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3-2-1 Cataracts
3 health tech startups, 2 actionable insights, and 1 key resource at the intersection of medicine and emerging tech.
Priyanka Vaidya
August 04, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
🌟 Weekly Note
My job description, according to my 8-year-old: “My Mom is a Product Manager who helps babies (ermm sort of) writes about diseases and stuff (this newsletter) and helps decide who gets money (my Venture Partner role).”
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to start a trend where LinkedIn bios are to be updated through the eyes of your child? 😁
🗓️ Let’s chat about your health tech journey!
A cataract is a cloudy area that develops in the lens of the eye, leading to blurry or dim vision, difficulty seeing at night, and fading or yellowing of colors. Cataracts form when the proteins in the lens break down or clump together, blocking light from passing clearly through to the retina. They are most commonly caused by aging, but can also result from injury, genetics, diabetes, certain medications, and prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light. Cataracts are painless and usually progress slowly, but if left untreated, they can lead to significant vision loss or even blindness.
Progression of the disease varies by cataract type and individual factors. Most age-related cataracts progress slowly over the years, while posterior subcapsular or some diabetic cataracts can advance much faster, sometimes within months.
Understanding both the type and stage of cataract is crucial for determining the best treatment and timing of surgery. Early diagnosis and regular eye exams are key to preserving vision.
As of 2025, cataracts affect approximately 100 million people worldwide, making them a major contributor to global visual impairment and blindness. Cataracts are responsible for nearly 45% of global blindness, with prevalence especially high in older adults and in low- and middle-income regions, where access to surgical care remains limited.
🦄 3 startups making an impact in this space:
Location | Israel | US | US |
Modality | Surgical robotics | Surgical robotics | Medical device |
Descriptor | ForSight Robotics is redefining quality surgical eye care with ORYOM, the first robotic surgery platform for cataracts and widespread eye diseases. | Creating assistive surgical robotics to revolutionize eye care. | To restore youthful vision by imitating the natural lens of a young, healthy eye. |
Core Problem | Cataract surgery is the most common elective procedure worldwide. Unfortunately, many people do not have access to this modern, sight-saving cataract surgery due to a lack of access to trained surgeons. | Current challenges include longer wait times for patients with a reduced number of trained surgeons, human limitations while performing surgery, and inconsistent surgical outcomes. | Half of Americans develop cataracts by the age of 75, and it’s estimated that the number of people with cataracts in the U.S. will double from 24.4 million to approximately 50 million by 2050. |
Solution | Timely ophthalmic microsurgery can stop many of the leading causes of blindness. These robots learn as they perform and continuously improve techniques for the best clinical outcomes. | Polaris leverages state-of-the-art robotics, advanced medical imaging, and AI to extend the capabilities of surgeons beyond their current limitations. | The cataractous lens is most often replaced with a rigid, monofocal intraocular lens (IOL) that corrects for near or far vision, but not both. Adaptilens has designed a lens that approximates the properties of a young, healthy lens. |
Product suite | ORYOM™ is the first Robotic Platform for Widespread Eye Diseases. It has unmatched maneuverability and the capability to execute delicate tasks with microsurgical instruments. | Polaris platform uses surgical robotics, medical imaging, and AI to extend the capabilities of surgeons for eye procedures. | The Adaptilens accommodating IOL (A-IOL) is designed to recapture the eye’s intrinsic ability to accommodate by responding to its natural signal to focus, allowing for clear vision over a range of distances without the need for glasses. |
Regulatory Status | Not submitted | Not submitted | Not submitted |
Funding Stage | Series B | Series A | Series A |
Team | The leadership team has an extensive background in robotics and medical devices. | The company’s leadership has robotics, AI, and medical device backgrounds. | The founder and CEO is a serial ophthalmic device inventor. |
Traction | Early stage | Early stage | Early stage |
🚀 2 actionable insights to inspire your strategy:
Advanced surgical tools | AI |
|---|---|
Femtosecond Laser-Assisted Cataract Surgery (FLACS): Laser platforms now enhance precision by automating many steps of cataract surgery, reducing human error, and typically leading to faster recovery and fewer complications compared to manual methods. New tools provide real-time measurements of the eye during surgery, aiding in the selection and positioning of intraocular lenses, which reduce refractive errors and enhance overall vision quality. The use of ultrasound machines with better fluid control now allows safer and even more minimally invasive cataract removal, with more stable eye pressure during surgery. | Emerging AI applications in cataract diagnosis utilize deep learning (DL) and convolutional neural networks (CNN) to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of automated screening and diagnosis, as well as cataract severity grading and postoperative complication prediction. Challenges remain, including ensuring data privacy, model generalizability across populations, and clinical acceptance. However, AI is transforming cataract diagnosis by enabling faster, more accurate, and accessible care pathways. |
🌟 1 interesting resource:
Take a listen to how AI can be harnessed to help both surgeons and patients, and how ‘Bench AI can be translated to Bedside AI’ in this CataractCoach Podcast:
Till next time,