Toronto-based PocketHealth has launched new breast health tools that will provide personalized cancer risk assessments, eligibility alerts for mammograms, and mammogram booking support for its users.
Launched on the first day of breast cancer awareness month, the tools aim to help detect cancer early and address gaps in breast cancer screening.
A recent survey found that 73 percent of Canadians have not been screened for breast cancer at all.
The healthtech startup, which closed a $45-million CAD Series B funding in March, created the new tools in response to the government of Ontario’s reduction in breast cancer screening age. In October 2023, the province lowered the eligibility age of self-referral for publicly funded mammograms from 50 to 40 beginning in fall 2024.
Available first in Ontario, the new tools aim to help women aged 40 to 49 who are now covered by the Ontario Breast Screening (OBSP) program through the eligibility expansion and who may be booking a breast health exam for the first time.
PocketHealth’s new breast health tools include a personalized risk assessment that calculates a person’s cancer risk score, screening eligibility alerts and reminders for mammograms, and a feature for booking mammogram appointments.
A representative from PocketHealth told BetaKit that the tool uses natural language processing (NLP) to identify key terms in mammogram reports. It’s also designed to simplify complex medical terminologies to help users understand their breast cancer screening results.
“Despite breast cancer being the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women, more than 40 percent of eligible women in Ontario have not been up to date on their mammograms over the past decade,” the company said in a news release.
Studies have shown that there is a 99 percent five-year survival rate when breast cancer is caught early. However, many Canadians are not getting screened early.
A recent Breast Cancer Canada survey has found that 73 percent of Canadians have not been screened for breast cancer at all.
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PocketHealth’s new tool claims to help address these gaps in screening access and participation.
Founded in 2016 by Citigroup alum Rishi Nayyar and his brother, former Google software engineer Harsh Nayyar, PocketHealth allows patients to access, store, and share their medical imaging records with doctors.
The company raised $9.1 million CAD in its first funding round in 2020. In 2022, it secured $20 million CAD in Series A financing that was used to ramp up its presence in the United States (US) and add AI-powered tools to help users understand their medical imaging results.
Two years later, in March 2024, PocketHealth secured a $45-million CAD Series B round that the company said would be used to continue investing in AI and expand its footprint across Canada and the US.
“We want to get PocketHealth in front of every patient and every provider in North America,” PocketHealth co-founder and CEO Rishi Nayyar told BetaKit in a previous interview.
Feature image courtesy PocketHealth.