On Pioneering Objective Eye Testing - HIMSS Europe Series with Piotr Kruszynski

Technology really has to step in in the health space, because if we require things to be treated the way they are being by the specialists, it's not going to happen.

There is not enough specialists in almost every area or there is not enough capacity for the devices that are being used.

So we have to allow the technology to step in here because otherwise there will be serious issues.

Hi, I'm Piotr Kruszynski.

I'm the CEO and founder of finally, and thanks for having me here.

Hello, dear listeners.

Welcome to a new episode of our HIMS Europe special series on Narratives of Purpose.

This week I bring you interviews with two of the HIMSS Startup Pitchfest competition finalists in the category Expanding Horizons in Health Equity.

These interviews were recorded in Paris a couple of months ago in June at the himss, the Healthcare Information and Management System Society European annual flagship event, also considered as Europe's number one digital health conference.

For those of you listening to Angels of Purpose for the first time, my name is Claire Murigande.

I am your host on this podcast which is all about amplifying social impact by showcasing unique stories of global change makers who are contributing to make a difference in society.

My guest today is Piotr Kruzinski.

Piotr is the founder and CEO of Finally, a startup with a mission to provide access to eye care for everyone in the world, using advanced technology to support medical infrastructure.

Piotr talks to me about the development of Finally's iTest mobile app solution.

This is the first remote eye examination solution in the world to use objective testing methods to define the diffractive error of your eyes.

Remember to rate enter your show wherever you listen to your podcasts or simply share your thoughts and feedback on the Narratives of Purpose website using this short bit ly narratives of Purpose and then select the review page.

For now, get comfortable and let's start the conversation with Piotr.

So you were pitching this morning for your company and I heard that you won the audience prize.

How was that?

Yes, we were pitching and there were six beautiful startups today in two puffs and three in each of them.

And today there was a People's Choice award voted tomorrow's the Jewelry that was for Professionals is going to announce who is the winner of each of the categories.

But yeah, we were lucky to get the People's Choice prize today.

So very nice feeling and appreciation from the crowd.

Always tastes good.

All the startups presented well and they really had the solutions that tackle significant issues with very thoughtful ideas.

So huge pleasure to be among this.

Crowd so let's come to your startup and what is the solution you're tackling and maybe for our audience, because you said the company's name is finally, but it's actually a wordplay.

The I, it's not F I but F E. Y E, like the I, right?

Yeah, I like.

You catch it because it's not that obvious.

So it's finally because finally there is a good solution for that.

But as you mentioned, that is I embedded and this is a wordplay.

So together with Matt, that is my co founder, we run the business together, we used to have the eyewear business before and this eyewear business, we were selling glasses in general eyewear in e commerce channels and we were pretty, pretty strong in selling sunglasses online because it's relatively easy.

We implemented the virtual augmented reality try on app which worked well, but then we wanted to enter more into selling corrective glasses online.

And people had to have the refractive error or correction basically somehow.

And usually the ones that knew it, they could order the glasses online, have them prepared by our lab and send it to them next day.

So it's pretty convenient.

But all the ones that were not aware of their correction, they had to go to specialists offline, which meant that usually they never came back to online channel to finalize the purchase.

So we scratched our heads and thought like, how can we enhance this process?

And we look at the solutions that were mobile app solutions that were available on the market at the time and all of them were basically mimicking what traditional optometrists are doing right now, which are subjective methods that really the result depend on your shape at the moment.

So if you do these tests in the morning versus when you do them in the evening or if the air is humid or not, you can expect getting different results.

Is it really that significantly different?

It is, it is.

We did the test like three years ago on a group of students.

I think we took like 30 students and have them tested with the traditional optometrist test at three different days and three different times of day.

And we had people that encountered like minus one diopteries on one day and then like plus one on the other day.

So a lot of factors that are impacting this.

So as I mentioned, like our, let's say the way we feel, how tired we are if we sat in front of the computer all day, or not yet, what is the air quality and so on, how assertive we are because it goes up to the point where you are being asked is it better or worse?

Better or worse.

So it's like your assertiveness and basically you get crazy, you don't know anymore when you see better.

So a lot of these factors.

So we said there must be a better way that will implement the phones, which are very powerful devices these days, and it can be done somehow in an objective way.

So that was the spark for finally basically we teamed up with specialists from Technical University of Wrocaw.

At that time we hired the R and D team comprising of ophthalmologists, optometrists, technical opticians.

So that was the initial setup.

The first step was approaching this on the theoretical aspect.

So are there any methods that we can implement in the smartphone to objective, objectively test the eyes for refractive error?

That was the question.

It turned out that we identified three methods like that.

So then we raised some first funds and went to the next stage where we did the so called in silico tests in the digital environment.

So we had the special software in which we prepared models of the eyes with different refractive errors and we ran simulations of these methods, like how would the eye react and how would the picture look like if we take it through the smartphone.

