Scotland has become the first national screening service to detect retinopathy using “i-Grading” technology, groundbreaking software to diagnose this eye disease caused by diabetes. The software offers Ophthalmology hospital services exact, safe and rapid results without the need for additional human or technical resources.

“i-Grading” is an innovative solution that automatically assesses the quality of digital retinal images to detect the presence of microaneurysms at the back of the eye, identifying early signs of diabetic retinopathy, which could lead to blindness if left untreated. In fact, diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in the working population and therefore effective screening programmes to ensure early diagnosis and treatments are crucial in preventing blindness.

The marketing of this groundbreaking software which is set to revolutionize detection programmes is the responsibility of Medalytix (www.medalytix.com), a company founded in 2006 and based in the United Kingdom, specialized in automated screening and building a clinical portfolio, using technologies that can detect early signs of eye disease by screening photographs of the eye. Medalytix is currently working on different technological programs around the world and has recently visited the World Ophthalmology Conference in Berlin.
As far as “i-Grading” is concerned, it is a tried and tested IT solution which is proven to be a compelling and practical alternative to traditional manual diabetic retinopathy screening processes, the demand for which is often saturated, as the number of people suffering from diabetes is rapidly increasing throughout the world. Diabetic retinopathy currently affects 6 out of every 100 people in the United Kingdom and up to 25 out of every 100 in developed countries with a higher prevalence of diabetes. It is calculated that 80 percent of diabetics will develop retinopathy, a disease which initially lacks symptoms and may lead to partial and even total loss of sight, but can be avoided with early detection using digital photography of the eye and laser photocoagulation treatment. Each year, one out of every 1,000 diabetics lose their sight (1,000 people a year in the United Kingdom alone), whereby the risk increases, the longer a person suffers from diabetes; diabetics over 20 years suffer some type of diabetic retinopathy.