US-based medical diagnostics technology developer IDx raised $33m from investors including health system Heritage Provider Network and Optum Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of health services provider Optum, on Wednesday.
Venture capital firm 8VC led the round, which included VC firm AlphaEdison. IDx has now raised a total of $48m in equity and securities financing since 2012, according to regulatory filings.
Founded in 2010, IDx has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnostics platform called IDx-DR that enables healthcare providers to detect diabetic retinopathy, an ocular symptom of diabetes, using algorithms trained to scan retinal images.
The system, which has been approved by US healthcare regulator Food and Drug Administration, automatically spots diabetic retinopathy without the need for deep ophthalmological expertise, enabling testing to be carried out during routine medical examinations.
IDx-DR is already used in the clinic by University of Iowa Health Care, the university of Iowa’s integrated healthcare enterprise, and the company expects several other healthcare systems to implement the technology later this year.
The cash will be used to drive adoption of IDx’s technology and to develop additional AI-powered tools for diagnosing macular degeneration, glaucoma, Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke.
The company is a spinout of University of Iowa and its technology is based on work conducted by Michael Abramoff, a professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at University of Iowa Health Care.
The original version of this article, by Thierry Heles, appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.
