Melbourne, Australia (Hybrid)

Reporting to

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

About Eyeonic

Eyeonic is an Australian Digital Health company transforming vision care through innovative, cloud-based visual field testing technology. Our platform enables accessible, scalable and affordable glaucoma screening and monitoring across clinics, pharmacies, telehealth and community settings globally.

As we continue our rapid expansion across Australia, the UK, Asia, and emerging markets, we are seeking a highly organised and commercially minded Growth Operations Coordinator to support our growth initiatives and operational execution.

The Opportunity

The Growth Operations Coordinator will play a critical role in supporting the execution of Eyeonic’s commercial strategy by coordinating projects, managing sales operations, tracking partnerships, and ensuring that growth initiatives are delivered efficiently.

This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys working across multiple functions, solving problems, and helping turn strategic opportunities into commercial outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Operations

• Coordinate the execution of strategic growth initiatives and partnerships.
• Maintain and manage sales pipelines, opportunities and customer onboarding processes.
• Monitor and report on key commercial metrics, including sales activity, revenue, and customer engagement.
• Prepare reports, presentations and dashboards for management and board meetings.
• Support pricing proposals, commercial agreements and tender submissions.

Project Coordination

• Manage timelines and deliverables for pilots, implementations and strategic projects.
• Coordinate internal and external stakeholders to ensure projects are delivered on time.
• Track action items and follow up on key business initiatives.
• Support product launches and market expansion activities.

Partnership & Customer Success Support

• Coordinate onboarding and training activities for new customers and partners.
• Assist in managing relationships with distributors, healthcare providers and strategic partners.
• Support customer communications and ensure high levels of engagement and satisfaction.
• Maintain accurate records within CRM and operational systems.

Growth & Process Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency and scalability.
• Develop and document internal processes and standard operating procedures.
• Assist with market research and competitor analysis.
• Support grant applications, funding opportunities and strategic business initiatives.

Administration & Executive Support

• Provide administrative and coordination support to the CEO and leadership team.
• Prepare meeting agendas, minutes and action registers.
• Coordinate travel, events, conferences and stakeholder engagements as required.

About You

Experience

• Experience in operations, project coordination, business operations, or a commercial support role.
• Strong project management and organisational skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• High attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office and CRM (Hubspot) systems an advantage.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.

Desirable Experience

• Experience within healthcare, MedTech, SaaS or technology industries.
• Experience working in a start-up or high-growth environment.
• Exposure to international business operations and partnerships.
• Experience preparing reports for executive teams or boards.

Personal Attributes

• Proactive and highly self-motivated.
• Commercially minded with a strong sense of ownership.
• Adaptable and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong relationship-building skills.
• Curious, resourceful and solutions focused.
• Passionate about innovation and improving healthcare outcomes.

What Success Looks Like

Within the first 12 months, you will have:

• Established effective operational processes to support growth.
• Improved visibility of commercial opportunities and project delivery.
• Successfully coordinated customer and partner implementations.
• Enhanced reporting and performance tracking across the business.
• Become a trusted operational partner to the CEO and leadership team.

Why Join Eyeonic?

• Join an award-winning Australian Digital Health company with global ambitions.
• Work alongside industry-leading clinicians and innovators.
• Make a meaningful impact on preventing avoidable blindness worldwide.
• Be part of a dynamic, entrepreneurial and purpose-driven team.
• Opportunity for career growth as the company scales internationally.

The post Job Opportunity: Sales and Marketing Coordinator appeared first on Eyeonic.

This prestigious program is designed to support high-growth potential Australian businesses as they commercialise innovative projects that build national capability. For Eyeonic, this grant represents a significant leap forward in our mission to make world-class visual field testing accessible to every ophthalmologist and patient, regardless of their location.

Why This Grant Matters

The Industry Growth Program targets innovative SMEs operating within priority areas of the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF)—specifically Medical Science. Our selection underscores the clinical importance of our AI-powered, cloud-based platform in the fight against preventable blindness.