So that was very promising.

So we came to the next stage which was laboratory stage.

So we then have phones equipped with some sort of add ons 3D printed with LED lights and it had to be pitch dark in the laboratory.

So really crazy conditions.

But again it was moving us toward the right solution.

And the final stage, which is basically happening right now, and we keep on improving this, is that we are using stock smartphones, iPhones for the moment.

And it doesn't have to be pitch dark, but it can be like the shaded room basically and a person can take a picture of the other person eye basically because the back camera has to be used with the flashlight.

So right now we are at the stage that we advise someone to take picture of the other person.

All we need is a picture taken of each of the eyes and then we filter those pictures and like apply a bunch of different filtering to them and run them through the algorithm that we built.

The algorithm is based on neural networks and we created this based on the data set that we built ourselves.

So the data set comprises of pictures of people's eyes taken by the optometrist that work for us and accompanied by the result of the traditional optometrist test.

So this is the learning set that we are still keep on building.

So that's basically kind of a long story of how the idea was invented and where we are right now.

And Are you the only ones who have these solutions or do you have competitors at the moment?

Yeah.

So when it comes to competition, so we kind of divide them into two groups.

So one are any sort of devices that use some sort of hardware.

So it can be something that look like binoculars or any sort of add ons for a smartphone.

And these solutions are quite precise, but they are aimed at specialists.

So if someone has an optical store and then they don't have the optometrist in place, they can buy a device like that and run some basic tests.

So this is one group and they are inspiring when it comes to technological savviness and the results that they get.

But it's kind of a different use case because they don't target end users like you and me basically having this testing at home.

And the second group are like pure mobile apps.

And these are the ones that target end users directly.

But all the ones that are on the market right now use these subjective methods.

So basically they mimic what you do at the optometrist's office.

So you either look at the screen of a laptop or an iPad or a phone and still you go through this test.

So still you kind of diagnose yourself with the tools that have been in place for like hundred years probably right now.

So what we want to do is we want to switch this to objective methods.

And from the sources that we know, no one is doing this this way yet, but I'm pretty sure that someone might be working on this.

So time is not in our favor anymore.

But so ultimately, if I understand it correctly, I could use that at home and I need to go to the opticians to check my eyesight again, for example.

Right?

Yeah, so that's the, that's the ultimate goal that we have.

There needs to be certain certifications in place and so on for you to use it as an independent diagnostic tool.

Before we get to the certifications, we want to implement this in different use cases.

So for example, you can not necessarily get the ultimate prescription, but you can like go through like screening or triaging maybe that, okay, your eyesight seem fine or your eyesight seems that something is off, so you should go and visit the specialist.

So we can do this type of screening.

We can most probably in most of the countries do.

This is the word I always forget.

Yeah, that's the one.

Occupational medicine.

So basically every time you get a new job, you are required to do some very basic health checkups and having your vision checked is one of them.

But again, because this is like Usually it happens at least every two years for everyone that is employed.

Nobody expects to get the very precise measurement from this.

It's just for the sake of like having it checked because it's required.

So again, it can be implemented here as a supporting tool.

So many, many use cases that we can utilize it for before it's certified.

But of course the end goal is for you, as you mentioned, to have, have your vision checked at home and be able to order the prescription glasses.

And now coming back to the HIMS Congress, what are your expectations here?

Are you going to be here the three whole days?

No.

So actually it's an intense week today.

We are here at HIMS and the expectations are to basically meet people that are interested in technologies like ours, both from the sake of users, potential partners and investors.

Because as a startup in the pre revenue stage, we are in the constant fundraising mode.

So, so these are the expectations and it's also a good opportunity to meet with fellow startupers because it's plenty of them here, so always too good to share experiences with them.

And one final question.

When you were pitching today, what message do you want the audience to take away from your pitch?

I think the main takeaway for the audience would be to become aware that technology really has to step in, in the health space because if we require things to be treated the way they are being by the specialists, it's not going to happen.

There is not enough specialists in almost every area or there is not enough capacity for the devices that are being used.

So we have to allow the technology to step in here because otherwise there will be serious issues.

And I think one of the positives from the pandemic actually is this switch of our approach, let's say, and we are kind of more open into telehealth solutions and so on.

So it's going in this direction.

But really everyone needs to open their mind here and be more ready to.

Implement those and use technologies like yours at some point.

Absolutely, absolutely.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Huge pleasure.

Thank you.

If you wish to learn more about Piostr's work and his team at finally have a look at their website at F e Y e n a lly.com that's finally.com the link is also available for you in the show Notes.

Thank you so much for tuning in today.

I appreciate you taking the time.

Join me again next week for three new episodes of our Hymns Europe special series featuring speakers of the Women's Health Track session titled Intersectional Addressing Health Disparities.

Until then, take care of yourselves.

Stay.

Stay well and stay inspired.