Two-Year Clinical Trial with UCSF and Sutter Health Will Study Fixational Eye Movements as a Biomarker of MS Progression
SANTA CLARA, CA / ACCESS Newswire / November 19, 2025 / C. Light Technologies, an AI-driven healthtech company specializing in assessing eye and brain health to aid in early detection and earlier intervention of neurodegenerative diseases, has been selected as one of five project teams that will be funded through the Roche MS Innovation Challenge. C. Light will use the funding to launch a two-year, multi-site clinical trial, partnering with leading multiple sclerosis (MS) centers at UCSF and Sutter Health, Palo Alto, Calif. to identify hard-to-detect, fixational eye movement outputs as non-invasive biomarkers for MS progression.
The Roche MS Innovation Challenge is a global initiative designed to accelerate breakthroughs that improve the lives of people with MS. It aims to bring forward practical innovations that could be implemented in clinical care within the next few years. The research trial will use C. Light’s proprietary Retitrack™ scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) technology-the first FDA 510k-cleared retinal eye-movement monitor-to record eye movements at five timepoints over the course of two years.
The Retitrack scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) technology
The study will aim to correlate changes in microscopic eye movements with subtle signs of PIRA (progression independent of relapse activity), including individuals already treating their condition with B-cell depleting therapies. It aims to determine if Retitrack™-detected fixational and saccadic eye-motion changes will predict PIRA earlier than the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS)-the widely accepted standardized measure providing a quantitative evaluation of MS disability level-and MRI.
C. Light has shown in earlier research studies that fixational eye movements change with MS and correlate with EDSS progression. The Retitrack™ captures one of the smallest motor movements the human body can make-fixation; tiny, involuntary eye movements that can be smaller than half the size of a human hair. It measures this movement with a 10-second, non-invasive eye scan, requiring no eye dilation.
“We are creating an entirely new stream of data for healthcare,” said C. Light Founder and CEO Christy Sheehy-Bensinger. “Why wait until ambulation and mobility are already impacted in a patient to document disease progression and disability? Let’s use the subclinical changes of oculomotor function and fixation to detect subtle MS progression as soon as it occurs.”
In July, the American Medical Association (AMA) clinical board granted C. Light a new CPT code (1010T) for retinal eye tracking, which will become effective for clinical use on Jan. 1, 2026. This opens the door for potential insurance reimbursement for Retitrack scans.
C. Light’s Chief Medical Officer Jacqueline Theis, O.D., F.A.A.O. said, “Retitrack’s ability to quantify microscopic fixational eye-movement changes offers a new lens on PIRA and MS detection -one that could shorten trial endpoints, refine therapeutic evaluation, and enable more personalized patient monitoring. This is the kind of bench-to-bedside innovation that has the power to transform both the science of drug development and the lived experience of MS.”
In May, C. Light closed an oversubscribed $3 million seed extension round led by a large North American family office to fuel their upcoming FDA clinical trial to add AI-powered disease detection capabilities to their device.
C. Light is also announcing its participation in the DayOne Accelerator in Basel, Switzerland, a three-month, hybrid program that prepares startups to launch successful partnerships with pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Sheehy will be attending their Innovation Showcase Dec. 10 and 11 at the Roche campus in Basel, Switzerland.
About C. Light
C. Light Technologies, Inc. is an AI-driven healthtech company whose primary mission is to create digital tools and solutions to assess eye and brain health. Its proprietary Retitrack™ device is reshaping the landscape of eye-tracking, enabling clinicians to unlock the untapped potential within each eye movement. C. Light has raised more than $8 million in funding with major investors Yamaha Motor Ventures and Creative Ventures. The company has been awarded three grants from the National Institute of Health, as well as additional funding through the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. C. Light has also won numerous awards in recent years, including the 2022 National Timmy Award for “Best Tech Startup in North America” and the 2023 Stevie® Award for Most Innovative Company of the Year – 10 or Less Employees.
For more information, visit our website at http://www.clighttechnologies.com or our LinkedIn.
Disclaimer: The information described above is conducted as research through controlled studies and is not intended to reflect the ability of the current commercially available iteration of the Retitrack.
Images: LINK
CONTACT:
Erica Zeidenberg
+19255188159
[email protected]
SOURCE: C. Light Technologies