Traditionally, visual field testing has relied on bulky, expensive, and stationary clinic machinery. With the support of this matched funding, Eyeonic is accelerating the delivery of:

• Clinical Precision Anywhere: Bringing hospital-grade perimetry to standard devices like iPads and laptops.
• AI-Driven Insights: Enhancing our algorithms to help clinicians monitor glaucoma and other visual field changes with greater accuracy.
• Expanded Testing Suites: Finalising our specialised assessments, including driving and pilot vision tests, to meet the rigorous standards of Australian regulatory bodies.

A Vision for Australian Manufacturing & Tech

This grant isn’t just about software; it’s about building Australia’s sovereign capability in medical technology. By refining our industrial design and scaling our digital infrastructure, we are ensuring that Australian-made innovation leads the global market in ophthalmic diagnostics.

As our founder, A/Prof Simon Skalicky, notes:

“This support from the Industry Growth Program validates years of research and development. It allows us to move faster, ensuring that clinicians across Australia have the tools they need to detect sight-threatening conditions earlier and more effectively.”

What’s Next?

Over the coming months, we will be rolling out enhanced features and expanding our partnerships with clinical practices across the country. We are committed to using this opportunity to drive better patient outcomes and support the incredible work of ophthalmologists across the Australian healthcare system.

We would like to thank the Department of Industry, Science and Resources for their support and for recognizing Eyeonic’s potential to transform vision health.

Be Part of the Future of Australian Eye Care.

With the support of the Industry Growth Program, Eyeonic is scaling faster than ever. Join the forward-thinking community of Australian clinicians moving perimetry into the digital age.

Register Your Practice

The post Scaling Innovation: Eyeonic Awarded Industry Growth Program Grant appeared first on Eyeonic.

Overview of Visual Field Testing (perimetry). What is a visual field test? What can cause visual field deficits? Why is the visual field test so important for glaucoma? How is a visual field test performed?

What is a visual field test?

A visual field test is a test of a person’s peripheral vision. Testing one eye at a time, the person is asked to maintain their gaze on a central target. Each location in their peripheral vision is then tested for visual sensitivity – this generates a map of that eye’s visual field. Multiple test targets are presented, some easier to see and some harder; the result being to determine what the eye can discern at each location of the visual field.

The position of targets on the visual field is measured in degrees of visual angle. The very center (the point of fixation) is 0 degrees of visual angle– and as we move farther from centre the visual angle increases. It is common to assess the central 24 degrees for each eye. This is normally achieved by testing 52 locations, at 6-degree intervals (see Figure 1, map of the visual field)

Once the visual sensitivity at each location are determined, these are compared to age-adjusted normal values; if the sensitivity is reduced compared to normal this is noted as a visual field deficit.

Figure 1. The 52 locations of the visual field

What can cause visual field defects?

Common eye diseases can cause visual field deficits:

• uncorrected short or long sightedness,
• cataracts,
• macular degeneration or
• glaucoma;
  

However the test is most important in the evaluation of glaucoma.

This is because those other conditions are best assessed by other forms of vision testing. In comparison, the visual field test is the most important test for glaucoma.

Diseases of the brain can also cause visual field deficits. A stroke or inflammation within the brain can result in changes of the visual field. Tumours or other lesions of the pituitary gland (located under the brain) can also affect the visual field.

Why is the visual field test so important for glaucoma?

Glaucoma, known as the sneak thief of sight, is due to painless, slow and irreparable damage to the optic nerve.

The optic nerve connects the eye to the brain and without it we cannot see. When glaucoma damage occurs, we are often unaware of it. This is because it predominantly affects peripheral vision initially, and affects central vision in more advanced stages.

We are generally not conscious of peripheral vision changes.

If we were to wait for glaucoma to be noticeable (when it affects central vision) we would be detecting it far too late.

