St. Paul-based Minnetronix Medical announced it had been selected to manufacture the EyeBox, which can help diagnose a possible concussion in less than four minutes — 220 seconds, to be precise.
Rather than trusting a patient’s self-reported symptoms, the EyeBox tracks eye movement to tell the truth about the current condition of the patient’s brain.
The latest version of EyeBox secured FDA clearance in January and is now being launched. On Tuesday, St. Paul-based Minnetronix Medical announced it had been selected to manufacture Oculogica’s device.
The noninvasive, battery-operated machine uses an algorithm and machine learning to assess “cranial nerve function through eye-tracking abnormalities and micro-eye movements.”
“We’re selling our first ones; we’ve got a small waiting list,” said Rosina Samadani, CEO of Oculogica.
Her sister, Uzma Samadani, founded the company in 2013 when she was based in New York. Uzma Samadani is a Twin Cities neurosurgeon and associate professor at the University of Minnesota.
You don’t need a doctor’s order to get an EyeBox exam, CEO Samadani said, but each state has different guidelines about who can diagnose a concussion.
The latest version is more compact and lighter than previous editions, weighing 11 pounds and small enough to fit inside a backpack.
Matt Adams, general manager of Minnetronix, said his firm’s expertise with complex optical systems helped win the Oculogica contract.
Last fall, Minnetronix completed a $6 million update of its three-building campus, expanding its space from 120,000 square feet to 160,000 square feet. The company has nearly 500 employees.
“We’re thrilled to see this partnership come together. It’s a testament to the deep concentration of talent in Minnesota,” said Steve Grove, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, in a statement. “The opportunity for Minnesotans to work on cutting-edge projects like these is a boon to our labor market and attracts and retains great talent in our state.”
Read the full article at StarTribune.com.