The Visual Evoked Potential Technology (VEP) behind the Enfant™ was originally developed in 1983 by the Rockefeller University Laboratory of Biophysics. This breakthrough technology was licensed to NeuroScientific Corporation, which in 1986 merged with Neurotech Corporation, a small publicly traded company. At Neurotech, the technology was updated and enhanced. The first systems created were the Venus and the Enfant™. Both systems were sold worldwide to large research institutions, teaching universities, and large clinical practices. Many of these systems remain in use today.
Diopsys acquired the rights to the technology in 1998. Upon completing additional engineering work, a new prototype of the Enfant™ was developed, making it a functionally enhanced, easy-to-use version of the original systems.
In 2002, Phase IV clinical trials, conducted by leading pediatric ophthalmologists, were completed at five leading eye care medical centers. Also in 2002, Diopsys received patents covering process methodology and software for visual diagnostic testing utilizing fault detection, and a proprietary method for synchronizing VEP rates with stimulus.
After extensive on-site testing in 2003, the Enfant™ was officially launched at the October 2004 annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Enfant™ Pediatric Vision Testing System is now available for pediatric practices nationwide.
During the nearly four years of successful vision testing for children, Diopsys has continued an intensive product development program for the VEP vision testing medical devices. The outcome of this effort is the Diopsys NOVA-TR and NOVA-DT VEP Vision Testing Systems. Through the combined expertise of professionals in the neurophysiology field and the extensive scientific and engineering know-how of Diopsys, this breakthrough technology can now be brought to community and office based practices. Diopsys introduced the NOVA product series in 2007 for use by the eye care professional. While Enfant is intended to be used by primary care physicians for screening, the NOVA was developed to provide an objective diagnostic and tracking modality for optometrists and ophthalmologists. |