EyRIS Pte Ltd: The Future of AI-based Healthcare

The unprecedented crisis of 2020 has become a pivoting year for several industries. We are currently witnessing the highest adoption of technology on a global level. The traditional business operations have shifted to virtual operations overnight. People are now normalizing—or at least entertaining/considering the idea of— autonomous, remote, and touchless technologies such as robotics/AI. These advanced techs are providing a platform to serve the frontline, minimize human interaction and adopt the facial recognition method instead of fingerprint biometric authentication.

The tech revolution happening throughout the industry has also brought tele-consultation into the light. Tele-consultation is a platform advocated by experts to reduce non-essential hospital visits. Leveraging this novel tech opportunity, EyRIS has developed tele-ophthalmology— a platform to support the remote screening process.

Medical AI Revolutionaries

Established in 2018, novaHEALTH along with inventors from Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and NUS School of Computing (NUS-SoC) incorporated EyRIS. EyRIS is one of the early inventors of medical AI technology. The aim was to further develop and commercialize SELENA+, an intelligent deep learning system that can detect eye diseases.

Lai Teik Kin became the founding CEO for this start-up. Teik Kin is a veteran in the industry, being a Co-Founder of the Nova Group of Companies, which is focused on developing software solutions for E-Government and Healthcare that has been implemented in more than 15 countries. He is aiming to revolutionize healthcare by integrating deep technology and SELENA+ is a step forward towards this mission.

A Breakthrough Technology

SELENA+ is a Deep Learning System (DLS), a breakthrough machine learning technology that utilizes representation-learning methods with multiple levels of representation to process natural data in their raw form, recognizing the intricate structures in high-dimensional data. This revolutionary tech performs automated image analysis for eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy with add-on modules for glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. This tech has the potential to significantly decrease public health care costs while ensuring the highest standard of care.

Currently, SELENA+ is adopted in Singapore as part of the national DR screening program. However, the team is determined to extend SELENA+ globally to expand its retinal screening net wider and in the process eliminate the risks of people diagnosed with vision-threatening conditions as they receive early treatment.

Fair Share of Challenges

Being fairly new in the industry, EyRIS faced several challenges. Among them, two of the primary challenges were, obtaining reliable data and the long validation process of the algorithm. “Due to the personal data protection acts, the acquisition of well-labeled data was restrictive. Through collaboration and multiple data-sharing agreements, we accumulated a sizeable dataset of multi-ethnicity and condition severity,” Teik Kin explains.
,br> EyRIS established a training dictionary to ensure standardization of assessment methods such as diabetic retinopathy grading to the International Classification of DR Scale (ICDRSS). Constructed on this training dictionary, the SELENA+ algorithm was finally developed, subsequently validated and further refined.

Speed, Scalability, and Accuracy

SELENA+ is a highly skilled eye screening system that will help to detect the possibility of eyesight loss or deterioration. As aforementioned, building such a high-tech platform requires significant resources and time to train human graders; and subsequently maintain a reading center with a pool of skilled graders. Furthermore, image grading is a repetitive and laborious task that limits the number of patients being screen in a day.

EyRIS utilizes basic computing power in its solution, which makes it capable to carry out multiple fundus image interpretations in mere seconds. Besides, the AI algorithm can detect 3 retinal diseases versus just DR in many other AI software.

EyRIS’s SELENA+ not only assures speed and scalability but also demonstrates the grading accuracy to be at least as good as a trained human grader. Teik Kin is confident that the combination of these factors will make SELENA+ a game-changer in bringing rapid screening to the masses for early detection and treatment to prevent further complications.

Underlying Challenges

Looking at the demographics, loss of vision brought by diabetes is a rising issue. However, this can be prevented with early detection and treatment. As Teik Kin has been in the industry for years, he has observed that eye screening is often reduced to negligible healthcare. He states that the reason behind low-compliance to annual screening can be due to several reasons such as,

· Access to Screening Facilities: Several countries’ national healthcare systems are not capable or aware of the need to identify where treatments need to be prioritized. Under such scenarios, SELENA+ provides a possible paradigm shift in how it can overcome financial and skilled-manpower challenges hindering the deployment of a more comprehensive screening for the population.

· Cultural Bias: Health screening and check-ups are not a common practice for many communities and people tend to where people tend to only seek treatment when they experience vision problems. In such communities, EyRIS works with stakeholders such as public institutions or non-profit organizations on education programs to explain the benefits of regular screening and get them back into the “system”.

Zero Vision Loss Initiative

The EyRIS team comprises skillful individuals coming sharing different backgrounds and experiences. Teik Kin understands that to grow the company the team needs to be encouraged to express themselves and contribute towards the company’s growth—especially at an initial stage. He and his team have been successful in building an environment that promotes the cross-fertilization of ideas amongst them. The EyRIS team shares the same mission to revolutionize healthcare delivery through deep technology by making it faster, cheaper, and more consistent. “And we are well on our way with the roll-out of SELENA+ into more than countries,” happily asserts Teik Kin.

As a step forward in accomplishing this mission, EyRIS collaborated with non-profit organizations and established an outreach program called SERINUS Outreach. This project is aimed to help the services reach under-served communities with low affordability. Teik Kin is affirmative that such initiatives will help him build a team that looks beyond the commercial opportunities. He asserts, “SELENA+ has the potential to improve eye care for the wider world and I want EyRIS to play an active role in this.”

In March 2020, EyRIS introduced a Zero Vision Loss initiative, in collaboration with Singapore Optometric Association (SOA). This initiative will conveniently introduce eye screening to consumers via digital platforms. “As part of this drive, we hope to build awareness towards the importance of regular eye-screenings,” Teik Kin adds.

Contesting the Uncertainties

Surrounding the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare awareness became of utmost importance. Though the world was not prepared for the sudden digital transformation, several companies aced the shift. However, hospitals were relentlessly challenged. “Hospitals are designed for work process where patients are pooled into waiting areas and queues. The traditional approaches do not allow for social distancing as required in our fight against COVID-19 and physical structures are not easily changed,” explained Teik Kin.

However, SELENA+ demonstrated that routine screening can be de-centralized and the private sector such as optometrists who are trained in primary eye care and operate fundus cameras can play a major role in achieving this. As a result, this approach can effectively minimize overcrowding in public hospitals.

In addition to this, considering the restrictions on travels and face to face meetings, EyRIS introduced a novel idea of reaching the masses for product awareness through a global education talk by an invited expert. The inaugural event attracted 300+ international participants from at least 4 continents.

Altering the Default

The pandemic has altered the default modus operandi and pushed us into a new normal. While the uncertainties have been challenging, this digital transformation is normalizing virtual operations. Consequently, it has benefitted EyRIS and helped it reach more partners and customers. Acknowledging this transformation Teik Kin concludes, “Beyond the early skeptics and resistance hump due to ethical and legal issues, I envisage that AI adoption will escalate and eventually become an integral part of healthcare eco-systems. EyRIS wants to be well-positioned to take advantage of this exponential growth.”