Kevin Choi, who’s the CEO of Medi Whale, said he firmly believes his diagnosis is “not an accident.”
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As a marksman in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps who had undergone rigorous training as part of his national service, Kevin Choi “was in little question” about his health.
“I actually have pretty severe nearsightedness, but I still believed I used to be very healthy,” Choi told CNBC Make It.
But that each one modified in 2016 when he discovered he had glaucoma, a chronic, progressive eye disease attributable to damage to the optic nerve.
While glaucoma is more common in the elderly, Choi was only 26 when he was diagnosed.
By then, Choi said he had already lost half the vision in his right eye and only had about “60% to 70%” of his left eye left – something that would have been avoided with early detection.
But that same year, he rose above the odds by launching his own healthcare start-up, Mediwhale.
Mediwhale claims to supply cardiovascular risk assessment using AI and retinal images.
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Its devices assess cardiovascular risk using retinal images and artificial intelligence – the first of its kind, Mediwhale told CNBC Make It.
With $5,000 in start-up capital, he began a startup with his ophthalmologist, Dr. Tyler Hyungtaek Rim, six years ago.
Today, the company said it has raised hundreds of thousands from investors and its devices have been approved in the EU and several countries in Asia.
How did Choi’s advanced glaucoma diagnosis lead him to start out his own business? CNBC Make It is going to discover.
A faster alternative
Choi, who’s the CEO of Mediwhale, said he firmly believes his diagnosis “is just not an accident.”
As an industrial engineer by training, he began serious about possible AI solutions that would improve early disease detection.
“There have to be a reason why this happened to me. And I believe I could solve it myself because I’m an engineer,” said the 31-year-old.
As a medical doctor, Rim also understood the “unmet needs” in a clinical setting in relation to detecting heart problems – typically done with CT scans.
“Computed tomography is resource-intensive and time-consuming, so it’s a burden for each healthcare professionals and patients,” he added.
An extended patient journey is a big hurdle to beat. Even now, I feel anxious each time I am going to the hospital for a glaucoma checkup…it’s a long test that takes two to 3 hours to finish [for results].
Kevin Choi
Co-founder and CEO, Mediwhale
Choi’s own experiences with “long patient journeys,” referring to the time between a patient queuing at the hospital to getting test results from doctors, also prompted him to design a faster alternative.
“An extended patient journey is a big hurdle to beat. Even now I feel very anxious each time I visit the hospital for a glaucoma checkup…it’s a long test with a two to 3 hour wait [for results]”.
Mediwhale says that with only one image of the retina of each eye, it achieves “the same accuracy” in detecting cardiovascular risk as a CT scan, while delivering patient reports “inside a minute.”
“It only takes a few seconds since it doesn’t require any expansion. The image is concurrently uploaded to the cloud system after taking and routinely analyzed by our AI,” explained Rim.
Convincing doctors
The biggest challenge the founders faced was convincing other doctors that the eyes really may very well be a “window on the whole body,” Choi said.
“The eyes are the only organs in the body where you may see the blood vessels with none invasive means,” added Rim.
“Changes in the structure of the retinal microcirculation … have been identified as strong predictors of diseases related to blood vessels, corresponding to cardiovascular and kidney problems, because the changes often occur long before certain vital symptoms are noticed,” Rim explained.
“The healthcare business could be very conservative. Every conversation I actually have with doctors or experts…is a lesson to learn,” said Kevin Choi.
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Staying humble
For Choi, finding a “reason” and purpose is critical to overcoming challenges in each life and business.
He said knowing that his glaucoma can have been detected earlier allows him to proceed his mission, which is to stop more people from being diagnosed with the disease when it’s “too late”.
“Possibly for another person who can be confident in their health … a easy eye scan can change their life.”
The healthcare industry could be very conservative. Every conversation I actually have with doctors or experts…is a lesson to be learned.
Kevin Choi
co-founder and CEO of Mediwhale