One of the leading reasons people go to the doctor, we perform about 250 million ear exams a year.
The difficult and subjective nature of the ear exam leads to 70% of diagnoses and treatments being incorrect.
We overtreat 1/3 of cases, with 8 million unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions and $1 billion of wasted resources.
Ear exams are performed by a wide range of practitioners. This includes specialist ENT doctors, pediatricians, primary care physicians, physicians assistants, and nurse practitioners — all with a wide range of ear exam experience. We seek to provide objective analysis to support clinical decision making at every level of care.
Telehealth is leaving ear exams behind because eardrum imaging is still too hard. We seek to make eardrum imaging easier and support new revenue models like eConsults. This provider-to-provider workflow improves efficiency, letting each practitioner work at the maximum of their training and skill set.
With young and uncomfortable patients, it can often be easier to grab a short video of the ear exam than try to frame that one perfect eardrum picture. Our patented SelectStitch software uses a trained AI model to analyze that video frame by frame, identify frames showing eardrum, choose the areas with the best focus and fewest obstructions, and put it all together into one coherent image. We are currently developing production ready software, anticipating pilots in late spring 2023. Our second product will add diagnostic analysis to screen for up to 14 types of diagnostic conditions and provide findings to the healthcare practitioner. We anticipate submitting this product for regulatory clearance in late 2024.
Our team includes experts in ear disease, artificial intelligence, full stack development, medical devices, regulatory clearance, and healthcare operations. We have great advisors and strategic partnerships, with offices in Wisconsin and North Carolina. We have the right team to execute on our vision to bring ear disease screening tools to every exam room, walk in clinic, school health office, and beyond.
With 130 million ear exams each year in the the US, our market opportunity begins at $260 million with our initial imaging tool, and doubles when we add diagnostic screening capabilities. We will sell software-as-a-service subscriptions on annual contracts to health systems and private practice offices. And with an issued US patent and pending applications around the world, we are uniquely positioned to grow.
Images by freepik. Ear icon created by Roundicons - Flaticon. Regulatory disclaimer: Otologic Technologies has no products for sale. Software features described are in development, are not cleared for sale by any regulatory agency, and may never be products for sale.
