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Emerald Medical Applications |
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May 23, 2016 Issue |
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The Most Powerful Name In Corporate News and Information |
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DermaCompare: Revolutionary New App and A.I. System for Early Detection of Skin Cancer by Measuring and Identifying Suspicious Moles using Total Body Photography |
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Founder & CEO
Emerald Medical Applications OTCQB: MRLA
Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine, Published – May 23, 2016
CEOCFO: Mr. Wayn, what is the focus at Emerald Medical Applications today? Mr. Wayn: The focus of Emerald Medical Applications is to find good solutions for the early detection of skin cancer, because right now there is no cure for skin cancer. It is a very aggressive form of cancer and by doing a very simple procedure you can save lives. The idea is to take photos, track over them, and by tracking over them, we can find the differences between moles and lesions. Then by finding moles that have changed, we can save the patients lives.
CEOCFO: How does your DermaCompare work? Mr. Wayn: We have developed an app that you can download from the app store or from the Google store. It fits with Android and iPhones. Then the user will take photos of their moles or lesions and upload them to our system through the app. The system will then try to understand which moles or lesions look suspicious now. That means that we understand how to take the measurements of the moles. Therefore, by using their own cell phones, the users can take pictures of their body. The system will guide them on how to take the photos, so that they will cover all of the body. The system will find any suspicious moles within 10 or 15 minutes. All of the suspicious moles will appear on the system and the user will get an announcement that the system has found these suspicious moles on the body. The system will then recommend the user see a doctor. It should be a GP or a Dermatologist, depending on where the mole is. If the user would like, we could suggest doctors that are working with DermaCompare. In addition, the doctor can get access to all of the photos, analyze them and be able to see which moles have changed and which moles are new. Most important, which moles are suspicious based on the, which moles are suspicious based on the algorithm, because the algorithm is always syncing ABCD (Asymmetric Border Color Diameter). We can show in a very short time suspicious moles.
CEOCFO: Not everyone can take quality pictures. How do you guide the user to make sure that it is a good, usable image? Mr. Wayn: Any new Smartphone, from Samsung S6 or Iphone 6 and up are supports by the system. Also, we developed the 3T protocol – Take – Track – Treat. That’s mean that we can "force" the user to keep the instructions and take a good photos. First the algorithm will reply to the user if it is focused properly. In addition, the user can go into the clinic, and there are many clinics that can use our system, by using a regular camera. The clinician there will be able to test the total body photography by regular camera. The idea is to make the system available to the mass population. That is one of our first goals, which is to allow any person to do it by self, or to ask someone else to take the photo or step into a clinic that will be able to take the photo.
CEOCFO: Does the system recommend having the mole checked out if there is any doubt? Mr. Wayn: To track for changes it may require an annual checkup. It could be 6 to 12 months for the total body photography. By using the smartphone we believe that we will achieve awareness. This is the most important thing because awareness for skin cancer is very important. By downloading the app onto their own smartphones, it will increase awareness of the need to have their moles checked. Therefore, it will increase early detection of skin cancer.
CEOCFO: Is the system in use today or still in development? Where are you in the process? Mr. Wayn: The system is already on the market in Israel and a few other countries. Within a few weeks it will also work and be on the market in the United States. We will start with collaborations in New York and Florida. We have already signed an agreement with doctors in the United States and after we have solved some last issues it will be ready to deploy in the American market. It is very important to mention that we have already been approved by the FDA. We have completed the FDA requirements and we have been totally approved. In addition, we are HIPAA compliant, which is the regulation for privacy and the medical field. That means that in the American market we can start immediately, as the patients will be reimbursed by medical insurance. Therefore, after we complete the R&D we will be ready to bring our product to the American market. It is possible that by the end of May of this year, we will be in the American market.
CEOCFO: What has been the reception where your system is deployed? Mr. Wayn: In the American market we have found that there are only 10,000 dermatologists for a huge population of 250 million Americans, so they are very busy. It is very hard for them to find the time for new technology, but we have found from the other end that the rate of melanoma is getting higher year-after-year. It has risen about 7 to 8% every year. In the last year just in America, there were about 130,000 cases of melanoma. Therefore, the idea is for awareness and to find it in the early stages because all of the research has shown that if the melanoma is found in the 1st stage, it will save about 90% of lives, compared to those found in the 4th stage. Because of that, we thought that the best way to start in the US was with GPs (General Practitioners), because they are closer to the general population. Most of the population is visiting their GP, before they will go to an expert such as a dermatologist. However, if a biopsy needs to be done the GP will send the patient to a dermatologist.
CEOCFO: As dermatologist are very difficult to get appointments with in the US, do you see the GP paying more attention, particularly with an older population? Are they aware that this is something that should be done during an annual checkup? Mr. Wayn: Yes! I think the GP can play a big role in that and lead the market to that change. The total body photography technology has been on the market for about 15 years, and the only problem that the GPs and dermatologist had and why they did not adopt it was because it was a manual process. However, we have solved the problem of alignment and comparison between the photos. We know how to do it automatically, because we used military technology that has been used by the Air Force and the intelligence services. They are using aerial photos to track the enemy, and A.I. to understand his future moves where as our enemy is the suspicious moles, and by using A.I. we will put the finger on the "will be someday Melanoma" and we know how to track after them by using the same ideas and the same technology.
CEOCFO: What is the biggest challenge? Mr. Wayn: The big challenges are to try and convince users to try a new technology. We have to show them that it can be more efficient, faster and even cheaper.
CEOCFO: Are you funded for the push into the US? Mr. Wayn: Actually, we completed an IPO into a share in the American market. We are now a public company on the OTC market. We raised the funds from Israelis, Americans, Europeans and some other places. We also have been granted by the Israeli Minister of Economics, which is supported by the Chief Scientists. Now we are trying to penetrate the market in the US. That is why we will be ready in a month with a big campaign for the American market.
CEOCFO: What is the strategy? How will you reach out to the GPs and dermatologists? Or is your plan to first reach out to the general population or consumers? Mr. Wayn: It will start from the bottom up. If patients will ask their doctors to check them with our new technology, we feel the doctors will have no choice but to comply. It is very difficult to get appointments with dermatologists, and could take up to 9 weeks to get in to see them. However, if a patient contacts them with a technology that shows something suspicious they will have to see the patient immediately. We can also save a great deal of money because if you have something that is bothering you and you will speed up the diagnostic process and thereby save money. Instead of spending $200 just to find out that they may have a suspicious mole, they can find out for free with our app and system. The awareness will start from the users and will go up to the GPs and dermatologist.
CEOCFO: Do you find that as your technology is so easy to understand it is easier to raise money? Mr. Wayn: Raising money is never easy. However, the fact that investors can understand that it is very easy to use, and they can download the app and check it for themselves will make us a successful company not only around the world, but also in the American market. The US will be the main market for us. |
“We used military technology that has been used by the Air Force and the intelligence services… we will put the finger on the "will be someday Melanoma"- Lior Wayn
Emerald Medical Applications OTCQB: MRLA
Contact: Lior Wayn +972-50-6816300 / +1-917-7242059
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Lior
Wayn