Type Private Founded 2008 | Industry Healthcare, Technology Founder Dr. Jam Ghajar | |
Headquarters Boston, Massachusetts, United States Key people Board members: Dr. Jam Ghajar, Alan Quasha, Ernie Santin, Kevin Quinn, John van Merkensteijn, III | ||
SYNCTHINK, Inc. is a neuro-technology company with foundational intellectual property in eye-tracking metrics and devices. The Company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Contents
History
SYNCTHINK was founded by Dr. Jam Ghajar, a clinical professor of neurosurgery at Stanford and founder and director of its Concussion and Brain Performance Center. He is also the founder of the Brain Trauma Foundation. Other notable board members include Alan Quasha, Ernie Santin, Kevin Quinn, and John van Merkensteijn.
SyncThink sells its diagnostic device under the EYE-SYNC label. The EYE-SYNC is a high-performance device that uses virtual reality to assess abnormal eye movement, which is a common occurrence after a concussion. The device comes in a portable suitcase that can be used in a clinical setting or outdoors.
The EYE-SYNC received FDA clearance in January, 2016 to market the technology as a medical device.
The device is currently used by Stanford University as well as various other institutions.
Technology
Eye-Sync works by having a person wear virtual reality headgear over the eyes. The viewer sees a point of light that rotates clockwise in a circle. The technology tracks how accurately the eyes follow the light. It then produces a chart that can tell doctors whether the person’s eyes were off track while following the light, indicating synchronization problems between the eyes and the brain. An assessment from the test can be made in under 60 seconds.
The company owns 10 patents and has tested 5,000 troops and 5,000 elementary, middle school and college athletes in the Bay Area and the New York area.
SyncThink technology also has as more than 40 peer-reviewed research articles characterizing the impact of concussion on visual attention. Peer-reviewed articles have been in featured in Journal of Neurological Sciences, The National Center for Biotechnology Information, amongst others.
According to research, the technology is imperative to quantitate changes in the saccades and monitoring or screening concussions as well as provides a fast and accurate assessment of cognitive functions.
Funding
The Department of Defense has funded SyncThink and its partner, the Brain Trauma Foundation, with about $30 million for the technology and clinical trials, one of which is finishing up now, involving 10,000 people. Ongoing revenue is generated from monthly licensing fees for the software that powers EYE-SYNC.