Dr Zachary Helft

Neurotech and artificial intelligence (AI) start-up C Light has developed a non-invasive, fast and objective retinal eye-tracking technology to help doctors quickly and more accurately diagnose neurological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis (MS).

Based at the University of California Berkeley’s tech incubator, the company was formed around a tracking scanning laser ophthalmoscope (TSLO) developed by C Light co-founder Dr Christy Sheehy. The TSLO technology measures the motion of the eye on a cellular scale; movements as small as 1/100 the size of human hair.

"The back of your eye is actually the front of your brain. We use AI paired with eye tracking to create a digital fingerprint of your neurological health with unprecedented speed and sensitivity," said co-founder Dr Zachary Helft. "Other technologies use the pupil to track eye motion, but our technique images the retina for 120 times more sensitivity… C Light measures eye motion that has been otherwise invisible through existing pupil tracking technologies."

In this era of digital health, C Light is creating a completely new data stream about the status of brain health via the eye, said Dr Sheehy. “Our growing databases and accompanying AI can change the way we monitor and treat all neurological diseases for future generations."

Patients can be tested in 10 seconds, are free to blink and don’t require eye drops or dilation, said Dr Sheehy. Though testing has begun with MS, future applications can extend to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and concussions, she added.