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MacRobert Award
2006 Winner
Optos plc
 Optos
plc, the company that has revolutionised eye care
and the early detection of retinal defects with its
ultra-wide retinal imagers, has won the UK's most
prestigious engineering innovation accolade - The
Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award,
securing a gold medal for the company and a £50,000
cash prize for the three team members.
The announcement was made last
night at the Academy's annual Awards Dinner in
London, with HRH Duke of Kent as guest of honour.
Optos was founded in 1992 by
Douglas Anderson after his then 5 year old son lost
the sight in one eye due to a retinal detachment
being diagnosed too late, despite regular eye
examinations.
Routine retinal examination
methods provide only a limited, narrow-field view of
the retina, typically less than five per cent in a
single capture. The limitations of these methods
spurred Anderson on to oversee the development and
commercialisation of a unique non-invasive imager
which, in a mere quarter of a second, captures a
high resolution digital image of over 80 per cent of
the retina.
Such vastly increased
performance has significantly reduced the risk of
missing early signs of eye diseases, as well as
indicators of other non-eye related diseases such as
diabetes, hypertension and certain cancers, which
are often first exhibited in the retina.
The technology platform behind
this success is the Panoramic200 - Optos' scanning
laser ophthalmoscope. Known as the P200, it is aimed
at primary health care whilst a variant - the P200MA
- is used by retinal specialists and surgeons in
secondary health care. The P200 makes use of low
powered lasers, manipulated by ellipsoidal mirror
technology, to maximise the area of the retina that
can be seen, creating a 'virtual scanning point'
inside the patient's eye. The company's proprietary
suite of software allows the practitioner to
capture, manipulate and enhance the image as
required, enabling a detailed evaluation of the
retina and producing a permanent clinical record of
the examination. Over two thousand P200 devices are
installed in eye and health care practices in the
UK, Germany, USA and Canada, which have conducted
7.5 million patient examinations to date.
Optos has also applied an
innovative approach to its business model. The high
value equipment might normally be prohibitively
expensive for many of its target customers to
purchase, so Optos has adopted a 'pay-per-patient'
model as the basis of its service contract,
affording significant advantages. This approach
involves no capital outlay for the customer and
includes free software upgrades, on-site staff
training by Optos personnel and regular maintenance
of the equipment in a three-year contract.
"We work hard to save sight
and to save lives; that's what it's always been
about," says Global Product Director Alastair
Atkinson. "We're extremely proud of what we've
achieved so far; not only in terms of the technology
but also in terms of how we strive to make our
innovations available in the most cost-effective way
for our customers as we can. To have the value of
our technology and our contribution to society
recognised by such an esteemed organisation as The
Royal Academy of Engineering and its MacRobert Award
means a great deal to us."
Atkinson says it's too early
to say how the £50,000 cash prize will be spent:
"The competition was very strong, and we didn't want
to tempt fate by discussing how we'd use the money
before we even knew we'd won!" he says, "But it will
definitely be put to good use."
"Optos is a worthy winner and
embodies the true spirit of the MacRobert Award",
says Dr Robin Paul, Chairman of the judging panel.
"Beginning with a brilliant innovatory concept,
Optos has developed a revolutionary diagnostic
instrument by dint of eight years determination,
creativity and perseverance in solving the
formidable technical problems they met on the way.
In the years to come many people will owe their
sight to the timely use of this outstanding example
of clinical engineering."
The winning team, comprising
Alastair Atkinson, Executive Vice-Chairman Douglas
Anderson and Chief Technology Officer David Cairns,
will be presented with their cheque and each will
receive a personal medal from the Academy's Senior
Fellow HRH Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace on
16 June 2006.
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