SACCADE DIAGNOSTICS LIMITED

Their core work

Saccade Diagnostics is an Edinburgh-based medtech SME that develops diagnostic technology for major psychiatric disorders using eye movement analysis. Their core insight is that saccadic eye movements — rapid, involuntary shifts in gaze — serve as measurable biomarkers for conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. They progressed from clinical feasibility work to building machine learning classifier models that interpret eye movement data to support psychiatric diagnosis. Their work bridges clinical neuroscience, precision medicine, and applied AI.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their H2020 portfolio spans only 2016–2018, so long-term drift cannot be assessed, but the internal progression is instructive. They began with a Phase 1 feasibility study (SACCSCAN, 2016) focused on clinical management personalisation, then moved directly into algorithmic development — building ML classifier models from eye movement data (SACCSCAN-IA-ML, 2017–2018). This two-step arc — validate concept, then build the classification engine — is a textbook SME product development path, suggesting the company was on a commercialisation track by the end of their recorded EU activity.

Saccade Diagnostics was building toward a machine-learning-powered eye-tracking diagnostic platform for psychiatry — any future collaboration would most naturally fit clinical validation, regulatory pathway work, or integration into digital mental health platforms.

How they like to work

Saccade Diagnostics operated as a solo company in both H2020 projects, holding the coordinator role with no recorded consortium partners. This is consistent with the SME Phase 1/Phase 2 funding model, where companies conduct proprietary technology development independently. It signals a self-directed, IP-focused organisation — one more likely to seek clinical trial partners or commercial licensing relationships than to join large multi-partner research consortia.

With no recorded consortium partners across either project, Saccade Diagnostics has a minimal collaborative footprint in the EU research network. Their EU funding was deployed for independent technology development rather than shared research.

What sets them apart

Saccade Diagnostics occupies a narrow but high-value niche: using saccadic eye movement patterns as objective, quantifiable biomarkers for psychiatric illness — a field with very few dedicated commercial players. Their combination of clinical psychiatry application knowledge and early machine learning capability places them at an intersection that is genuinely underserved in digital health. For a consortium builder or clinical partner, this is a company with a proprietary diagnostic concept, early EU validation, and clear commercial intent in a mental health diagnostics market where objective biomarkers are urgently needed.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SACCSCAN-IA-ML
  Their largest project (EUR 121,250) and the most technically advanced — directly developing machine learning classifiers for eye movement data to diagnose psychiatric disorders, representing the core of their commercial technology.
• SACCSCAN
  The founding feasibility study that established the clinical concept and secured initial EU validation for personalised psychiatric management through eye movement analysis.