That is why visual field testing, which can detect vision changes from glaucoma before a person notices it, is so critical for diagnosing glaucoma (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. The visual field of a patient with early glaucoma. The large rectangles represent portions of the visual field with reduced sensitivity (impaired sight). This person has lost sight in the upper, inner corner of their vision. Such loss is often asymptomatic and requires detection on visual field testing.

Visual field testing is also important for monitoring change in glaucoma over time. Once someone is found to have glaucoma, they need regular visual field tests to assess if the changes are stable or getting worse over time. This is critical to guide treatment decisions; whether the current treatment is sufficient to control the glaucoma, or whether further measures to lower the eye pressure are required.

As a glaucoma specialist Ophthalmologist in Melbourne, my patients are commonly performing visual field tests, often annually to monitor for glaucoma changes.

How is visual field testing performed?

Visual field testing has traditionally required a custom designed single-purpose machine. Such machines are bulky, expensive and to access require a visit to an eye clinic.

I am excited to announce that, through Australian health-tech company Eyeonic which I founded in 2020, we have developed an online visual field test, that does not require expensive equipment.

With the Eyeonic visual field test, visual field testing can be performed on any computer – all that is needed is internet access, however a webcam and volume are preferable.

Online visual field testing improves the experience of perimetry for my patients. It will also improve access and reduce barriers of cost to perimetry for glaucoma patients and suspects across the globe.

Online visual field testing improves the experience of perimetry for my patients. It will also improve access and reduce barriers of cost to perimetry for glaucoma patients and suspects across the globe.

The post Visual Field Testing (Perimetry): An Overview appeared first on Eyeonic.

Visual field testing (perimetry) involves testing the visual sensitivity of each eye’s entire field; assessing for any deficits in our peripheral vision. It is the most important way to detect glaucoma, and to monitor patients with glaucoma for its progression over time.

Currently visual field testing requires single-purpose, complex machines (see Figure 1). These machines are large, cumbersome and expensive. They require specialised knowledge to build, maintain and operate. They have a carbon footprint, access requires attendance at an eye care clinic, and one must place one’s head in a head rest within a bowl where others have been. This bowl is not able to be sterilised between users (as this would affect the finely tuned light parameters).

Figure 1. Conventional, machine-based visual field testing

As an Ophthalmologist, and busy glaucoma specialist in Melbourne, dozens of my patients are performing such testing daily. I am acutely aware of the limitations of machine-based visual field testing. It slows down the clinic, the machines are expensive to acquire and maintain, and require a great deal of staff involvement. Also, my patients are very commonly complaining about the experience: they do not enjoy perimetry using those machines. It was only until recently that this was the only option.

Not any more.

Working with experts from Microsoft, in 2020 I founded Australian health-tech company Eyeonic, with a vision to provide a more enjoyable and accessible experience in perimetry.

We believed online perimetry was possible, and we were right.

We have developed a means of performing online visual field testing that will work on any computer. All that is needed is a computer, mouse, and internet access; although volume and a webcam are preferable.

Online visual field testing has many advantages over perimetry locked into cumbersome machines.

Online perimetry is more enjoyable, accessible and less costly than machine-based perimetry.

Online visual field testing improves the experience of perimetry

Online visual field testing improves the accessibility of sight-saving technology

Online perimetry gives control of data to the patient (you) and provides a better shared care model

Providing the service online, bringing visual field testing into our living rooms is a game changer for glaucoma screening and detection. And it is desperately needed – 50% of glaucoma remains undetected in the developed world; 90% of glaucoma is undetected in the developing world.

The post Why online visual field testing is a better option appeared first on Eyeonic.

Visual field testing (perimetry) is the cornerstone of glaucoma assessment. It is a means of assessing peripheral vision sensitivity in one’s eye. Up until very recently, perimetry has only been possible on dedicated machines. These machines represent a barrier to accessing healthcare for many people; they are large, cumbersome, labour intensive and expensive. Clearly there are many advantages for online perimetry that could be performed on any computer. Online perimetry is easier to use, a more enjoyable experience and more easily accessible than machine-based perimetry. It represents significant cost savings for both patients and clinicians.

