Horse breeding tech firm Equilume spins out from University College Dublin.
University College Dublin (UCD) has spun-out Equilume, a firm that is developing a light mask for horse breeding seasons.
The mask, based on research at UCD’s School of Electrical, Electronic, and Communications Engineering, utilises light therapy. It produces a blue light that simulates the sunlight produced during the late-spring months, tricking the horse into advancing their mating season. Currently, breeders use indoor artificial lighting, but this can prove very costly.
The spin-out process was supported by government commercialisation agency Enterprise Ireland.
Barbara Murphy, academic lead on the researcher and founder of Equilume, said: “Our research at UCD found that very low intensities of blue light are required to inhibit circulating concentrations of melatonin in the horse and that it is sufficient to deliver blue light to a single eye of a mare and still inhibit melatonin levels to daylight levels.”
