Topcon to Acquire Toku Inc. for AI-Powered Retinal Imaging

Topcon Healthcare has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Toku, Inc., a San Diego-based artificial intelligence (AI) health technology company specializing in noninvasive, image-based health risk assessment. While the financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, the strategic significance of the acquisition is substantial, aligning with Topcon’s vision of “Healthcare from the Eye.”

Toku’s AI Platforms Enable Real-Time Health Risk Assessment from Retinal Images

Toku’s portfolio includes three core platforms, CLAiR, BioAge, and MyKidneyAI, which use standard color fundus photographs (retinal images) to deliver real-time insights into an individual’s cardiovascular risk, biological aging, and chronic kidney disease status. These platforms are powered by one of the largest retinal-image datasets in the world, serving as a foundation for highly accurate predictive models.

According to Topcon, this technological capability supports the broader goal of integrating oculomics into routine care, empowering both eyecare and primary care providers with advanced, predictive health data derived from the eye.

AI Integration into Topcon’s Harmony Ecosystem

Topcon plans to integrate Toku’s AI algorithms into Harmony, its vendor-inclusive, cloud-based digital platform. This integration will enable scalable, noninvasive risk screening through routine retinal imaging, making AI-driven health assessments accessible across primary care, eyecare, and telehealth settings.

The initiative is part of a collaborative effort with the Alliance for Healthcare from the Eye, which seeks to improve population health outcomes, expand access to preventive screening, and reduce overall healthcare costs.

Beyond its clinical applications, the integration of Toku’s AI into Harmony also establishes a regulatory and commercial framework to support other innovators in delivering oculomics-based health solutions. Topcon sees this as a way to accelerate growth and innovation across the field of AI-enabled health diagnostics.

Executive Insights

“Toku was founded on the principle of early disease detection, even before patients develop symptoms,” said Ehsan Vaghefi, PhD, CEO of Toku, Inc. “Becoming part of Topcon Healthcare enables us to realize our mission of delivering heart and kidney health screening at an unprecedented scale, potentially saving lives with each scan worldwide.”

To date, Toku has analyzed more than 4.3 million de-identified retinal images linked to clinical data, fueling AI models capable of identifying individuals at risk for serious diseases years before symptoms emerge or traditional tests provide warning.

“This partnership accelerates not only regulatory clearances and commercialization of new imaging-based health screening solutions, but also the growth of the broader oculomics field,” added Ali Tafreshi, CEO & President of Topcon Healthcare, Inc. “As Toku transforms every eye exam into a comprehensive health assessment, Topcon’s global infrastructure will help deliver scalable, affordable AI diagnostics to clinicians and patients worldwide.”