Neural Labs Africa

Neural Labs Africa is a Health Tech company creating AI based solutions to solve, augment and revolutionize the pressing challenges in medical diagnostics.   

Every year hundreds of thousands of Africans lose loved ones due to preventable diseases. In fact, it is estimated that a staggering 15% of all deaths in Africa would be avoidable with timely diagnosis.  Diseases run rampant in Africa due to overburdened and under resourced health systems.  Patients in many communities have to wait for up to two weeks to receive analyzed lab results. But when aggressive diseases like Pneumonia can kill in less than 72 hours, a two week wait time is a death sentence. Unfortunately, Radiologists and Hospitals have no way to filter and prioritize  medical images so that they can focus on the most urgent cases first.

Using Deep Learning and Computer Vision our technology screens x-rays for radiologists and hospitals in real time to identify over 13 respiratory diseases such as Pneumonia, TB, and lung cancer.  Now, instead of waiting for two weeks, we empower doctors to provide accurate diagnoses before patients even get their shirts back on.

In a continent with over one billion people, under resourced healthcare systems and inadequate specialist the World Health Organization estimates that diseases cost the Africa region 2.4 trillion international dollars. “This is a huge cost to the region and, indeed, for Africa as a whole. Implementing the recommended essential health services to address the main causes of morbidity and premature mortality in the region would almost halve this cost,” according to the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti. This creates need for the use of revolutionary technologies to solve the existing constrain. 

Neural Labs Africa technology comes in handy to solve this problem in a threefold approach. One ensuring real-time diagnosis currently patients in Africa will have to wait for days to receive analyzed lab results with marginalized communities waiting for up to 2 weeks but when aggressive diseases like Pneumonia can kill in 72 hours, three days wait time a death sentence. Our technology NeuralSight is able to interpret lab results before patients put back their shirts on real time diagnosis. 

Secondly, cases of misdiagnosis are a large contributor to diseases burdens in Africa. For instance, since specialists in Africa works for up to three hospitals this creating high occurrences of overwhelmed workload especially because specialists are remunerated based on how many images, they screen a specialists will take up to 15 minutes to screen a single image empowering the specialists to use Neural Sight. This means they can rely on our technology to screen images in real time and work towards confirming suggested pathologies by the technology. 

Thirdly, hospitals will charge expensive consultation and lab fees since they will have to make up for specialists’ costs while using our technology which makes workload easier these eases such costs thus providing a friendly pricing model to patients. We therefore believe that the use of AI to solve the overwhelming UN Strategic Development Goal 3 Good Health and Wellbeing has the potential to ensure that Africa improves its HealthCare system. 

We have a team with a combined 70 years of experience and a mix of backgrounds in healthcare, machine learning project management, and business development.  Our team has a strong understanding of the healthcare industry and the specific problem we are trying to solve, as well as the appropriate technical expertise to develop and implement our AI solution. Additionally, having a diverse and strong project management and communication skilled team that ensures the solution is delivered on time and effectively integrated into the healthcare system. We are also actively involved in the AI community building technologies. 

Neural Labs Africa has conducted market research to identify the specific health needs and challenges facing the population. We have engaged with stakeholders and experts in the field, such as healthcare professionals, patient groups, and policymakers, to gain a deeper understanding of the needs and concerns of the population.

We continuously conduct user research to gain insights into the specific needs and preferences of the population, as well as any barriers they may face in accessing healthcare. Further, we have collaborated with existing organizations working on similar problems, both to learn from their experience and to identify opportunities for partnerships and co-creation.

Engaging with potential users and patients throughout the design and development process to ensure that the solution is tailored to their needs and is user-friendly is one of the strategy used to understand our target consumers. We are also continuously monitoring and evaluating the impact of the AI health solution on the population to ensure that it is meeting the intended needs and to identify areas for improvement.

Ultimately we are transparent about the limitations and ethical considerations of the AI solution and making sure that the solution is safe, secure and respects the privacy of the users.

• We have a unique technology/algorithm that sets the company apart from others in the market which is a major differentiating factor.  We have developed a unique machine learning technique that outperforms others in the field.
• Neural Labs has deep domain expertise in the specific area of healthcare that is radiology.
• We have built strong partnerships with key stakeholders in the healthcare industry.
• Our company possess the ability to scale its technology to meet the needs of a large customer base which is attractive to potential investors and customers.
• We have put a strong emphasis on user-centered design and user experience thus created  products and services that are more intuitive and easier to use, which can be a competitive advantage.

 We believe our technology is impacting people living on less than $5 PPP a day. These are patients in marginalized communities. Imagine a patient living under $5PPP a day visits a hospital facility more than once during their medication this is because after a modality let's say a chest x-ray the patient is sent home to await lab results and probably travel back to the facility one week later. This is huge costs leave alone the medication costs as one facility will serve a demographic region of up to 100,000 people meaning patients travel long distances for treatment. If we save such costs we build a community where not only do patients travel once to get medication but also facilitate real-time diagnosis ensuring that patient start medication immediately improving healthcare deliver thus reducing premature mortality.

Our proprietary AI platform  uses computer vision, deep learning and machine learning to enhance and augment radiology services, thereby relieving the bottleneck in medical imaging diagnosis. NeuralSight™ is capable of labeling different diseases on x-rays at a rate of 1000 x-rays per minute, which is 1000 times faster than a human being! Through our innovative and transformational  platform, we believe that NeuralSight™ will add significant value to our clinical colleagues as well as improve patient care relieving the burden of diseases in Africa.

We are currently working with five hospitals in Kenya and Senegal where we have screened over 5000 images for our clinical trials. We are looking to have about 20 hospitals in the next phase.

• Data privacy and security concerns, health data is highly sensitive and must be protected to comply with regulations such as HIPAA.
• Limited availability and quality of data: Health data is often siloed and difficult to access, making it challenging for us to collect and train their models.
• Lack of understanding and trust among healthcare providers as most of the healthcare providers do not not understand the capabilities of AI thus become be hesitant to adopt the new technologies. 
• It is also challenging to scale up and implement AI systems into existing healthcare infrastructure hence it is difficult and time-consuming.
• Regulatory and compliance hurdles which we must navigate through despite the complexity of the various laws and guidelines. For instance, the difficulty in getting the approval of FDA or other regulatory body for AI-based medical devices or drugs.
• There are high costs associated with obtaining medical imaging data, medical devices and other equipment. 

• UNICEF - grantors and healthcare partners
• Startupbootcamp - investors 
• 5 Hospitals - potential customers
• AHB - Partners
• Foundersboost- Mentors

Our services cater to radiologists, hospitals, and diagnostic laboratories, who pay on both a transactional and subscription basis. We charge an average of $4 per image screened. With an estimated 630,000 X-rays done per month in Kenya, capturing just 20% of the market would generate a revenue of $500,000 per month, allowing us to achieve a profit margin of 50-60% per image

Generating revenue through the sale of our product. By Q4 2023 Neural Labs will be generating revenue by selling our services and  licensing the technology to other companies. Our developed AI-powered diagnostic tools are sold to hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare providers. We will further engage in offering consulting services and training to healthcare organizations that want to integrate AI into their operations.

Business collaborations or partnerships where we partner with a larger company or organization can provide access to funding and resources, as well as a ready-made market for our technology.

Service contracts with governments and other organizations is among our  a potential source of revenue. Governments and other organizations who are willing to pay for the startup's expertise in developing and implementing AI-powered solutions to address specific health challenges. In addition government grants that are for research and development in health tech industry. 

We also engage in funding  from venture capitalists and angel investors, who provide funding in exchange for equity in the company.