Click2PrintAE®, an end-to-end digital workflow for 3D printed ocular prosthetics

Incorporated in 2016, Ocupeye are a UK-based SME with an innovative, visionary team of assistive devices innovators led by design, engineering, and business experts. Our strong ambition to drive positive change within the healthcare industry has led us on a journey to create a 3D printing process for prosthetic eyes that not only reduces hospital costs and labour time, but prioritises patient comfort, satisfaction, and prosthetic fit.

Over 8 million people worldwide and 70k in the UK wear a prosthetic eye \[Moorfields Eye Charity\]. Despite technological advancements elsewhere in healthcare, the current process to supply ocular prosthetics to patients has remained largely unchanged for over 70 years, with ocular prosthetics currently moulded, shaped, painted, and fitted individually by hand with techniques from the 1950s. The process is invasive and often traumatic for patients, particularly for children, with alginate injections required to make wax patterns for patient's eye shapes. Prosthetics are then hand-painted, assembled, and polished, which is time-consuming and requires highly skilled resource. Waiting list time been exacerbated by COVID-19, with waiting list numbers for elective care increased from 4.4 million to 6 million people \[NHS Delivery Plan\]. This greatly impacts patient care, satisfaction, and overall quality of life.

To address these issues, Ocupeye will bring to market the world's first end-to-end digital process for the 3D printing and manufacture of prosthetic eyes. The process will be non-invasive and no-touch to patients and significantly reduce the extortionate waiting list time from 60 weeks to a 3-week turnaround, whilst delivering a much-needed, innovative life sciences product into healthcare more quickly and effectively.