Hoping to put an end to mortality rate for Melanoma, Skin Analytics has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube to raise £450,000 for its new early cancer detection device.
The company shared:
“Every 4 minutes someone is diagnosed with Melanoma. Every 10 minutes someone dies from the disease. It does not have to be this way, the rate of survival of stage I Melanoma can be as high as 97%. Skin Analytics mission is to make sure no one dies from the disease. We do that by enabling people to safely and easily screen for Melanoma in their own homes using their smartphone, our hardware and our automated analysis using the latest machine learning techniques.”
Skin Analytics noted that while all melanomas are survivable, worldwide approximately 25% of sufferers do not. Survival rates for stage 1 melanoma are 95% but drops to less than 10% as the disease spreads:
“The single most effective way to improve melanoma survival is to find it early and that’s where the problems start. People typically delay seeing their doctor about a worrying lesion for 10 months on average. Multiple studies show that people delay seeing their doctor for a variety of reasons from convenience to not wanting to waste their doctors time and this delay could be fatal.
“Even when you do see a doctor, right now an estimated 95% of biopsies turn out to be fine which is costly and causes significant anxiety. We believe this is because the diagnosis is done with incomplete information.
“In the US, where the data is best recorded, there are an estimated 1.5 million biopsies done to find just 73,870 melanomas, costing an estimated $500 million in unneeded biopsies. In the UK, based on our understanding through working with Vitality we estimate there to be 500,000 biopsies done to find just 13,000 Melanomas. Given that melanoma is the fastest growing cancer worldwide and disproportionately affects younger people, a more efficient solution is required.”
The solution? Skin Analytics is looking to create the tools needed to take action by creating a dermoscopic imaging device. The lens is to help capture dermatologist quality images for analysis. It is a standalone device with a chip that connects wirelessly to an app. The company believes it could potentially improve the survival rate by 20%.
The lens work by doing the following:
- Assess the image of a lesion and provide an instant assessment as to whether the lesion needs medical intervention.
- The change detection algorithms allow a follow-up image to be captured over a suitable time period and compared with original image for change.
Skin Analytics’ funds will be used for:
Improve algorithms performance to >95% sensitivity- Build the hardware with partner Wide Blue
- Run a clinical trial with University College Hospital
- Implement regulatory requirements and submit our service for approval by the MHRA
This will also allow the company to launch the service in the UK. It can also use the regulatory clearance in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Since its launch, the Skin Analytics campaign has successfully secured nearly £160,000. It is set to close at the end of November.
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