Blinkcns and MUSC ink deal for central nervous system disorder technology

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The Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization, a technology accelerator and component of the Office of Innovation at the Medical University of South Carolina, and Blinkcns Inc. have entered into a strategic, exclusive licensing agreement to advance a novel blink reflex technology and software known as EyeStat.

This agreement was executed while the institute was operating as the Zucker Institute for Applied Neurosciences.

According to a news release from MUSC, EyeStat is poised to make a profound impact on patients, specifically those with neurological diseases and conditions. Central nervous system diseases are difficult to monitor and track, as many gold-standard devices are either outdated, costly or unreliable, the release said. The EyeStat series of capture devices by Blinkcns allows for a small stimulus of either carbon dioxide, light flash or audio prompt to trigger the blink reflex and allow for real-time data collection and analysis.

Because the captured data resides in the cloud and is also examined there by artificial intelligence, advanced research is underway on the utility of using other capture devices, such as an iPhone or iPad, the news release said.

“Blinkcns has realized great growth since its inception in 2017,” Jeff Riley, executive chairman of Blinkcns, said in the release. “Thanks to the trust of the Zucker Institute, we’ve taken a new step to accelerate that growth. We are delighted to have established this new licensing agreement, which represents significant clinical potential for our technology. The Zucker Institute’s team, history of innovation and technical expertise are of a high standard.”

Blinkcns, based in Charleston, is a medical device company that is researching solutions for migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, according to its website.

“It is especially exciting to see MUSC technologies licensed and commercialized by ‘home-grown’ biotech companies in Charleston,” Michael Yost, interim CEO of the Zucker Institute, said in the release. “This partnership gives us a really nice platform for collaborating even more deeply with the Blinkcns team to better the lives of people around South Carolina, the United States and the world.”