OMAHA, Nebraska (September 25, 2025)—Co-founders of a UNMC startup were the featured speakers during the September installment of Idea Pub: Morning Edition.
Ashok Puri, MBBS, (left) speaks with a guest during the Sept. 25, 2025, Idea Pub: Morning Edition where he presented brief remarks about Deep Health Health Diagnostics, a company he co-founded with UNMC colleague Ron Krueger, MD.
Ron Krueger, MD, Director of UNMC’s Stanley M. Truhlsen Eye Institute, and Ashok Puri, MBBS, a professor in the Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Department at UNMC, co-founded Deep Health Diagnostics.
Deep Health Diagnostics was established on an innovative approach to more quickly and accurately diagnose a serious eye condition called macular edema. Macular edema is the buildup of fluid in the central part of the retina, and the leading cause of blindness for diabetics and seniors.
The UNMC innovation is an AI approach that would help clinicians better evaluate medical eye scans and imagery. The current standard of care for macular edema is a little trial-by-error. A physician treats the patient with an injection, then waits several weeks to measure the results. Then the physician makes an adjustment and repeats the process until arriving at the most effective approach, which may take months or even years to develop.
In the meantime, the patient’s vision often continues to deteriorate, irreversibly.
The powerful algorithm at Deep Health Diagnostics, however, could change the standard of care to one that might prevent a lot of vision loss.
“We’ve created a way to actually measure and predict and evaluate edema severity, and the effect of treatment,” Puri said.
Morning Edition is UNeMed’s networking event for university innovators, entrepreneurs and startup community members. Catalyst Omaha co-sponsors the event and provides free tours of the spacious facility.
Morning Editions will continue to be a fixture in the Catalyst’s Forge Event Hall, located on the north end of the building. Guided tours will also continue as an added feature.
The next Morning Edition is planned for Thursday, Oct.. 30, 2025, in the Forge Event Hall at 9-11 a.m.
