In addition to Dr. Querfurth, the 3ED development team includes PhD scientists in biomedical engineering with extensive experience in medical device R&D, and professionals with business experience in medical device product development and biotech startups.
Cerepress™
Third Eye Diagnostics, Inc. is developing the Cerepress™, a first-of-its-kind non-invasive intracranial pressure monitor that gathers information from the patient's eye. The Cerepress’ underlying technology is the innovative combination of two well-established medical techniques from different medical fields: 1) Ophthalmodynamometry (ODM) is a technique used by ophthalmologists to study blood flow in the vessels in the back of the eye; and 2) color Doppler imaging (CDI) is a technique used to quantify blood flow parameters. Our patent-protected methodology uses these two techniques to obtain blood pressure in the eye’s central retinal vein and blood velocity in the central retinal artery, which taken together highly correlate to intracranial pressure.
The Cerepress™ will comprise two parts: a measurement component that rests on the patient's face, and a computer laptop that acquires and analyzes the measurement data. The unit will consist of goggles that rest on the face of a supine patient. Housed in the eye pieces will be an ultrasound probe, a tonometer with an integrated retinal camera, and an ophthalmodynamometer. A series of measurements will be made over the course of one minute: 1) The tonometer will measure the resting intraocular pressure; 2) The retinal camera will image the central retinal vein (CRV) on the optic disc while the ODM presses on the sclera of the eye to determine the force needed to collapse of the CRV; and 3) Doppler ultrasound will measure the pulsatility of the central retinal artery (CRA). The goggles will communicate via a cable to a computer, which will display images of the optic disc. The goggles will adjust to aim the retinal camera and ultrasound probe so that the optic disc is centered in the digital view. After the measurements are taken, the computer software will calculate and display ICP.
The output of the device is a single point reading of intracranial pressure in units of mmHg, which can be performed serially as often as necessary.
Targeted Markets
- Diagnosis and/or monitoring of elevated intracranial pressure prior to the insertion of an invasive intracranial pressure monitor such as a ventriculostomy.
- Monitoring of patients at risk for intracranial hypertension secondary to non-head trauma (e.g, stroke edema associated with implant surgeries).
- Locations with these needs include: Neuromonitoring in hospital Neuro-ICUs, emergency rooms, surgical suites, medical transport vehicles, general practitioner offices, combat theater, sports clinics.
Recent News
May 27, 2009. Ben Franklin Technology Partners invests in Third Eye Diagnostics. press
March 2, 2009. President and CEO, Anthony Bellezza Ph.D., named entrepreneur of the month on Lehigh Valley Entrepreneur TV. video
November 13, 2008. Third Eye Diagnostics wins Ben Franklin Venture Idol contest.
April, 2008. Ben Franklin Technology Partners invests in Third Eye Diagnostics.
Our offices are located at the Ben Franklin TechVentures at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. For more information please send an email to info@3-e-d.com.