Pittsburgh-based
Neuro Kinetics looks through the eyes of its patients and into a whole new world of diagnostics.
NKI’s noninvasive evaluation system tracks patients’ eye movements and tests for balance disorders, a system capable of diagnosing more than 200 diseases such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and some cancers.
It could change the way doctors diagnose neurological disorders and disease, opening up a potential billion-dollar market for the company with its latest software release.
“The eye is not just a window into the soul, but is the part of the brain that we can see,” explains Howison Schroeder, NKI CEO and president. “This is a major leap in the diagnostic process. By detecting how the eye responds, we end up with a Star Trekkian diagnostic screening tool.”
NKI recently unveiled its latest platform, VEST 6.7, which includes 70 new features that allow clinicians to generate more accurate analysis and diagnosis. The company has prominent customers around the world, including the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital and NASA, as well as specialists in the fields of audiology and neurology.
The Eye Portal System consists of goggles equipped with a high speed digital camera that communicates with software to measure the response of stimulus to the eye. Patients sit in a computerized rotational chair that sways the patients’ eyeballs while the system takes readings.
The Nobel Prize-winning Barany chair has been sold by Neuro Kinetics for almost three decades. NKI is a Pittsburgh Life Science Greenhouse company and one of the top 100 fastest growing companies in Pittsburgh with 18 employees.
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Writer:
Debra Diamond SmitSource: Howison Schroeder, NKI
Image courtesy Neuro Kinetics