Clinical validation of retinal oximetry as a biomarker
Disturbance in oxygenation of the retina of the eye is believed to be involved in many sight-threatening diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. Oxymap ehf (SME) has developed an oximeter to measure retinal oxygenation. The oximeter is already used by over 20 research groups and the results of small-scale studies indicate that the oximeter can measure disturbed oxygenation in various common and serious eye diseases.

The Oxymap oximeter is currently only useable for research and the aim of the phase 1 and 2 projects is to validate oximetry for clinical use. This will allow earlier intervention and better monitoring of disease progress, benefiting individual patients. Due to the high prevalence and severity of the diseases, societal and economic gains are also considerable. Moving retinal oximetry from being a research tool only to being a validated clinical biomarker will also create a much larger market for Oxymap.

The phase 1 project will yield a feasibility report, including a business plan. The project will lay the foundation for later uptake of retinal oximetry in clinical practise and the concurrent successful commercialisation.