As an Ophthalmologist and busy glaucoma specialist in Melbourne, thousands of my patients are performing such testing annually; I am acutely aware of the limitations of machine-based visual field testing. It is unpleasant for my patients, it slows down the clinic, the machines are expensive to acquire and maintain, and require a great deal of staff involvement. Clearly there is a great benefit to provide a new way of performing perimetry, that is more intuitive, user-friendly, and can work on any computer. That is precisely what we at Eyeonic have developed with the online Eyeonic visual field test.

But how is it possible to provide perimetry that works on any computer?

Surely there is a reason why complex, single-purpose equipment is considered necessary.

Eyeonic is an Australian health-tech company that has taken on the challenge of delivering online perimetry for any computer.

Eyeonic is passionate about improving eye health globally by making evidence-based online vision testing accessible to everyone. Yes there are logistical hurdles, but we have considered these, using all the advantages of widespread modern technology to overcome them.

The challenges that online perimetry must overcome include:

Screen Size Variation

Different computer screens come in different sizes, and different aspect ratios (ratio of height to width)

Different Screen Parameters

Screen display can vary in several ways, including brightness, contrast, gamma (which is the relationship between the coded color and the screen output) and the white tone.

Variations within screen display

Even within an individual screen the display can vary; for example, especially for older screens, the centre of the display is brighter than the corners.

Controlled testing environment

For vision testing, the room lighting, spectacle correction, head position, and closure of the other eye are all critical for testing success. It is vital these factors are controlled with clear instructions to the user to ensure testing validity.

So how do we do it?

Here are the features that make online visual field testing possible.

Spinning Fixation Target

The central target is a spinning golden star. Conventional machine based perimetry use a motionless dot of light, which is hard to keep staring at. We have found a slowly rotating fixation target is easier to maintain gaze on, and our users agree!

Flickering Test Target

Most conventional perimetry machines use small spots of white light against a dark background; the brightness of the spot determines the ease or difficulty of seeing the target. This works well for dedicated perimetry machines, but the small variations between screens and within a screen make this method not great for computer-based, online visual field testing. In comparison contrast testing works well for perimetry delivered on computer screens. For contrast testing the target is a flickering target, and it’s brightness is determined by the difference between light and dark bars. These differences are more resilient to different screen types, and are more resistant to variations within the screen. This is because they do not rely on a diffuse background; rather the difference in contrast within the target.

Viewing Distance Adjusted for Screen Size

Computer monitors come in different sizes; Eyeonic’s test needs to work on them all. By measuring the screen size, the Eyeonic app can place the test specifically for that monitor, and determine the correct viewing distance for that monitor type. In general, people sit closer for smaller screens, and further back for larger screens, to maintain a constant visual angle.

Blind Spot Localisation

We all have a blind spot – not just a figurative one, but a real one in our vision! This is the area corresponding to where the optic nerve enters the eye, and there is no sensitive retinal tissue. It is generally located 15 degrees to the outside of midline. Finding the blind spot is an important component of Eyeonic’s online visual field test. It helps determining the right head position relative to the screen, and ensures the test is being performed correctly.

Monitor Calibration

As mentioned above monitors can have different parameters set (eg brightness, contrast, gamma) which can affect test performance. The online Eyeonic visual field test can detect a non-calibrated monitor early on and guide the user through a simple calibration process.

User Head Position

It is important that for anyone taking the online vision test their head position remains constant. To achieve this, the app engages the user’s webcam which monitors their head position – should this move to close to the screen, far from the screen, too far left or right, the test pauses and the user corrects their position.

Through the combination of our features, texted and perfected through a vigorous scientific evaluation process, Eyeonic’s visual field test can provide perimetry on any computer accurately, enjoyably and with improved access and convenience to machine-based visual field testing.

