Iridium Medical Technology (晶祈生技)
Chinese name: 晶祈生技股份有限公司 (Iridium Medical Technology Co., Ltd.) HQ: Hsinchu City, Taiwan Founded: 2012 Website: irmedtech.com Founder & CEO: Long-Sheng Fan, PhD
Overview
Iridium Medical Technology (IMTC) is a Taiwan-based company developing the HARP4k (High-Acuity Retinal Prosthesis 4k), a subretinal prosthesis with approximately 4,000 microelectrodes — the highest pixel count of any retinal prosthesis design worldwide. The device uses a proprietary contact-lens-shaped, flexible form factor that conforms to the retinal curvature.1
The company was founded in 2012 and is the first company to develop a “high-acuity spherical bionic retina.” Its VP of Circuit & System Technology is Feng-Hsiung Hsu, known for his work on IBM Deep Blue.
HARP4k device
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Subretinal prosthesis |
| Pixels | ~4,000 microelectrodes |
| Electrode thickness | ~30 µm |
| Form factor | Contact-lens-shaped, flexible |
| Power/data | Wireless (near-infrared light projection) |
| Status | Preclinical |
The flexible design conforms to the natural curvature of the retina, minimising mechanical mismatch. The high electrode density targets complex visual tasks such as face recognition and reading — surpassing the spatial resolution of all previous subretinal implants. Computer simulation has confirmed safety with minimal mechanical stress and reduced retinal tear risk.
Funding
- Total raised: ~$5.68M (Caplight data)
- Investor: Diamond Biofund (Taipei-based biotech venture capital)
Patent
- US9114004B2 — “Flexible artificial retina devices” — filed 2011-10-26, granted 2015-08-25, active. Inventor: Long-Sheng Fan; assignee: Iridium Medical Technology Co Ltd.
- Flexible photosensor + microelectrode array on common silicon substrate, thinned to allow bending to ≤12.5 mm radius (human eyeball curvature)
-
250 pixels/mm² density
- Front-side or back-side light sensing
- Perforation holes for fluidic flow
See visual-prosthesis-patents for the full patent entry.
Management
| Role | Person |
|---|---|
| Founder & CEO | Long-Sheng Fan, PhD (2016–present) |
| VP Circuit & System | Feng-Hsiung Hsu |
| US Advisor & Board | Mark Jacobstein |
| Board Member | Jyuo-Min Shyu |
Significance
IMTC’s HARP4k represents the highest electrode-density retinal prosthesis design in development globally (4,000 pixels vs. PRIMA’s 378, Alpha IMS’s 1,500). The flexible, contact-lens-shaped form factor is a unique engineering approach. However, the company remains preclinical with modest funding ($5.68M), and no human trials have been announced. The HARP4k competes conceptually with science-corp’s PRIMA (subretinal photovoltaic) but uses a fundamentally different mechanical design (flexible conforming substrate vs. rigid modular chip).
Related pages
- retinal-prosthesis — main concept page
- retinal-prosthesis-companies — company comparison schema
- visual-prosthesis-patents — patent entries
- science-corp — PRIMA (subretinal, clinical/commercial)
- intellimicro-medical — Chinese epiretinal prosthesis (IMIE 256)
- nano-retina — NR600 (subretinal/penetrating epiretinal, inactive)
References
- Kim J, Seo JM. “Advances in artificial vision systems.” Biomed Eng Lett. 2025;15:1033–1050. doi:10.1007/s13534-025-00513-4
- Moon JY, Sather RN, Montezuma SR. “Overview of Retinal Prosthesis and Future Directions.” Retinal Physician. May 2024;21:9-11.
- bionic-vision.org company profile (2025-10-25).