Topcon Launches IDHea for Eye Care Research

Topcon Healthcare has officially launched IDHea Inc., the Institute for Digital Health, a newly established, independent company focused on transforming clinical research in eye care and the rapidly evolving field of oculomics, which explores how ocular biomarkers can reflect broader systemic health conditions.

Founded and led by Topcon Healthcare as the primary investor, IDHea will operate with its own governance structure and maintain independent operations while fostering global collaboration across industry, clinical, and technology partners.

Leveraging Topcon’s presence in ophthalmology, optometry, and primary care screening, particularly in the U.S., IDHea aims to fill critical gaps in clinical research by integrating:

• Multimodal imaging data

• Artificial intelligence (AI)

• Modern research infrastructure

These capabilities will be used to accelerate drug discovery, support inclusive clinical trials, and improve translational research outcomes across a range of diseases.

Focus Areas for Clinical and Translational Research

With its platform now live, IDHea is actively engaging with partners across a wide spectrum of disease areas, including:

• Geographic atrophy (GA) and wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

• Diabetic retinopathy

• Glaucoma and neuroprotection

• Systemic disease applications of oculomics, such as cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurodegenerative disorders

Through these efforts, IDHea is building one of the most comprehensive data ecosystems in ophthalmic and oculomics research.

AI-Enabled Platform Supporting Clinical Research and Data Analysis

The IDHea platform combines large-scale imaging datasets with AI-driven analytics and precision patient selection tools, enabling more efficient and insightful research across diagnostics, therapeutics, and population health.

Because the eye offers a transparent view into neural and microvascular tissues, the platform can help identify connections between ocular changes and conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. By integrating imaging, clinical, and genomic data, IDHea supports the discovery of new biomarkers and therapeutic targets with potential impact beyond ophthalmology.

Platform Integration and Research Capabilities

The IDHea platform is fully compatible with electronic medical records (EMRs) and is designed to meet global regulatory and privacy standards. It supports a wide range of research needs, allowing:

• Sponsors, reading centers, and CROs to generate real-world evidence

• Combination of manual and AI-assisted image grading

• Data quality monitoring and protocol compliance tracking through real-time dashboards