Key Takeaways
- Topcon Healthcare has launched Oku Digital Health, an AI-powered company focused on using ocular data to support disease detection, referrals, and pharmaceutical research
- Oku combines AI-supported diagnostics, EHR integration, and referral workflows and will operate across a network of more than 10,000 care locations, according to the company
- Oku will make its industry debut at AAO 2026 in New Orleans, with its solutions featured within the Topcon Healthcare exhibit
Topcon Healthcare announced the global launch of Oku Digital Health, an artificial intelligence-powered company designed to use data generated through routine eye care to support earlier disease detection, clinical referrals, and pharmaceutical research.
Oku combines AI-supported diagnostics, electronic health record integration, and referral workflows in an effort to connect eye care with primary care and other medical specialties. The company is also targeting pharmaceutical applications, including the use of patient data and real-world evidence in drug development and precision medicine.
The launch builds on the emerging field of oculomics, which uses ocular imaging and other eye-derived data to identify biomarkers associated with systemic health.
“The eye is becoming the front door to medicine, but a front door only matters if it leads somewhere,” Ali Tafreshi, CEO of Oku Digital Health, said in a statement. “Oku puts what the eye reveals in the hands of those who can act on it; clinicians and researchers across eye care, primary care, and drug development.”
Advances in AI and oculomics are expanding researchers' ability to analyze ocular data for signals associated with systemic diseases. According to Oku, measurable changes in the eye may be associated with conditions including cardiovascular and kidney disease. The company aims to translate those insights into clinical workflows that can facilitate earlier intervention and disease management.
Built on Topcon Healthcare's existing infrastructure, Oku will operate across a connected network of more than 10,000 care locations, according to the company.
For healthcare providers, the platform is intended to connect primary care clinicians, optometrists, ophthalmologists, and other specialists through diagnostic, EHR, and referral capabilities.
For pharmaceutical companies, Oku plans to provide data and real-world evidence that can support clinical development and precision medicine programs.
“Topcon Healthcare is synonymous with the diagnostic solutions optometrists and ophthalmologists rely on every day,” Lance Patton, president of Topcon Healthcare, said in a statement. “Over the past 5 years, we strategically invested in software, clinical decision support, and AI to achieve our Healthcare from the Eye vision.”
Patton said bringing those capabilities together under Oku represents an expansion of that strategy.
Oku's founding leadership team includes executives with backgrounds spanning ophthalmology, artificial intelligence, healthcare technology, and pharmaceutical development.
Mr. Tafreshi will serve as CEO while remaining chief strategy officer for Topcon Corp.'s Eyecare Business Division and CEO of Topcon Healthcare. He previously served as global head and vice president of product management and clinical affairs at Heidelberg Engineering.
Trent Norris, Oku's chief operating officer, previously served as global head of business development for digital health at Nvidia and held roles at Flywheel.io and Microsoft.
Matthew Lungren, MD, MPH, has been appointed chief data AI officer. Dr. Lungren is also an adjunct professor of biomedical data science at Stanford University School of Medicine and previously served as chief scientific officer at Microsoft Health and Life Sciences.
Daniela Ferrara, MD, PhD, FASRS, FARVO, will serve as chief medical officer. She is an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine and previously spent nearly 11 years at Genentech, where she became principal medical director of ophthalmology.
Jacques Gilbert will serve as chief strategy and business development officer. His previous experience includes serving as vice president of healthcare strategy, partnerships, and M&A at Microsoft, as well as positions at Nuance Communications and GE Healthcare.
Oku will make its industry debut during the 2026 American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting in New Orleans, scheduled for October 9-12. The company will showcase its provider and pharmaceutical solutions within the Topcon Healthcare exhibit at booth 1737.
