Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images
SpotitEarly, a company that uses AI and dogs to detect cancer odor signatures in breath samples, announced a research collaboration with the Hennessy Institute for Cancer Prevention and Applied Molecular Medicine to validate SpotitEarly's technology.
SpotitEarly offers cancer screening that uses AI and canines to analyze volatile organic compounds in a breath sample to detect early-stage cancer, starting with breast cancer.
An individual collects a breath sample with an at-home test. The company then uses trained canines' scent detection and its LUCID AI technology to detect early-stage cancer.
LUCID analyzes thousands of data points on a dog's physical and behavioral signals to detect early-stage cancer.
"The research collaboration with Hackensack Meridian Health will begin with the launch of the PINK Study, a 2,000-participant multicenter, double-blind observational study focused on breast cancer detection," SpotitEarly said in a statement.
"Both participants and researchers will remain unaware because the validity of such a test is yet to be established. The trial will enroll up to 500 women currently undergoing mammograms or biopsies for breast cancer detection at Hackensack Meridian Health."
The study will be led by Dr. Elias Obeid, a specialist in breast cancer and cancer genetics, and the medical director of the Hennessy Institute.
The Hennessy Institute is part of the Hackensack Meridian John Theurer Cancer Center – part of the National Cancer Institute-designated Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University – and Hackensack University Medical Center.
"With breast cancer diagnoses on the rise, the need for accessible, affordable and accurate cancer screening is more critical than ever. If you can detect breast cancer at stage one, the survival rate can reach up to 99%. That’s the power of early detection," Shlomi Madar, CEO of SpotitEarly, told MobiHealthNews.
"At SpotitEarly, we’re proud to collaborate with renowned institutions like Hackensack Meridian Health to advance research that helps catch cancer in its earliest stages, when treatment is most effective and lives can truly be saved.”
THE LARGER TREND
SpotitEarly launched into the U.S. market in May with $20.3 million in funding.
It garnered funding from Menomedin VC, Jeff Swartz (former CEO of Timberland), Avishai Abrahami (CEO of Wix.com), Hanaco VC and others.
SpotitEarly was also awarded grants, including one from the BIRD Foundation, which funds research and development between Israeli and American companies.
The Israeli-based company garnered $6.2 million in seed funding in 2022.
