Countries worldwide have announced to impose lockdown to battle COVID-19. While it may be effective in controlling the spread of COVID-19 infection, it has made it difficult for other patients to access medical services. Amidst this, Healthy.io has launched apps for kidney patients. The AI-powered apps claim to make self-diagnosis of UTIs and kidney diseases as easy as taking a selfie. Let’s learn more about the home-based urinalysis by Healthy.io.
Healthy.io: An Overview
Healthy.io was started by Yonatan Adiri. Adiri is also the current CEO of the company. At the age of 26, he became Israel’s first Chief Technology Officer. In 2009, he debuted in the private sector with Getaround. It was part of the Singularity University GSP program. Then in 2013, he went on to start Healthy.io.
Talking about Healthy.io, it is the first company to get FDA class II permission for a smartphone-based urine test. The startup has also been on Fast Company’s list of 50 Most Innovative Companies in the world (2020). It even won the 2020 Financial Times Boldness in Business Award
Healthy.io uses its knowledge of computer vision, product design, and clinical practices in bringing clinical services from the lab to the user’s home. It even introduces itself as the category creators of smartphone urinalysis.
Home-based Urinalysis Test
As of now, the company is working on two smartphone app – Velieve and ACR. The former is for UTI whereas the latter detects kidney disease diagnoses. However, both apps work in a similar fashion. Healthy.io has developed urine ACR kits for each test.
The kit comes with a urinalysis dipstick, a urine collection cup, and a patented color board. The dipstick is treated with albumin and creatinine reagent. Thus, it changes its color when exposed to a urine sample. Users then have to place the dipstick on the color board and scan it using the smartphone app. The app then uses computer vision to provide an accurate result. Here, the result is then sent to the health worker via the cloud or to the patients themselves.
Users will have to download the apps before taking the test. The app provides instruction on how to use the kit, from unboxing it to carrying out tests and scanning the result. The two kits are safe, and have been approved by the FDA (US) and received CE marking from the European Union.
Healthy.io Home-based Urinalysis Availability
The home-based urinalysis by Healthy.io is available in the US and the UK. It has collaborated with the NKF and NHS in the US and the UK, respectively.
| AI-Based Health Technology | Availability |
| Home-based urinalysis by Home.io | UK, US |
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