Siloton went through the University of Bristol's quantum preincubation programme, QTEC. The Siloton team will use QTIC’s lab and office spaces for research and development and business operations for their specialist photonics business to end preventable blindness. 

The company 

Siloton aims to be the world’s foremost provider of portable optical coherence tomography solutions. Utilising photonic integrated circuits, which guide and control light on chip-scale devices, they are developing an advanced hand-held sub-surface imaging device. They are starting their journey by tackling the greatest challenges in ophthalmology, producing a home-based scanning module to see an end to preventable blindness. 

Siloton believe everyone should have access to optical-coherence-tomography-based eye scanners. These can identify a wide range of sight-destroying conditions before symptoms develop and help optimise treatments to minimise the damage. However, current systems are big, fragile and cost in the region of $50k - $120k, meaning they are mostly confined to specialist eye hospitals and high-end opticians. 

The team are developing a photonic chip that contains the core functionality of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system. Photonic chips are highly robust, mass-producible, and usually only a few millimetres in length, meaning our technology offers a substantial step change compared to that which is conventionally used for OCT. It will enable a new generation of portable eye scanners that can be kept in an ophthalmologist’s desk drawer, but which would also survive being driven down dirt roads as part of a mobile eye clinic. 

The team 

CEO Dr Alasdair Price has a PhD in Quantum Engineering from the University of Bristol and seven years’ experience in photonic chip design, packaging and testing.  

Dr Euan Allen is CTO, with a PhD in Integrated and Photonic Sensors from the University of Bristol. Euan led the design and experimentation on >10 Photonic Chips and is a multi-award-winning science communicator.  

Dr Ben Hunt is Siloton’s COO, with a PhD in Medical Physics & BSc in Psychology from the University of Nottingham and experience in medical applications. 

Siloton at QTIC 

“We're very excited to be joining the QTIC community. Getting to sit alongside other companies on a similar path to us is hugely beneficial and provides a great working atmosphere.”  Dr Alasdair Price, CEO of Siloton