Forus Health preparing to launch 3nethra Neo
The product, a hand-held device, screens premature babies for a problem called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) - a vision threatening problem where a premature baby can go blind within 45 days from birth.
- Aug 11, 2016,
- Updated Aug 11, 2016 5:01 PM IST
Forus Health, an Indian medical equipment start-up, widely celebrated for disrupting the eye imaging market by making devices portable and cheap, is now readying to market its new product, 3nethra Neo. The product, a hand-held device, screens premature babies for a problem called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) - a vision threatening problem where a premature baby can go blind within 45 days from birth.
K Chandrasekhar, Founder & CEO of Forus Health, says that in India, one out of three babies born less than 2,000 gm develops the disease and 10 per cent of the babies turn blind at the age of two months if not treated on time. Over 3.5 million babies are born premature in India every year and there are less than 100 ROP specialists in the country to screen and treat the condition.
How is this device disruptive? Forus Health will only be the second company in the country to come up with such a screening device. Its other competition is a multinational that sells the product for $110,000.
"Neo will be one-fourth the price," says Chandrasekhar. "Also, the competition's camera is 700 gm. Ours is 300 gm. There is a difference in illumination, the technology, the ease of use." The product was developed out of Bangalore, where the company is headquartered, and Forus has filed four patents.
During its clinical validation phase, around 1,000 babies were screened. Forus Health collaborated with Bangalore's Narayana Nethralaya for development and clinical validation of the product.
Forus Health started in 2010 and initially developed a slick retinal imaging device just called '3nethra'. It works like a traditional fundus camera but at a fraction of the cost - traditional fundus cameras cost Rs 14 lakh or more; the 3nethra is priced at Rs 5 lakh because of lower research and development expenses, and cheaper components. Unlike fundus imaging, the Forus device does not need eye drops to dilate the eye because it uses infrared light the human eye cannot see. The company has sold 1,200 devices thus far in 25 countries.
Forus Health has raised $13 million from Asian Healthcare Fund, Accel and IDG Ventures. In the past five years, it has emerged as a rare success story in the Made-in-India medical devices market.
Forus Health, an Indian medical equipment start-up, widely celebrated for disrupting the eye imaging market by making devices portable and cheap, is now readying to market its new product, 3nethra Neo. The product, a hand-held device, screens premature babies for a problem called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) - a vision threatening problem where a premature baby can go blind within 45 days from birth.
K Chandrasekhar, Founder & CEO of Forus Health, says that in India, one out of three babies born less than 2,000 gm develops the disease and 10 per cent of the babies turn blind at the age of two months if not treated on time. Over 3.5 million babies are born premature in India every year and there are less than 100 ROP specialists in the country to screen and treat the condition.
How is this device disruptive? Forus Health will only be the second company in the country to come up with such a screening device. Its other competition is a multinational that sells the product for $110,000.
"Neo will be one-fourth the price," says Chandrasekhar. "Also, the competition's camera is 700 gm. Ours is 300 gm. There is a difference in illumination, the technology, the ease of use." The product was developed out of Bangalore, where the company is headquartered, and Forus has filed four patents.
During its clinical validation phase, around 1,000 babies were screened. Forus Health collaborated with Bangalore's Narayana Nethralaya for development and clinical validation of the product.
Forus Health started in 2010 and initially developed a slick retinal imaging device just called '3nethra'. It works like a traditional fundus camera but at a fraction of the cost - traditional fundus cameras cost Rs 14 lakh or more; the 3nethra is priced at Rs 5 lakh because of lower research and development expenses, and cheaper components. Unlike fundus imaging, the Forus device does not need eye drops to dilate the eye because it uses infrared light the human eye cannot see. The company has sold 1,200 devices thus far in 25 countries.
Forus Health has raised $13 million from Asian Healthcare Fund, Accel and IDG Ventures. In the past five years, it has emerged as a rare success story in the Made-in-India medical devices market.