Endeavour Fund support for MyIScope

Congratulations to SOVS bioengineer Dr Ehsan Vaghefi who is behind the innovative MyIScope device that has just received nearly $1m in funding in the 2018 round of the Endeavour Fund, New Zealand’s largest contestable research fund.

Dr Vaghefi has made research into screening for eye diseases his life’s obsession in honour of his father who went blind as a boy.  MyIScope is a laser-based imaging device that will be capable of screening for early signs of blindness, affordably and quickly. MyIScope is portable and will be operated by a trained nurse and is inexpensive to manufacture so it will eliminate the barriers to eye care access for lower socioeconomic and remote communities in New Zealand and overseas. It will also be extremely helpful in developing countries such as India, China and Indonesia, where optometry does not exist as a profession and vision loss, due to lack of basic ophthalmic screening services, is prevalent. Pre-clinical trials are planned for early 2019 and the first clinical trial is planned for early 2020.

For more details please click here.