Each year Medical Main Street honors the creators of a medical device that demonstrates the most dramatic change in the health care industry in Michigan. The device must be developed in Michigan, achieve prototype development and integrate a game-changing innovation to be considered.

This year, the “INNO-VATOR of the Year” will be awarded to OcuSciences, Inc., an Ann Arbor-based medical device manufacturer, that developed a technology that can detect eye diseases, such as diabetes, macular degeneration and glaucoma, years earlier than current detection methods.

OcuSciences developed an ocular imaging technique called Retinal Metabolic AnalysisTM or RMA. RMA has been termed a new vital sign, similar to blood pressure or body temperature readings, for patients. It’s especially important because it can detect eye disease processes before irreversible structural alterations become visible in the retina. With RMA technology screening, physicians will be able to screen for early eye disease to help prevent blindness, due to diabetes alone, in 24,000 patients annually.

The award will be presented during Medical Main Street’s INNO-VENTION 2014 conference on October 22 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi. Now in it’s third year, INNO-VENTION has become the must-attend medical conference for those employed in health care, medical device manufacturing and health technology. The conference will feature 21 companies that will exhibit the latest medical technology innovations, as well as expert panel discussions pertaining to health, wellness, mobile health care, intellectual property and accountable care organizations.

Previous winners of the “INNO-VATOR of the Year”  award are:

2013 – Ann Arbor-based HistoSonics

2012 – Co-winners: Sentio LLC of Southfield and Ablative Solutions of Kalamazoo