Triumphant Beginnings
After Mr. Robhy Bustami's expected victory at TechCrunch Disrupt, I had the chance to sit down with him to do a deep dive into the story of BioticsAI and the drive behind establishing this very important company.
Roots and Revelation
Mr. Bustami had a unique blend of experiences growing up. Raised in a household of obstetricians and surrounded by software engineers from a young age, Bustami was exposed to this unique intersection. His family's medical background coupled with his curiosity and passion for technology from a young age set the stage.
Throughout high school and college, he dabbled in software engineering, especially making gaming apps. After earning his Computer Engineering degree with a focus on Computer Vision from the University of California, Irvine, he joined IBM Cloud. This wasn't just a job for him. At IBM, he honed his skills further and met a colleague, Chaskin Saroff who was exceptionally bright and they would later become business partners.
However, it was a personal event that truly set Bustami’s course. A misdiagnosis during a cousin's pregnancy specifically during the second trimester made him see the urgent need for better solutions in obstetrics. Driven by this realization, Bustami tapped his friend, Salman Khan who had experience working with health systems and his friend Chaskin Saroff, a machine learning expert from IBM to co-found BioticsAI.
They added yet another expert and co-founder to their team, Dr. Hisham Elgammal based out of Egypt, whose research in prenatal diagnosis laid the groundwork for BioticsAI.
The Maternal Health Quandary
The maternal health sector urgently needs innovation. In developed countries, half of pregnant women face misdiagnosis due to operator errors, affecting 107 million women globally. The US alone faces a shortage of 9,000 OBGYNs and loses $16 billion to preventable maternal complications. This presents a vast market opportunity, with TAM estimated at $2 billion, primarily for quality control and automated documentation.
BioticsAI’s Blueprint
Given this pressing need, the BioticsAI team crafted a software solution for prenatal ultrasounds, focusing on second-trimester screenings, where 90% of potential fetal abnormalities are identified. Further, this software is vendor agnostic and a cloud based solution that integrates well with nearly all the major ultrasound machines. It also helps that the intuitive UI/UX make it easy for providers to use.
Key Attributes:
Quality Audits: Boosting completeness rates by a significant 20%
Report Automation: Halving the report creation time
Diagnostic Alerts: Offering preliminary checks and guidance
Their trump card? An expansive dataset with 8 million ultrasound images, each diligently annotated, giving BioticsAI an unparalleled competitive advantage
Horizons Ahead
Mr. Bustami and his team have exciting times ahead. They foresee BioticsAI becoming the go-to AI Diagnostic tool in reproductive health. Recognizing that ultrasound is a preferred method for diagnosing various health issues, they plan to branch out to closely related fields like gynecology, neonatology, and urology. They're exploring areas such as the diagnosis of ovarian cysts and identifying malignancies in the uterus, among others.
Within prenatal care, Bustami highlighted their focus on placenta accreta diagnosis (Placenta accreta is a serious pregnancy condition that occurs when the placenta grows too deeply into the uterine wall). Given the challenge in diagnosing this condition, the BioticsAI team is collaborating with research partners, aiming to incorporate this diagnosis into their platform eventually.
Final Thoughts
With its roots grounded in personal experiences and its vision soaring high, BioticsAI is certainly poised to make a significant impact in the industry. BioticsAI is a journey worth watching and I eagerly wait to see how the next chapter unfolds.
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