Rockley Photonics Unveils Bioptx Biomarker Sensing Platform

Rockley Photonics Holdings Limited has debuted its Bioptx platform of biomarker sensing products and solutions for the medical and healthcare market. The Bioptx platform is expected to provide medical institutions, such as hospitals, research clinics, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and other healthcare providers with the ability to monitor individuals’ general wellness.

Rockley had initially expected to introduce commercial products into the professional healthcare market in 2024 but expedited the Bioptx platform’s introduction to meet customer demand. The company shipped the first of its engineering samples to multiple customers in January of 2022. The first commercial products in the Bioptx line are expected to be available as early as the second half of 2022. “Launching the Bioptx product line two years earlier than planned represents a significant step forward in the deployment and commercialization of our biomarker sensing platform and will allow us to develop and refine our algorithms and analytics for the healthcare market more quickly,” Rockley CEO and Chairman Dr. Andrew Rickman said. “People are interested in taking a more proactive role in managing their health, and professional healthcare providers are looking for a holistic approach to outcome-based programs. I believe our Bioptx biosensing platform has the potential to significantly advance this new approach by providing non-invasive, continuous remote patient monitoring that’s much more accurate and tracks a broader range of health conditions.”
 
The Bioptx sensing platform integrates various sensing capabilities, including Rockley’s patented silicon-photonics-based laser technology. Rockley’s technology can potentially significantly enhance the range of biomarkers that can be detected and measured by current sensors. The expanded range of biomarkers includes core body temperature, blood pressure, body hydration, alcohol, lactate, and glucose trends, among others. These new measurement capabilities can potentially transform healthcare by providing real-time insights into various health conditions and facilitating early disease detection.
 
The platform’s cloud analytics and AI capabilities allow medical institutions to analyze biomarker information, monitor general health conditions, and track population health metrics. These insights can potentially support and improve various healthcare treatments, including remote patient monitoring, medical therapies, management of chronic conditions, and drug development.
 
The Bioptx sensing platform includes a range of hardware and software solutions that enable non-invasive, continuous, and real-time monitoring of multiple biomarkers, from a wearable biosensing wristband to cloud analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). Rockley also plans to offer additional cloud-based subscription services that enhance Bioptx’s capabilities.
 
The Bioptx line of sensing products, which address specific needs of the professional healthcare market, is the second product line to leverage Rockley’s silicon-photonics-based biosensing platform. The company’s VitalSpex product line addresses the consumer wearable market. Both product lines incorporate Rockley’s silicon photonics technology and clinic-on-the-wrist miniaturizing technology.
 
Rockley intends to use the data gathered from the Bioptx line to further refine the sensing algorithms, cloud analytics, and AI of its sensing platform. The launch of a healthcare-specific biosensing product line is expected to accelerate Rockley’s access to data and the refinement and expansion of its platform functionality. Rockley expects that these refinements will allow it to expand the intended uses of the Bioptx product line and move forward with plans to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certification. 
 
Rockley Photonics is developing a range of photonic integrated circuits and associated modules, sensors, and full-stack solutions. From next-generation sensing platforms specifically designed for mobile health monitoring and machine vision to high-speed, high-volume solutions for data communications, Rockley is laying the foundation for a new generation of applications across multiple industries. Formed in 2013, Rockley is positioned to support hyper-scale manufacturing and address various high-volume markets.