Oku Digital Health launches from Topcon to link eye care, primary care

Topcon Healthcare, Inc. has launched Oku Digital Health, Inc., a separate company that will build the referral and data infrastructure meant to connect eye imaging with primary care, specialty medicine, and pharmaceutical research.¹ Ali Tafreshi, chief executive officer of both companies, told Ophthalmology Times that fragmented care and limited access remain the central problems. He added that regulatory, reimbursement, and data flow barriers have not gone away.

According to the company, Oku is headquartered in La Jolla, California, and draws on a network of more than 10,000 connected care locations.¹ It will debut at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) 2026 Annual Meeting in New Orleans.¹

Tafreshi said Topcon spent several years investing in artificial intelligence (AI), cloud infrastructure, data platforms, and more automated diagnostic devices under its Healthcare from the Eye initiative. Those assets now form Oku. Because Topcon was the only company driving the approach at the time, he said, it waited for broader stakeholder alignment before committing a dedicated team. "Over the last year or so, it's become clear that it's time to do this," he said.

What does the patient journey look like?

Tafreshi described a patient getting a scan on a tabletop device in a primary care office. The scan flags the need for an eye care visit for diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, or age-related macular degeneration. "What's most important is what do you do next, right?" he said.

In the model he described, the patient can book the appointment at the point of care. The patient's data travel with them, so imaging is not repeated unnecessarily, and the eye care provider then decides whether the patient needs another specialist. He said portable, automated devices would need to reach rural kiosks, retail settings, and primary care offices, which he put at more than 100,000 in the United States.

How could the role of eye care change and what barriers remain?

Tafreshi said that, at scale, eye care practices would identify patients with systemic conditions, including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and dementia, and refer them to primary care or specialty medicine. "It will be eye care's responsibility to capture those patients," he said. He added that patients identified this way could also become candidates for clinical trials.

"The barriers haven't changed," Tafreshi said, listing regulatory, policy, reimbursement, transparency, and data flow barriers. He said any AI deployment must lower costs rather than add them, and it must fit existing clinical workflows.

Tafreshi did not present outcome data in the interview. He said the company plans peer-reviewed publications, abstracts at ARVO, and real-world evidence, along with patient and clinician interviews.

Reference
1. Oku Digital Health, Inc. Oku Digital Health launches from Topcon Healthcare to transform eye care into whole-body health. News release. GlobeNewswire. October 6, 2026. Accessed October 6, 2026. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/10/06/3375606/0/en/oku-digital-health-launches-from-topcon-healthcare-to-transform-eye-care-into-whole-body-health.html