Written by Roger Peverelli and Reggy de Feniks - Founders The DIA Community on Oct 19, 2017
Amsterdam based SkinVision is an awareness and tracking mobile application that supports individuals in finding and tracking suspicious moles and skin conditions in the comfort of their own home by using their smartphone. The application allows users to take high quality pictures with the app’s advanced camera and assess the skin cancer risk of their moles and skin conditions within 30 seconds. Users also receive unique recommendations based on their individual risk assessment. With the personal gallery, users have the option to compare pictures over time and easily share their images with a doctor. The efficient and easy-to-use solution helps to make skin monitoring a simple routine. SkinVision uses data analytics to follow-up and communicate to individuals that present a risk for developing skin cancer based on genetic and personal circumstances and lifestyles.
SkinVision’s application allows users to become aware of their own skin, find something potentially dangerous early, and track and monitor their skin over time. SkinVision is working closely with renowned dermatologists and professors from top clinics worldwide and the accuracy of the online assessment (algorithm) has been scientifically proven.
Major impact
The company wants to raise awareness of the importance of early detection in skin cancer. Malignant melanoma, is the most dangerous form of skin cancer.But if it’s caught early, the chances of survival are very good. The cancer generally appears as changes to existing moles, but it can be hard to distinguish dangerous moles from harmless ones.
Prevention and early detection reduces the health impact of malignant melanoma. It saves cost for treatment of skin cancer in later stages which is quickly 5 times the cost of early recognition. In case of melanoma late stage treatment by immunotherapy this can move into €200.000 annually per patient. The SkinVision service through triage enables those customers that have to go to the doctor will go as soon as needed and those that don’t have to go will not go. This avoids many first line and second visits resulting in a cost saving of up to 50% of the visits that were unnecessary due to low accuracy of GP’s in the disease area.
SkinVision has over one million users around the world in 120 countries, over 3 million images and +15.000 cases of skin cancer found. They have contracts with Accuro in New Zealand and AXA in the UK and is currently engaged with several insurance companies in Netherlands, Italy, Germany, UK, New Zealand and Australia.
How does it work?
Healthy moles are fairly symmetrical in shape, so any irregularity could suggest it is harmful.A normal mole also has a smooth, consistent edge, whereas a melanoma is more likely to have a jagged, irregular outline. Also, non-cancerous moles are usually one color whereas a melanoma is made up of multiple shades.
SkinVision is based on a technology called“fractal geometry” a branch of mathematics that can be used to simulate the natural growth of tissue. It uses an algorithm that analyzes tissue growth using a picture of a mole that is uploaded to the users smartphone. The algorithm can detect symptoms that are generally associated with risky moles. The technique looks for patterns in the outlines and dimensions of a mole that make it more likely to be malignant. It then classes it as high, medium or low risk.
- Take a picture, hold the device over a mole or skin condition and take a picture.
- Analyze: the app will analyze the spot in an instant and give you a recommendation
- Track changes: Archive the picture, keep track of changes over time and share it with a doctor
With the personal gallery, users have the option to compare pictures over time and easily share their images with a doctor. The uniqueness of SkinVision is that it has built the algorithm into the smartphone application, requiring no additional devices. The efficient and easy-to-use solution is available on every smartphone and helps to make skin monitoring a simple routine.
A SkinVision high-risk alert means it must be examined by a specialist immediately; medium, that it needs to be tracked for changes in size, shape and color; and low, that no immediate action in needed.
Unique algorithm
The core of the SkinVision solution is the unique algorithm. The proprietary mathematical algorithm calculates the fractal dimension of skin lesions and surrounding skin tissues and builds a structural map that reveals the different growth patterns of the tissues involved. The unique online assessment (algorithm) determines potential chaotic growth of pigmented and non-pigmented skin lesions. It then provides a green, yellow, or red risk rating, which indicates the severity of the mole or skin condition and how often it should be tracked over time.
Why we selected SkinVison for DIA Munich
Malignant melanoma, is the most dangerous form of skin cancer. SkinVison shows what ehealth applications are capable of. Helping people be their own doctor by finding irregularities and helping healthcare and insurers save a lot of money. SkinVision makes second opinion and doctor collaboration the standard and not exception. At a fraction of the cost of the current health system.
Who is SkinVision?
SkinVision was founded in 2011 in Bucharest, Romania, based on a PhD study to apply the mathematical theory ‘fractal geometry’ for medical imaging.
In 2012 the organization moved to Amsterdam when investment company Personal Health Solutions Capital took a share. Last year European pharmaceutical LEO Pharma also became a shareholder. The initial founders, Mircea Popa and Victor Anastasiu are still involved in SkinVision. The SkinVision team is a group of dedicated individuals including a panel of distinguished dermatologists and a scientific board. CEO is Erik de Heus.
Key Investors are Leo Pharma and PHS Over 5mln funding raised
Erik de Heus, CEO SkinVision
Website:www.skinvision.com
Presenter 1: Erik de Heus
Presenter 2: Justus Foker
Advanced Data Analytics Experience Health Machine Learning SkinVision