Medical technology startup Cyclops to bring low-cost vertigo diagnosis device

Bengaluru-based medical technology startup Cyclops has created a low-cost devices that can diagnose vertigo based on eye expression.

In India, the doctors receive a formal lesson of just one hour on how to diagnose and treat vertigo. This prompted Srinivas Dorasala, an ENT Surgeon, Niranjan Subbarao, an entrepreneur and Ravi Nayar, a head and neck surgeon to create BalanceEye, a system which can analyse whether a patient has vertigo based on their eye expression.

“This device is going to cost nearly Rs 4 lakh, whereas a similar device is available at about Rs 12 lakh in other countries. Apart from cost-effective aspect, it is going to make a notable difference with its wireless binocular eye-tracking system,” said Subbarao.

Cyclops was incorporated in January 2015 and the firm hopes to receive its CE and ISO-13485 certification by January next year. It has so far raised Rs 1.25 crore from two angel investors, including C P Bothra, Chairman and MD of Medrich Pharma.

Globally, about 80% of all vertigo cases are not diagnosed in the first go, with the same being true in India. People suffering from episodic neurological disorder or recurring dizziness fail to realise that they suffer from vertigo, especially if not diagnosed properly.

Like many, the firm faced some challenges too. It struggled to test and validate the product created in the prototype stage. “We had no proper testing lab for the prototype initially. A group of senior professionals from IIT Kharagpur helped us do testing at their prototyping shop in Delhi,” added Subbarao.

Cyclops is looking to raise close to $1 million in its second round of fund-raising sometime in February. The firm says it has already seen interest from investors and even customers. So far it has received 10 preorders for the device from clinics in Bengaluru and a small city in Gujarat.

The company plans to offer two payment models for customers, one capex where clinics will purchase the device and the software and pay a maintenance fee starting from the end of second year. The other will be a pay-per-test model where the device will continue to be owned by Cyclops and the clinic will be charged on a per-test basis.

“This is going to be a game changer. When information is available easily, vertigo treatment is easy,” said Dorasala. He added that the next edition of BalanceEye will be based on deep-learning module and provide complete interpretation thereby helping the doctor increase accuracy.