Clearly there is a great benefit to provide a new way of performing perimetry, that is more intuitive, user-friendly, and can work on any computer. That is precisely what we at Eyeonic have developed with the online Eyeonic visual field test.

The post How is online visual field testing possible? appeared first on Eyeonic.

Online visual field testing (perimetry) has many advantages over conventional machine-based perimetry. These include:

A more enjoyable experience for test-takers

As a busy Ophthalmologist and glaucoma specialist in Melbourne, every day I see dozens of patients who perform visual field testing. Using the conventional machine-based perimeters I was struck by how strongly they disliked the experience of visual field testing. This puzzled me greatly – what was it about visual field testing that was so unpleasant? Could we design a different way of doing it, which would not be so unpleasant, but would provide the same information? It was these thoughts that caused me to build an online visual field test, and create the Australian health tech company Eyeonic.

There are so many ways we can design an online app; hence so many options to make online perimetry more user-friendly.

There are several features that make the online Eyeonic visual field test more enjoyable than machine-based perimetry. Our test targets and fixation star are friendly to see, and encouraging sounds and helpful commentary guide the user through the test. A progress bar is present throughout the test, letting the user know how much longer there is to go. The test senses the user’s reflex time, and slows down or speeds up accordingly, so the user does not feel rushed or slowed down – the test goes at the right tempo for them. Because the computer’s webcam is monitoring the user throughout the test, they do not need to put their head in a brace, near an unsterilised bowl; the experience is much more familiar to them like regular computer use.

Figure 1. Spinning star fixation target, with blue-on-grey progress bar underneath. The length of the blue portion lets you know how far you have progressed during the test

These features explain why people so strongly prefer the online Eyeonic visual field test to machine-based visual field testing. In a survey of 95 test takers, 84% preferred the Eyeonic online test to machine perimetry; only 2% preferred the machine while the remaining 14% preferred neither. A 10-item survey was asked about various aspects of the experience of visual field testing, and a preference to online over machine perimetry was reported in 10/10 items; 8 of these reached statistical significance. This is a strong endorsement confirming the improved user experience of our test.

The ability for testing at home: telehealth

As online visual field testing will work on any computer, it can be performed by anyone at home. This has many benefits. If someone is too unwell or immobile to attend a clinic, or simply does not have the time or money to attend, they can still perform a test online. If people need more frequent visual field tests than visits with their eye healthcare professional, they may be able to avoid a visit to the clinic. Some people (eg those with high risk glaucoma) might benefit from monthly visual field testing, which is clearly not practical if they only see their clinician once or twice per year. Decoupling the field test from the clinic visit has these and other tremendous advantages. Even as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, telehealth remains an important aspect of clinical care with many benefits for clinicians and patients.

Better Clinic Flow

Conventional, machine-based visual field testing slows down clinic flow. It can double the amount of time a person needs to spend at an eyecare practice – and exacerbate the well-known problem of waiting for doctors!

From the clinician’s perspective, the extra time their patients spend means more chair space needed in the waiting room, and more work for administrative staff and clinical assistants. If patients can arrive with their visual field test already done at home, it means less time and less inconvenience for all.

Cost Saving

An online test for glaucoma represents a significant cost saving for patients. Aside from the inconvenience of having to attend an eyecare practice every time they need a visual field test, providing the service remotely will be a major cost saving. This is especially true in parts of the world where access to visual field machines are scarce, and these machines can be extremely expensive relative to the average cost of eye healthcare. Decoupling visual field testing from dedicated machines can significantly reduce this financial barrier.

As well as cost saving for patients, clinicians also benefit financially. Dedicated visual field machines are expensive to purchase; for eye healthcare clinicians this is a significant investment which they can only hope to recover by on charging the cost of visual field tests to their patients. Large, bulky machines are often one-off purchases; in comparison a small ongoing monthly subscription fee is needed for unlimited access to online visual field testing.

