Thankfully, a new device can provide just that. Enabling an accessible way to measure corneal thickness, a key step in diagnosis of glaucoma, the PM1 from Reading company Occuity works without touching the eye.
This week (22 September), a team of six from the optical healthcare firm received the 2025 Colin Campbell Mitchell Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering for their work. Given each year to an engineer or small team of engineers who have made the greatest contribution to the advancement of any field of UK engineering within the past four years, the award includes a £6,000 prize.
Also targeting the screening and monitoring of conditions such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, the team includes Dr Robin Taylor, co-founder and chief technical officer, James Reynolds, chief optical engineer, Sharon Branch, chief operating officer, Shashin Lad, senior firmware and electronics engineer, Martin Newman, senior manufacturing technician, and Jamie Serjeant, lead engineer.
Glaucoma is caused by increased intraocular pressure from fluid not draining correctly in the eye, which then damages the optic nerve that connects the eye to the brain. It can affect people of all ages, although older adults and certain ethnic groups are at higher risk.
Diagnosis requires a range of tests, including measurement of the pressure in the eye and corneal thickness (pachymetry). Correct measurements of eye pressure depend on accurate corneal thickness measurement, and the interaction between them determines the risk of glaucoma.
Occuity’s innovative PM1 pachymetry device is handheld and designed to measure corneal thickness in seconds, without touching the eye. Previously this was done with ultrasound in a process that required anaesthetising eye drops and contact with the eye, which could be both unpleasant for the patient and time-consuming for the clinician. Up until now the alternative, non-contact pachymeters, were desk-bound and expensive.
The Occuity team had to address multiple challenges to invent the handheld device, including miniaturisation of complex optical systems, development of high-speed lens scanning and advanced algorithms to achieve reliable results. They also had to install a medical device-certified manufacturing facility in Reading to build it.
“The PM1 is both a breakthrough in glaucoma diagnostics and a celebration of engineering ingenuity,” said Luke Logan, chair of the academy’s awards committee.
“The team overcame many challenges to create this handheld device. By eliminating the need for anaesthetic drops and bulky equipment, it redefines how early detection can be delivered. This is especially true in places that don’t have access to expensive equipment, which now have a more accessible way to stave off the blight of glaucoma in their community.”
The PM1 device is now available in nearly 20 different countries. The Occuity team is also developing the optical technology to produce meters to screen for other ophthalmic conditions including myopia, as well as to improve the screening and monitoring of systemic conditions such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s. The engineers hope their products will help in the prevention, rather than just treatment, of these chronic disorders.
Dan Daly, co-founder and chief executive officer of Occuity, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this award. When we founded Occuity in 2019, we had a vision to develop pain-free testing to enable the prevention, rather than just the treatment, of a wide range of chronic health conditions.
“The first step on the journey is the PM1 meter to support the diagnosis of glaucoma. In order to develop this entirely new product, we had to first recruit a team, and we’ve been extremely fortunate to have drawn together such an exceptional group of individuals. They not only excel as individuals but also, when acting together, have been able to achieve extraordinary results.
“Winning the Colin Campbell Mitchell Award is a recognition both of their capabilities and all that they’ve achieved in a very short space of time.”
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