The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the huge need for swift, precise diagnostics in the medical field when timely detection of the virus was essential for controlling its spread. The benefits of fast, precise, and affordable point-of-care diagnostic tools are numerous, enabling early detection of illnesses, improving primary care triage, and empowering both healthcare providers and patients. Vancouver-based Scanbo, founded by serial entrepreneur Ashissh Raichura, is addressing this need by offering an AI-powered platform designed to make medical testing both accessible and affordable.
This ultra-portable compact diagnostic device measures multiple vital health parameters, even from the comfort of a patient’s home, positioning Scanbo at the cutting edge of diagnostic technology.
Ashish, who has a double PhD in computer science and about three decades of expertise, founded this company due to the frustration that many faced, including him. In the year 2010, his father was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease—Alzheimer’s—and, unfortunately, he was bedridden by 2013. Ashissh went to Mumbai to take care of him. What he noticed was that the procedure was quite tedious, with several diagnostic tests: blood tests, urine tests, an MRI, and CT scans. The first question that popped up in his mind was: why weren’t these tests performed at home, where patients who are already in a difficult situation have a more comfortable and convenient experience?
This curiosity led him to conduct a survey across Canada. Nearly 700 people responded with the majority of them confirming a similar frustration with feedback that devices were siloed, unable to communicate with each other and share data, and ultimately resulted in some tests being repeated. Some of them even encouraged Ashissh to come up with a solution, given the expertise he carried in the tech field.
To bring this encouragement to fruition, this inventor made a prototype that could measure multiple parameters and sync it to an app. Later on, he developed a device—a 3-D printed triangular one—that was shown to 1000 physicians and received 80% positive feedback. Similar to how blood glucose meters would work, the device utilizes a dry chemistry platform, that requires a single drop of blood to examine health metrics.
In today’s day, most tests are conducted in a laboratory; and this takes longer and even costs more. That is why this Scanbo founder made his device affordable and easily available, which would ultimately reduce the waste that lab tests generally generate. He states, “Currently, we are working towards increasing to 19 (the number of parameters) that our device will be able to measure over the next 2-3 years.”
The company has already commenced its solutions to Nigeria India, and Kenya. They now have 100,000+ patients registered on this platform and one million+ tests conducted. Scanbo is currently seeking approval from the US FDA and Health Canada. In addition, the company is leveraging AI to interpret test data, including ECG readings, and is refining its platform with support from Canadian academic institutions and government programs such as Mitacs and the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP).
“Right now, we’re working on diagnostic tools that will eliminate the need for a physical device,” says Raichura. “This will rely on test strips combined with AI to interpret protein markers in the blood, and we expect a minimum viable product by the first quarter of 2025. We believe this innovation will transform the blood testing and diagnostics landscape, making tests more affordable and accessible, ultimately bringing healthcare closer to everyone.”
