Sri Lankan-founded eTreatMD makes waves in the West
Although not a life threatening condition, acne can be upsetting and disfiguring while treatments can be complex and costly. But not anymore, thanks to eTreatMD, an eHealth technology start-up based in Vancouver founded by Sri Lankans which transforms smartphones into medical imaging devices.
Mr. Shanil Gunasekera
Mr. Thilan Wijesinghe
Fresh from receiving a Canadian Government Grant for its ‘Acne App’ which can tell what type of skin one has to how it should be treated, eTreatMD is gearing already going big within the five months that it was launched in the US and Canada after four years of R&D.
Co-founder and CEO, Shanil Gunasekara, a biomedical engineer with a BSc from the University of Southern California, told the Business Times while visiting Colombo, that the app already has 30,000 users. The idea to come up with such an app was precipitated by his own experience and associating with Nicholas MacKinnon, scientist with over 30 years experience in designing medical devices, with eight start-ups and many patents to his name, who had arthritis issues. “In Sri Lanka we will go to the doctor for a consultation but won’t necessarily be detailed on what the solution is for the disorder.”
As an example he says that in acne, this is the case more often than not. Acne is often looked at as a minor ailment, one that should not burden you to visit a dermatologist. Acne is one of the most common dermatological conditions, affecting millions of young adults worldwide. Many want to look good and feel confident, but climatically it isn’t regarded as important.
Treating acne is a US$3 billion industry in the US alone. “Ninety per cent of people who suffer from acne report feeling depressed because of their skin. That’s a problem at a scale that deserves more attention, and that’s why we built eTreat Acne – to empower our young generation and introduce them to a new world of acne treatment,” Mr. Gunasekera went on to say, noting that more than 85 per cent of young men and women in his generation and younger suffer from the physical and mental scars of acne.
So he thought about a way to beat the system by using a smartphone. “There’s so much power and connectivity in the smartphones that we deployed it to incorporate eTreatMD’s patented technology and apps which use one-of-a-kind machine-learning algorithms to accurately detect and classify orthopedic and skin conditions such as osteo-arthritis and acne simply by taking a picture using a smartphone,” he explained.
eTreatMD was recently awarded Canadian $323,000 in grant funding from the Canadian government. “”Receiving a government grant of this size for a company is a challenging process, and is based on a high level of innovation, significant global social impact, and a proven track record,” Mr. Gunasekera, an alumnus of Royal College and Colombo International School, added.
The journey to healthier skin starts by downloading the intuitive, easy-to-use app on both Android and iPhone, he said explaining that the acne sufferer is prompted to take a picture, which is used by the software to automatically analyse their facial skin. “Our algorithm analyses the skin and detects over 10 different types of lesions and blemishes. From there, in just a few seconds, it classifies each type and measures the severity of the facial acne.”
The technology for arthritis and acne was developed after years of careful research, clinical tests and used input from both patients and healthcare providers across the globe. Clinical studies were performed on 100s of patients with the guidance of dermatologists in Canada, US, Sri Lanka, Latvia and El Salvador. More expansive studies will be undertaken in Singapore and Indonesia in the coming months.
The disruptive technology then kickstarts a process to find treatments that really works. By rapidly analysing a user’s skin type, skin blemishes, and other biological factors, eTreat Acne crafts a personalised skincare routine for the user, including the most effective products (which the users can buy directly from the app) and provides tailored educational content related to diet and lifestyle. All this without any intervention from a clinical professional and at a fraction of the time and cost.
“There is a lot of conflicting information out there and our goal is to provide a place where users can explore options based on their preferences, budget, and what worked for people who have similar skin to them. Our imaging allows them to track the efficacy of the treatments they are using over time. From day one, we promised to ourselves and our customers that we would adhere to the strictest global regulatory requirements,” he said explaining that eTreatMD has been one of a select few mobile health companies to receive a Class 2 registration with Health Canada and a Class 1 registration with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These stamps of recognition from government authorities have vaulted the start-up to being recognised as one of the Global Digital Top 100 Health start-ups by the Journal of mHealth.
The public is increasingly looking online for solutions, and this can sometimes be dangerous. Self-diagnosing by reading articles from unverified sources online or buying products based on anonymous reviews and recommendations can do more harm than good. Therefore, trust has been an important factor in eTreatMD’s success, according to Mr. Gunasekera.
They signed up with 52 US skincare product manufacturing companies in a bid to provide accurate solutions to specific acne ailments. He noted that now these firms are learning more things about their consumers.
Thilan Wijesinghe, a well-known Investment banker and entrepreneur having co-founded and exited Wow.lk and several other businesses, who is on the Board at eTreatMD noted to the Business Times that the company is now valued at 10 times since its inception. “It is also important to note that that unlike in many start-up tech companies, where the initial ideas are between young people, this start-up had an amalgamation of young and old where founder, Shanil was 25 at the time he started this and Mr. Mackinnon was 59 years old.”
eTreatMD is supported by an accomplished group of Founders and Board of Directors spanning members from Sri Lanka, Canada and US, namely Mr. Wijesinghe, Mr. MacKinnon, Malith Gunasekara, an eHealth and digital financial services expert with global consulting experience, and Dr. Fartash Vasefi – an expert in medical science and artificial intelligence, with over 70 scientific publications to his name.