This award is given annually for an engineer or small team of engineers who have made the greatest contribution to the advancement of any field of UK engineering within the past four years and includes a £6,000 prize.
The Occuity team includes Dr Robin Taylor, Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer; James Reynolds, Chief Optical Engineer; Sharon Branch, Chief Operating Officer; Shashin Lad, Senior Firmware and Electronics Engineer; Martin Newman, Senior Manufacturing Technician and Jamie Serjeant, Lead Engineer (and a recipient of the Academy’s 2024 Young Engineer of the Year award).
Glaucoma is caused by increased intraocular pressure (IOP) from fluid not draining correctly in the eye, which then damages the optic nerve that connects the eye to the brain. It is one of the leading causes of blindness, affecting approximately 80 million people around the world. It can affect people of all ages, although older adults and certain ethnic groups are at higher risk. The disease can be managed but there is no cure and once it has progressed, it can’t be reversed, so early detection is critical for treatment.
Diagnosis requires a range of tests, including measurement of the pressure in the eye and corneal thickness (pachymetry). Correct measurements of eye pressure depends on accurate corneal thickness measurement and the interaction between these two determine the risk of glaucoma.
Occuity’s innovative PM1 pachymetry device is handheld and designed to measure corneal thickness in a matter of seconds without touching the eye. Previously this was done with ultrasound and required anaesthetising eye drops and contact with the eye, which could be both unpleasant for the patient and time-consuming for the clinician. Up until now the alternative, non-contact pachymeters, were desk-bound and expensive.
The Occuity team had to address multiple challenges to invent this handheld device, including miniaturisation of complex optical systems, development of high-speed lens scanning and advanced algorithms to achieve reliable results. They also had to put in place a medical device certified manufacturing facility in Reading to make them.
Their PM1 device is now available in nearly 20 different countries and the Occuity team are working on further developing their platform optical technology to produce meters to screen for other ophthalmic conditions including myopia. The company see their mission as using the eye as a window to the health of the body and aim to become a leader in the burgeoning field of Oculomics. They are developing the technology to improve the screening and monitoring of systemic conditions such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease. The intention is that these products will help in the prevention of, rather than just the treatment of these chronic disorders.
Luke Logan FREng, Chair of the Academy’s Awards Committee, said:
“The PM1 is both a breakthrough in glaucoma diagnostics and a celebration of engineering ingenuity. The team overcame many challenges to create this handheld device. By eliminating the need for anaesthetic drops and bulky equipment, it redefines how early detection can be delivered. This is especially true in places that don’t have access to expensive equipment, which now have a more accessible way to stave off the blight of glaucoma in their community”
Dan Daly, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer said:
“We are absolutely delighted to receive this award. When we founded Occuity in 2019, we had a vision to develop pain free testing to enable the prevention rather than just the treatment of a wide range of chronic health conditions.”
“The first step on the journey is the PM1 - meter to support the diagnosis of glaucoma. In order to develop this entirely new product, we had to first recruit a team, and we’ve been extremely fortunate to have drawn together such an exceptional group of individuals. They not only excel as individuals but also, when acting together, have been able to achieve extraordinary results.”
“Winning the Colin Campbell Mitchell Award is a recognition both of their capabilities and all that they’ve achieved in a very short space of time.”
Occuity team: L-R James Reynolds, Shashin Lad, Sharon Brand, Martin Newman, Jamie Serjeant
Notes for editors
1. The Royal Academy of Engineering creates and leads a community of outstanding experts and innovators to engineer better lives. As a charity and a Fellowship, we deliver public benefit from excellence in engineering and technology and convene leading businesspeople, entrepreneurs, innovators and academics across engineering and technology. As a National Academy, we provide leadership for engineering and technology, and independent, expert advice to policymakers in the UK and beyond. Our work is enabled by funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, corporate and university partners, charitable trusts and foundations, and individual donors.