The partnership with Allergan began in the spring of 2015. Magnus Brandel (medical advisor in ophthalmology) at the Nordic office contacted us because, the ophthalmologist and professor Anders Heijl, had a brilliant idea. He had developed an algorithm to be able to estimate and set patient-specific target intra ocular pressures (Target IOP) for patients with glaucoma. Professor Heijl’s algorithm implemented in an app would later be developed into the simulation tool SSY Engine is today.
The first year we worked together to base the evidence on the algorithm and shape the concept for the app. In the autumn of 2016, the first version was released in Sweden. Allergan’s international office soon opened its eyes to the project and wanted to launch the app to more markets. The requirement was, however, that it would meet the different markets’ requirements for medical devices, CE-marked or equivalent.
As we CE-marked SSY Engine, we realized that we needed to improve our quality management system to gain further control over the continued development of the app (and upcoming apps). As part of that work, we certified ourselves against ISO 13485 in the spring of 2018, which made us unique as Sweden’s only quality-certified agency for the development of health apps. In the same year, we released SSY Engine, now a CE-marked medical technology simulation tool class I, to another eight markets in the EU and Asia.
Allergan’s vision is for SSY Engine to become the world’s foremost simulation tool in the care of glaucoma disease. SSY Engine is also available as a web app, which makes the tool available to more ophthalmologists worldwide.
SSY Engine has so far been released to the following countries: Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, UK, Spain, Portugal, Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Lebanon, India, South Africa and Australia.