Israeli-American AEYE Health wins Prix Galien Award for new AI technology helping prevent blindness

Dr. Zack Dvey-Aharon, Co-founder and CEO of AEYE Health, an Israeli digital health company, invented the AEYE-DS to make sight-saving diabetic eye exams accessible at virtually any point of care.

AEYE Health's AEYE-DS technology, designed to prevent blindness with a fully autonomous AI diagnostic tool, received the 2026 Prix Galien USA Award for Best Digital Health Solution, one of the most prestigious distinctions in healthcare innovation.

Dr. Zack Dvey-Aharon, Co-founder and CEO of AEYE Health, an Israeli-American digital health company, invented the AEYE-DS to make sight-saving diabetic eye exams accessible at virtually any point of care, the company said. 

Diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes that affects the eyes, is the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults. Caused by damage to the blood vessels in the retina at the back of the eyes, it may cause no symptoms or only mild visual disturbances at first. However, if left untreated, it can lead to blindness. 

Most vision loss caused by diabetic retinopathy can be prevented by early detection and intervention. Traditionally, this has involved screening with an eye specialist, which AEYE Health says creates a substantial barrier to care. 

Limited availability, long waiting times, cost, and inconvenience can all lead to delayed detection and, ultimately, to vision loss.

AEYE-DS uses portable and tabletop retinal cameras to perform a diabetic eye examination with an FDA-cleared, fully AI diagnostic program that enables accurate and almost immediate results without the need for physician interpretation. 

AEYE expanding across US, developing next-gen platform

After being validated through three prospective, controlled pivotal phase-III clinical trials, AEYE-DS is now rapidly expanding across the United States.

Dvey-Aharon explained that while receiving the Prix Galien Award was one of "the greatest honors of my professional life and an extraordinary recognition of the work of the AEYE Health team... our greatest achievement remains every patient whose sight can be preserved because this technology exists."

"We are only at the beginning of what autonomous AI can accomplish for global healthcare,” Dvey-Aharon said.

AEYE Health is now developing AEYE-X, a next-generation platform designed to enable a broader health assessment from retinal images. AEYE-X can assess more than 100 health indications, potentially expanding the role of retinal imaging far beyond traditional eye care, the company said.