Government or private healthcare funders will also save significantly. They will not have to purchase large machines that depreciate over time, require regular maintenance and eventual replacement. In comparison, an online service continually self-updates and improves, with the only hardware required are computers which have many other important uses in healthcare service delivery.

Better Continuity of Data and Data Control by Patients

When bulky machines are needed to perform visual field testing, the data is stored on those machines. This means your visual field data is owned by that clinic. If you move between clinics, it is not easy to extract that data from those machines, and harder still to import it into the machines at your new practice. Data being stored in machines reduces your options as a healthcare consumer. This is especially troubling if you have long-term glaucoma with years of follow up data; if you need to move to a new clinic that data is rendered virtually useless and your progress analysis needs to start again. Progress analysis is comparing sequential visual field tests for change over time. It is the heart of ongoing glaucoma monitoring and if disrupted can be quite negatively impactful for your eye care.

In comparison, when the visual field testing is online, the data is stored online. Your data is controlled by you – you chose who can see it, by selecting trusted clinicians. If you need to move to a different clinic, it is simply a matter of deselecting the old clinician and selecting the new one; the integrity of the sequential data for progress analysis is preserved. This model works very well for collaborative care between Optometry and Ophthalmology, where visual field testing at different practices can be added to the same database. This data is stored securely to the highest standards of data protection, under the vigilance of experts from Microsoft.

Improved access to sight saving healthcare for all

Perhaps most importantly, online visual field testing delivers increased access to all for sight saving technology. As an Ophthalmologist and glaucoma specialist based in some of the more privileged suburbs in Melbourne, I am conscious that many of my patients are the fortunate ones who can access our sight-saving services. We take for granted that in Melbourne and other Australian cities we are blessed with plentiful eye clinics; this is not the case for remote and regional parts of Australia, and many parts of the developing world. In Africa, and parts of Asia, where glaucoma is most prevalent, many people cannot afford or simply cannot access conventional visual field machines, and consequently their glaucoma is not as well managed.

Dedicated visual field machines are specialised, complex and expensive, depending on a trained workforce of clinical assistants and machinery operators. This is why they are scarce in many parts of the world where the need for better glaucoma care is greatest. Computers, in comparison, are versatile and everywhere – they are common throughout the developing world. Building online applications that work on commonplace hardware is much more sensible than having to supply speciality-crafted, expensive hardware with a very narrow range of use.

Online visual field testing means more people can access perimetry; barriers to healthcare access are lifted.

Perhaps most importantly, online visual field testing delivers increased access to all for sight saving technology.

The post What are the advantages of online visual field testing? appeared first on Eyeonic.

On November 30th 2023 in Melbourne, SmartCompany hosted its fourth instalment of The Pitch, an early-stage startup competition, with Eyeonic named the winner.

Held at The Commons in Cremorne, the event was created in partnership with AWS, BlueRock and FinTech Australia, with a packed room in attendance to hear five early-stage startups pitch their ideas to an esteemed judging panel.

The  guest judges, Rachel Yang, partner at Giant Leap, Claire Bristow, senior investment associate at Skalata Ventures, Mitch Hancock, director of accounting at BlueRock and Rahul Kesavan, startups advisor at AWS, chose Eyeonic as the winner due to its clear purpose, solution and market opportunity.

Eyeonic will receive AWS Activate credits, mentoring sessions, and a grants review from BlueRock as it works towards its mission of making glaucoma testing easier and more affordable.

Founded by Simon Skalicky, it uses artificial intelligence to enable home glaucoma testing on laptop or tablet screens.

“Large addressable market, ambition, passion, global strategy, and a clear pitch” brought it home for Skalicky, the judges said, in a close contest.

Members of the startup and VC communities packed out the room to learn more about the big ideas coming from Australia’s up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

Eyeonic will receive AWS Activate credits, mentoring sessions, and a grants review from BlueRock as it works towards its mission of making glaucoma testing easier and more affordable.

Founded by Simon Skalicky, it uses artificial intelligence to enable home glaucoma testing on laptop or tablet screens.

