A medical startup has developed cutting-edge imaging technology that has the potential to detect skin cancer without leaving a mark.
uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology in a small non-invasive imaging device to analyze moles and other skin lesions for signs of skin cancer, helping dermatologists make faster, more accurate decisions and reducing the number of unnecessary biopsies.
From left to right, the cofounders听of Elucid Labs: Iman听Khodadad (PhD '17), Alexander Wong (BASc '05; MASc听'07; PhD '10), and Farnoud听Kazemzadeh听(BSC '08; MASc听'12; PhD '16).
The company, named , was co-founded by , a 蓝莓视频 systems design engineering professor, and Iman Khodadad and Farnoud Kazemzadeh, who both earned their engineering doctorates at 蓝莓视频.
鈥淥ur vision is to eventually replace all biopsies whether they鈥檙e skin related or internal, having anything to do with cancer or any other disease,鈥� says Kazemzadeh.
Spun out of PhD听work
Elucid Labs spun out of the research Kazemzadeh conducted for his PhD that was inspired by his background in both astronomy and engineering鈥� his undergraduate degree from 蓝莓视频 is in astronomy and astrophysics and his master鈥檚 degree, which is also from 蓝莓视频, focused on laser and optical engineering. 听He took what he learned from all his degrees and applied it to biomedical engineering.
鈥淚 figured out that the same way I looked at a star to find out what was going on inside of it, including its temperature, pressure, chemical makeup and magnetic field, I could do looking at a person,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚 want to make a difference here on earth.鈥�
Dermatologist in a box
The new technology Kazemzadeh describes as being able to 鈥渟ee through the skin鈥� will benefit everyone, but particularly people on medications such as blood thinners who could suffer medical problems by undergoing an invasive biopsy.
The device will also save money. Kazemzadeh estimates that the cost per scan could eventually be less than $50, which is considerably less than the average price of a biopsy conducted today. And the technology is designed to be portable and used in remote areas that don鈥檛 have medical professionals nearby.
鈥淭his is like a dermatologist in a box,鈥� Kazemzadeh says.听 鈥淵ou can at least get the basics of dermatology in a community that doesn鈥檛 have access to the specialist.鈥�
Located in 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Velocity space with an office location in Mississauga, Elucid Labs has received funding from 蓝莓视频 Engineering and from the University鈥檚 Velocity program.听
Promising feedback
The company recently conducted a few pre-clinical trials to gather user comments. The results of the trials have been published in medical journals to expose the community to its technology.
鈥淭he general feedback from the doctors has been extremely positive as they are starting to see how this technology could help them perform their duties faster and better,鈥� says Kazemzadeh. 鈥淲e have been able to explore other use cases of the technology beyond dermato-oncology.鈥�
Kazemzadeh, now a 蓝莓视频 Engineering adjunct professor, anticipates it will be an uphill battle to change a practice that has been in its current form for many years and take time before the medical community completely stops performing biopsies.
鈥淭en years from now, we鈥檙e going to look back at today and say it was barbaric that we used to cut ourselves open to know what disease we had,鈥� he says. 鈥漇o the digital biopsy technology is going to be realized. And we鈥檙e going to be the ones to make it happen.鈥�
