Light AI turns smartphones into pocket-size detection tools as deadly Strep A resurfaces
In the US roughly six out of 10 patients are prescribed antibiotics, when only 2 or 3 out of 10 require them. As a result, levels of antimicrobial resistance are reaching an all-time high, in the same moment in time deadly Strep A is resurfacing. Light AI is working to help healthcare providers tackle this issue with its pocket-sized AI detection tool: smartphones.
While Light AI’s platform didn’t launch in direct response to this new outbreak, it couldn’t be just about ready at a better moment in time given Strep A’s re-appearance is “scaring the daylight out of ER doctors” according to the National Post.
Strep A was previously known to be relatively harmless and cause temporary throat infections. Today, what’s being seen are more Strep A-associated cases leading to amputations and deaths which can occur if the bacteria enter through an open wound.
The healthcare system’s inability to mobilize fast enough coupled with patients showing up in emergency long after the bacteria has spread is creating a very worrisome picture. What’s needed is a way to detect and diagnose Strep A quickly and accurately before it spreads, to avoid fatalities which can be prevented —- Light AI has done this.
Light AI’s assistive AI and smartphone tech platform
Light AI’s platform or ‘pocket-sized detection tool’ has been designed to help healthcare providers detect and diagnose Strep A quickly and more accurately when compared against some of the current methods. The company has spent the last 8 years developing this platform which uses smartphone technology and assistive AI and references a proprietary database of nearly 300,000 images of the back of the throat, to make a diagnosis, which it can do in under a minute.
Physicians simply snap an image of a patient’s throat through the platform, in-person or via a telehealth call, and in under a minute the results will be in. Compared to the current system which can take up to 72 hours to receive results, Light AI’s platform represents a major stride forward.
Upwards of $20 MN has been poured into the platform’s development in addition to extensive research that’s been conducted in partnership with renowned healthcare organizations like UNM Hospitals, American Heart Association, UCLA Health, Uganda Heart Institute and many others. As a result, the platform has attained a 97% accuracy rating in pre-FDA validation studies, meaning it can provide reliable results for Strep A detection and diagnosis.
Light AI was recently listed on CBOE Canada under the ticker symbol ALGO (ALGO: CBOE).
“Healthcare specifically has its challenges: overwhelmed by an increasing global population, rising costs, and inefficiencies that lead to poor clinical management, such as antibiotic misuse and antimicrobial resistance. But challenges are also opportunities—opportunities to rethink, reimagine, and rebuild. And that’s why I founded Light AI,” said Peter Whitehead, Principal and CEO of Light AI.
AI has the ability to effectively address some of healthcare’s challenges, while widening access and reducing costs.
