Skinopathy, a new Canadian medical technology start-up, is developing Artificial Intelligence technology to help fight the scourge of skin cancer.
According to the Canadian Skin Cancer Foundation, there are more new cases of skin cancer each year than the number of breast, prostate, lung, and colon cancers combined and one in every three cancers diagnosed worldwide is skin cancer.
“Unfortunately, skin cancer is often overlooked as a major threat to a person’s wellbeing,” says Dr. Colin Hong, a Toronto-based Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon and co-founder of Skinopathy. “Most forms of skin cancer probably won’t kill you, but many can lead to serious complications such as disfigurement, bleeding, and infections.”
Perhaps what is most striking is the economic burden of skin cancer. Data from the Public Health Agency of Canada suggests the costs associated with skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases were over 2 Billion Dollars in 2010.
“I had my own skin cancer scare,” says Keith Loo, co-founder of Skinopathy and Entrepreneurship Instructor at the Schulich School of Business, York University. “I met Dr. Hong a number of years ago and we got to talking about how technology might be able to help save lives.”
Skinopathy is geared to catch skin cancer, and other skin diseases before they become serious medical concerns. The AI technology being developed will help accelerate the screening process for patients and reduce the strain on the Canadian medical system. Additionally, plans are in place to set new standards of practice in the medical field by streamlining the administrative load by automating billing, scheduling, and medical follow-ups.
This service will be integrated directly with Canadian provincial healthcare systems meaning no additional charges will be passed on to patients.
About Skinopathy
Founded in 2020, Skinopathy is a medical technology company that allows the public to quickly and reliably screen for potential skin cancer, as well as other skin diseases, and connect them to Canadian physicians. Our goal is to honor the strictest covenants of patient confidentiality while revolutionizing digital medicine and medical infrastructure.