Alzheimer's awareness month, Optina Diagnostics and Wagner Macula Retina Center will Collaborate to Conduct a Clinical Study

Saturday, 09 November 2019 12:00.PM

(Optina Diagnostics) - Optina Diagnostics, a world leading company in retinal imaging and artificial intelligence with a vision to change mindsets when it comes to brain health, and Wagner Macula Retina Center, a center of excellence for ophthalmology, are entering into a collaboration agreement to conduct a clinical study for the advancement of Optina's Retinal Deep Phenotyping platform. This collaboration will lay the groundwork for Optina's future pivotal clinical trial.

"As we enter into Alzheimer's month, we are particularly excited at the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Wagner, Dr. Kapoor, and the professional team at the Wagner Macula Retina Center. It brings together a whole new paradigm for the way we think about, how we diagnose and how we understand brain health and Alzheimer's. This is the first market readiness collaboration where Optina will deploy its exclusive eye clinic program & Retinal Deep Phenotyping platform in a community setting. It will prepare the ground for additional prime eye clinics locations across the United States to develop a brain health expertise" said David Lapointe, CEO at Optina Diagnostics.

"Most key opinion leaders agree that there is a need for earlier diagnosis when it comes to memory loss. Having the opportunity to participate in the final stages of Optina's platform development, and collaborating with a well-characterized patient cohort coming from prominent memory clinics in Virginia and North Carolina will allow Wagner Retina Macula Center to remain at the forefront of patient health care providing them with additional support and medical services when they need it the most" said Alan L. Wagner, M.D., F.A.C.S, F.I.C.S., A.M.E., Founder and President of Wagner Macula Retina Center.

Currently, it takes many years to find the causes of memory loss and cognitive impairment. According to the Alzheimer's Association, in the U.S. 82% of seniors say it's important to have their thinking or memory checked but only 16% say they receive regular cognitive assessments. A breakthrough technology like OptinaDx could help with early detection of Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia, for proper patient management and prevention of irreversible brain damage. Thus, part of this clinical study, Wagner Macula Retina Center will be working in partnership with OptinaDx to capture the data-rich eye images of an at-risk population in a real-world setting.