Health Innovation
Glaucoma monitoring device receives CIHR commercialization funding
April 28, 2025
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Tanzila Afrin, co-founder of LenSense, presenting at the What's NeXt Showcase pitch competition during DiscoveryX conference, where the company won first prize and a $10,000 award.
LenSense Inc., a Queen's 카지노게임사이트 startup, has secured a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to develop and commercialize an innovative contact lens-based intraocular pressure (IOP) monitor for diagnosing and managing treatment of glaucoma.
Glaucoma affects over 450,000 Canadians and is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss, often progressing unnoticed until significant vision loss occurs. Regular eye check-ups are crucial for early detection, but traditional methods require a doctor카지노 게임 컬렉션s visit and provide only a single IOP snapshot, making it difficult to spot trends over time.
LenSense카지노 게임 컬렉션s device enables continuous calculation of IOP, allowing for more accurate monitoring, earlier detection, and improved treatment efficacy for glaucoma, thereby reducing the risk of blindness.
카지노 게임 컬렉션Early detection and monitoring of elevated IOP are crucial for the management of the disease,카지노 게임 컬렉션 says Tanzila Afrin, co-founder of LenSense, who has been working closely with the IOP sensor inventors Yong Jun Lai (Mechanical and Materials Engineering), Robert Campbell (Ophthalmology), and Angelica Campigotto, who was a Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션s PhD candidate during the invention process. 카지노 게임 컬렉션The commercialization of LenSense's contact lens-based IOP monitoring device has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life for individuals with glaucoma.카지노 게임 컬렉션
Drs. Lai and Campbell, along with their teams, are collaborating with industrial and medical partners, including Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) and the Toronto Kensington Eye Institute, to advance the device through essential preclinical studies before clinical trials. Having already begun manufacturing the prototype, LenSense will complete these studies this spring and plans to submit its pilot clinical study for Health Canada approval.
The $596,700 CIHR grant is a key milestone for LenSense, supporting its entry into clinical studies. The company was incorporated in 2022 with funding from Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션s collaboration with the Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners카지노 게임 컬렉션 Venture Fund and has continued to move forward with the guidance from Michael Wells, Partnerships Development Officer with Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션s Partnerships and Innovation (QPI), as well as other programs and mentors, including Tandem Launch and the OBIO® Women Entrepreneurship Program.
카지노 게임 컬렉션We feel very fortunate to have secured funding in the CIHR Commercialization stream,카지노 게임 컬렉션 says Dr. Afrin. 카지노 게임 컬렉션This opportunity is exciting because it allows us to go beyond research and advance the technology closer to market.카지노 게임 컬렉션
Stephen Scribner, Director of Intellectual Property and patent agent at QPI, has led efforts to secure crucial intellectual property rights for the technology. Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션s and KHSC have obtained four U.S. patents, with applications pending in Canada and Europe. LenSense will license the technology from these institutions, and has submitted trademark applications in Canada and the U.S. The company is also seeking to hire additional researchers to enhance the artificial intelligence (AI) components of its technology.
With patents secured and grant funding in place, along with ongoing support from Queen's 카지노게임사이트 and collaboration with leading medical institutions, LenSense is poised to make a significant and positive impact on the lives of glaucoma patients.