An AI-enabled subscription service that expands its focus from measuring eye pressure to helping clinicians interpret risk and explore treatment scenarios.
TUCSON , AZ, UNITED STATES, November 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — TUCSON, Ariz. — November 10 — In a 2025 study in BMC Ophthalmology, at intraocular pressure (IOP) of 22 mmHg or higher, CATS modified-prism readings were associated with 2.57 times greater probability of significant retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) loss compared with standard Goldmann prism readings (p<0.0001). CATS Tonometer, LLC is now building on that science with an AI-enabled glaucoma software service that extends its FDA-cleared tonometer prism into glaucoma risk assessment and treatment-scenario modeling.
“Glaucoma care has measured pressure for nearly 70 years. We are making it predict damage,” said Sean McCafferty, MD, FACS, founder and CEO of CATS Tonometer.
The planned subscription service brings together three complementary capabilities: RNFL and pressure reference charts, multifactor assessments of glaucoma onset and progression risk, and treatment-scenario comparisons using published intraocular pressure equations. The goal: help clinicians place every pressure measurement within a patient-specific picture of glaucoma risk and management.
The service has a built-in channel: practices already using the FDA-cleared CATS Tonometer Prism (K173904). It marks CATS’ expansion from ophthalmic measurement technology into recurring-revenue clinical software, with opportunities for strategic collaboration across ophthalmic devices, diagnostics, therapeutics, and digital health.
CATS has filed patent applications covering its glaucoma progression and diagnostic software.
A published scientific foundation
The CATS Tonometer Prism is an FDA-cleared replacement prism for Goldmann-type tonometers, designed to reduce measurement errors associated with corneal properties and tear-film effects. Its scientific foundation includes peer-reviewed engineering studies, direct comparisons with intracameral pressure, and multicenter randomized clinical trials.
That research extends beyond measurement accuracy to the relationship between measured pressure and glaucoma damage. The 2025 study in BMC Ophthalmology reported a stronger association between CATS modified-prism pressure measurements and progressive RNFL thinning than between standard Goldmann measurements and thinning.
Separately, Sean McCafferty and John Berdahl published intraocular pressure equations in Clinical Ophthalmology in 2025. Their work models both steady-state pressure and changes over time using aqueous-fluid flow relationships, providing a published mathematical foundation for the service’s pressure-response scenarios.
Additional peer-reviewed research on aqueous inflow and outflow facility modeling has been submitted for publication.
From measurement to glaucoma intelligence
Prototype charting and risk-assessment tools are in development for in-house use. The service would let clinicians compare pressure and RNFL trends, review multiple contributors to glaucoma risk, and explore modeled pressure responses to potential interventions.
The platform is built to improve with scale. Each subscribing practice would contribute appropriately governed patient-outcome data that, together with AI-assisted evidence review and new research, refines the versioned models over time, building a defensible data asset. Clinician-facing models are planned as dated, version-controlled releases with transparent factor contributions, rather than equations that change invisibly during use.
The software is in development; the prism’s FDA clearance does not extend to the planned software.
CATS welcomes discussions with investors, clinical collaborators, and strategic industry partners interested in connecting pressure measurement, predictive modeling, and longitudinal glaucoma care.
About CATS Tonometer
CATS Tonometer, LLC develops ophthalmic pressure-measurement technology. Its CATS Tonometer Prism is FDA-cleared for measuring intraocular pressure with Goldmann-type tonometers. The company’s research is available through its peer-reviewed publications.
Media and strategic inquiries: CATS Tonometer is a subsidiary of Early Signal Diagnostics Corp.
Dr. Sean McCafferty
Early Signal Diagnostics Corp
+1 480-710-2229
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