COHORT 2
Transforming microscopes into smart, connected devices
Augmentiqs is an Israel-based startup that “evolutionizes” the microscope, transforming it into a smart, connected device. While the microscope plays a central role in disease diagnosis, it remains principally an analog technology in an interactive, digital world. Augmentiqs addresses these limitations with an electro-optical module that retrofits into existing microscopes, facilitating augmented reality of the eyepiece and live-image capture of tissue samples. Acting as a low-cost platform for multi-directional communication between the PC and microscope, Augmentiqs enables pathologists to deploy workflow-enhancing software and engage in real-time collaboration.
Eliminating stitching in 360° video
Circle Optics develops advanced panoramic imaging systems that enable machines to see more of their surroundings. Backed by 23 patents issued and pending and more than $15 million in government funding, its patented optical architecture captures wide-field imagery without traditional software stitching, reducing latency and computational demand while delivering accurately registered visual data in real time. Designed for applications where situational awareness matters, Circle Optics technology supports autonomous systems, counter-UAS, robotics, defense, and critical infrastructure. Its Pegasus™ and Hydra™ platforms combine panoramic coverage, low SWaP-C, and real-time performance to provide high-quality visual data for AI-enabled systems, advancing how machines perceive, understand, and navigate complex environments.
Using fiber optics to measure movement and performance
(Previously Organic Robotics Corporation)
LLUME, a spin-out company from the Cornell University Organic Robotics Lab, is using fiber optics to measure movement and chest expansion in order to monitor fatigue, recovery, and performance in athletes and other users. LLUME’s Light Lace™ is a stretchable, wearable smart material that can sense its own shape and measure pressure on its surface. This fabric is currently being tested as an “artificial skin” for robots, providing them with both touch-sensitivity as well as feedback on how the robot’s limbs are positioned in space. Further commercial applications include smart garments that can improve competitive performance in athletics, create a sense of body awareness in a virtual environment, or monitor pressure ulcers from peripheral neuropathy that could lead to amputation.
Making it easier to diagnose retina disease
Lumedica is on a mission to reduce the incidence of blindness. Its OQ EyeScope technology provides a medical instrument for diagnosing retina disease that is easy to acquire, transport, and use in all optometry offices. Every year, 1.5 million people around the world become legally blind due to retina disease. Ninety percent of these outcomes could be prevented if the disease is diagnosed early. The problem is that there is an insufficient number of gold standard diagnostic tools available because current optical coherence tomography (OCT) instruments are expensive, bulky, and fragile. The Lumedica system increases access because it can be sold at a fraction of the cost of current systems, and provides the benefits of portability and toughness. It is Lumedica’s vision to place these systems in optometry, ophthalmology, and field clinic settings all over the world.
Imaging individual brain cells firing in real time
Acquired 12/2022 by Bruker Corporation
Neurescence envisions a day when brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, depression, and schizophrenia are diagnosed with certainty and treatments are available to fundamentally manage and cure these diseases. To this end, its Quartet system can image individual brain cells firing in real-time as the subject moves and performs a task. This data along with Neurescence’s analytics software enables new understanding of brain disease mechanisms and provides unprecedented insight into the effect of drugs on the formation of neuronal circuits and their relation to a task being carried out by the subject. Neurescence hopes to eventually use its technology to help surgeons better determine where to operate in the brain.
Protecting identities with tamper-proof, personalized holograms
Opalux uses tamper-proof, personalized holograms to protect identification documents. Counterfeited documents compromise public safety and border security, enabling criminal activity such as fraud, illegal migration, and terrorism. Existing security features do not sufficiently protect the portrait on a document from being replaced, and they cannot prevent the entire document from being simulated. Opalux has developed an innovative security feature, called MyImage™, that permanently engraves an individual’s portrait and personal data inside a color-shifting hologram that is easy to authenticate but impossible to counterfeit.
Providing individualized vision correction with custom contact lenses
OVITZ has developed an individualized vision-enhancing contact lens innovation that significantly improves people’s vision quality: clarity, contrast, and depth perception. Patients with irregular corneas suffer from severe blurry and distorted vision, making daily tasks like reading or driving very difficult. The diagnosis and correction options available today often do not adequately detect or correct all the visual aberrations necessary to restore vision. Capturing over 64 unique data points to characterize a patient’s visual function with high accuracy, the OVITZ technology can provide individualized vision correction not possible with other vision correction methods available today. These advanced contact lenses may also benefit individuals who desire enhanced vision better than 20/20.