A Bristol-based start-up has secured £860,000 to help get its groundbreaking eye imaging chip technology onto the market in a move that could help address the UK’s most common cause of sight loss.
Siloton will use the funds to further develop its Akepa optical coherence tomography (OCT) chip technology and bring a version of the device for researchers to market next year. 
The technology could save the NHS more than £1bn annually and allow patients to monitor their condition at home, pictured, rather than having to regularly attend hospitals.
Later this year the firm, a University of Bristol spin-out, is aiming to deliver a world first by capturing the first chip-based OCT image of a living eye in a commercial setting – a key milestone for its future use by clinicians.
Siloton’s technology aims to make the diagnosis and monitoring of a range of treatable retinal diseases more affordable and accessible, by compressing a tabletop-worth of heavy, expensive, and fragile components onto a single chip smaller than a £1 coin.
Conditions such as wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), retinal vein occlusion and diabetic macular oedema affect millions of people worldwide, putting them at risk of blindness.
In the UK, AMD is the largest cause of sight loss, according to the Macular Society, with around 39,800 people developing wet AMD each year.
Siloton CEO Dr Alasdair Price said: “Siloton has brought together a uniquely qualified team that is able to drive forward technology development at an unprecedented pace.
“This new support will help us take the next step towards commercialisation by shifting gear from R&D to product development.
“The population of individuals with retinal disease is growing. New, more affordable and accessible OCT systems like our Akepa technology will be critical to serving patients with precision and efficiency.
“In turn, this could help reduce preventable blindness, save healthcare providers billions of pounds, and reduce pressure on already stretched eye clinics.
“We are on the cusp of a significant milestone with our technology and look forward to sharing this in the not-too-distant future.”
Siloton has so far raised £1.7m through two funding rounds, with the latest again including Evenlode Impact Investments alongside members of the South East Angels, the Francis Crick Institute and other experienced angel investors.
They were complemented by non-dilutive funding from an Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst grant.
