SME Success Stories : Death of a loved one leads to insurmountable grief, but it also leads to powerful epiphanies, impacting the self and as in the case of Bengaluru-based Geetha Manjunath, Founder and CEO of breast cancer screening solution provider Niramai Health Analytix, the entire world.
The sudden demise of Manjunath’s favourite cousin at the age of 40 due to breast cancer, led the then artificial intelligence (AI) researcher lead at Xerox to understand the state of this deadly disease in the country. Over the next one year, she spent her time researching and learnt how 90,000 women die every year from breast cancer alone in India and almost all of them could be saved with early diagnosis. According to the data from the World Health Organization (WHO), almost 96 per cent of breast cancer cases are detected late in India — at stage three — which reduces the chances of a patient’s recovery to 50 per cent. In contrast, diagnosis at stage one improves the survival rate of the person to 96 per cent.
“Currently, X-ray-based mammography is used to screen breast cancer, but the problem is that the technique is not successful in detecting cancer in women who are less than 50 years of age as the breasts are dense for younger women. Also, women avoid it because it is a very expensive and a cumbersome test,” said Manjunath.
But, when globally one in 12 women get detected with breast cancer in their lifetime, an alternative to mammography had to be sought to improve the chances of survival.
With this mission, Manjunath started looking at different technologies for breast cancer screening and started Niramai in July 2016 along with her former colleague Nidhi Mathur. After one year of extensive research, they zeroed in on thermal imaging as an option. The positives seemed too many to ignore – it is radiation-free which meant it could be used on pregnant women and lactating mothers as radiation is otherwise harmful. Thermal imaging is non-touch and pain-free as well making it easy for patients to endure. In fact, it was approved by the medical fraternity as a feasible technique way back in 1984 but it didn’t see large-scale adoption due to the four lakh data points it generates, making it nearly impossible for a human to decode and deduce from.
That is when Manjunath leveraged her expertise in AI and after extensive research and development, launched their flagship breast screening product Thermalytix in 2017.
This proprietary technology uses a high-resolution thermal imaging device that detects temperature variations in the patient’s chest. The thermal patterns are then analysed by their AI-based software to detect abnormalities and the report is then generated automatically which the healthcare professional can access on a mobile app. The entire process, from testing to report generation, takes less than 20 minutes and it can be done by a paramedic too. This makes it suitable for rural areas where doctors are not available, said Manjunath. “AI is proving to be a game changer in health care where it is making even a health-worker capable of screening a patient. This is especially helpful for a highly populated country like ours where the doctor-to-patient ratio is very low,” she said. According to the 15th Finance Commission, there is one doctor for every 1,511 people.
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Manjunath’s solution is affordable too. Usually, a mammography test costs above Rs 3,500 while Niramai’s test costs between Rs 1,000- Rs 1,500.
Despite several benefits, acceptance for Thermalytix from the medical fraternity wasn’t easy since this was an uncharted territory. To prove the efficacy of thermal imaging for breast cancer screening, Niramai started trial studies of its device in collaboration with cancer hospital HCG in Bengaluru. They also started testing their product in BMS hospital in Karnataka where the doctor examined the patients in conjunction with Thermalytix to validate its accuracy.
A year later in 2018 when the results were out, the health-tech MSME got CMI Hospital as its first client and since then there has been no looking back for Niramai. Within three years, it won multiple clients such as Apollo Clinics, HCG Cancer Hospitals, Rainbow Hospitals among others are using its breast screening services across 120 locations.
Last year, Niramai also launched a low-end version of Thermalytix called Mythri to bring down the diagnostic costs further especially for rural areas. With Mythri, the test cost is in the range of Rs 150 – Rs 200. The company so far has organised over 3,500 camps in partnership with social service organisations like Rotary International and NGOs such as Indian cancer society, Karnataka cancer society to bring affordable healthcare in the hinterlands.
During Covid, they also launched the breast cancer screening solution for home and have been offering the service in collaboration with health tech firms such as 1mg and Healthians.
The company has been granted 26 international patents till date for its innovations and 24 more have been filed.
Last year, the 50-people company also got international regulatory clearance CE Mark for Europe. Their products are now being used in Kenya, Greece, and Turkey. The company is also in discussions for expansion to multiple geographies such as London, Sweden, and France.
Recently, Niramai received US FDA clearance for their earlier version of Thermalytix called SMILE-100 System which is an assistive diagnostic tool to enable the doctor or healthcare personnel to make the diagnosis. The FDA approval will embark Niramai’s foray into the US market and beyond.
Niramai has so far raised $7 million from institutional investors from India, Japan and Singapore including Dream Incubator, BeeNext, pi Ventures, Ankur Capital, Axilor Ventures, 500 Startups, and others.
After screening 52,000 women for breast cancer, the firm is now working to develop a thermal imaging device that can detect other kinds of cancers and bring down the cost of diagnostic tests in India.