“Large addressable market, ambition, passion, global strategy, and a clear pitch” brought it home for Skalicky, the judges said, in a close contest.

Members of the startup and VC communities packed out the room to learn more about the big ideas coming from Australia’s up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

The post The Pitch 2023: SmartCompany is looking for Australia’s best early stage startup appeared first on Eyeonic.

In 2019, the journey began with our CEO, Dr. Simon Skalicky, an esteemed Ophthalmologist from Melbourne, Australia. Driven by a deep passion to enhance the visual field testing experience for his patients, Simon embarked on a mission to create an innovative online application, aiming to liberate visual field testing from the constraints of traditional testing equipment, offering a more accessible and enjoyable solution for patients.

In March, Dr. Skalicky crossed paths with Dr. Deus Bigirimana, an ophthalmologist newly relocated to Melbourne from Burundi. They soon formed a good friendship and professional collaboration fuelled by their shared interests.

Passionate about improving glaucoma services in Africa, Dr. Bigirimana was pained by the sparse testing resources in African hospitals, which results in glaucoma often undetected or inadequately treated. In many African regions, Visual Field testing was non-existent in routine clinical care, only available in some big hospitals. With a vision for change, he believed that the Eyeonic Project could help revolutionise routine clinical care by eliminating the need for costly testing machines.

Dr. Honorine Nizeyimana

Fast forward to 2021/2022, the Eyeonic technology was developed to be ready for use around the world. Dr. Bigirimana then coordinated a pivotal meeting that connected Dr. Skalicky with two people – Dr. Honorine Nizeyimana, an ophthalmology trainee who was working at the Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda; and Dr. Simon Arunga, Honorine’s supervisor and esteemed Glaucoma specialist in East Africa. Both Honorine and Dr. Arunga proved to be highly valuable to the project later.

Upon Dr. Skalicky’s explaining and demonstration of the technology, Honorine and Dr. Arunga decided to make her master’s project about validating this technology in the African context. Despite bureaucratic hurdles and funding challenges, their determination prevailed. After a few months’ perseverance and proactive communications with the Ethics Committee about this novo technology, the project was finally approved and sufficiently funded. It kicked off aiming to collect data on 100-150 patients with a mix of glaucoma and control.

Two weeks in, just as the team was feeling optimistic about the outlook as the data was looking promising, the disaster stuck.

Dr. Simon Arunga

Unbelievable as it sounds, the hospital’s visual field testing machine caught fire and suffered irreparable damage. This unforeseen incident brought Honorine’s project to a halt, as the equipment was essential to generate standard perimetry testing results needed for comparisons. Undeterred by this setback, the team pivoted by utilising the machine in Dr. Arunga’s private clinic instead. The solution required relocating all the patients to the clinic instead of the hospital. Despite of the logistics and cost challenges, they persevered through setbacks and continued recruiting patients and collecting data at an impressive pace.

Now in 2024, with 142 patients’ data collected, the project nears completion. The early data is promising – showing the Eyeonic system is as good as, and potentially better than, conventional visual field testing, when it comes to detecting glaucoma. The team looks forward to sharing their findings in a journal, illuminating the potential of visual field testing in Africa. Meanwhile, Dr. Arunga’s vision extends beyond his clinic—he aims to integrate the Eyeonic application into a new social enterprise hospital and glaucoma screening centres, bringing life-changing benefits to millions in Uganda.

Patient performing the online visual field test using the Eyeonic platform

Cross sectional study, in clinic, Uganda. Eyeonic online visual field compared to HFA. 113 controls; 29 glaucoma patients. Right eye data analysed.

This journey of resilience, passion, and collaboration exemplifies the power of determined individuals united by a common mission. Together, we are rewriting the narrative of eye care in Africa, one breakthrough at a time.

The post From Idea to Impact: The Eyeonic Expedition to Revolutionise Eye Health in Uganda appeared first on Eyeonic.