Skin Analytics, a startup that uses AI for skin cancer screening, raised £4 million in a Series A funding round. The funding round was led by Hoxton Ventures, with participation from companies such as Nesta and Mustard Seed Ventures. The company plans to use these funds to expand themselves in the U.S and U.K. It is important to note that Skin Analytics was awarded the “Breakthrough Device Designation” by the FDA as part of a program to fast track new and remarkable technologies in healthcare in the United States.
Skin cancer is a very common type of cancer, and many times it could not be detected at the right time. Also, the number of dermatologists in the world is meager than the required number, so it is a real challenge to detect and deal with this disease. That’s where Skin Analytics custom-developed Artificial Intelligence algorithm, DERM AI, comes into the picture. It helps to diagnose malignant skin conditions and clears benign lesions. Using DERM AI helps identify skin cancer at an early stage so that people needing medical help can get it sooner while also providing peace of mind to those who don’t. Skin Analytics’ technology is medically tested.
According to the company, with their AI technology, the number of patients who end up in the hospital can be reduced by 40-60%. Because of this, the dermatologists to patients ratio would improve, helping dermatologists to focus on more severe cases. Using DERM AI can also save the money people had to spend on skin cancer’s traditional diagnosis processes.
According to Skin Analytics founder, Neil Daly, what distinguishes their company from the other competitors in the market is their perseverance and learning from their mistakes in developing their AI. They did a prospective clinical study to improve the performance of their AI. They also developed a research strategy to ask questions to collect data to continue to improve their algorithms. Their basic formula is to test, improve, and repeat.
Consultant Intern: Currently in her third year of B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Goa. She is an ML enthusiast and has a keen interest in Data Science. She is a very good learner and tries to be well versed with the latest developments in Artificial Intelligence.
