Eye as a mirror: How a med-tech start-up aims to predict systemic diseases through eye screening

Remidio, a medtech company founded by Sivaraman, was conceived with the idea of early detection of eye health issues in under two minutes. However, the start-up is now looking to move beyond and work towards predicting systemic diseases such as cardiovascular risks, chronic kidney diseases, liver cancer and so on through retinal imaging and AI. Because, in Sivaraman’s words, “in India, if you don’t solve the problems of death, you can’t promote wellness.”

“What are the health issues people are generally most worried about?” asks Dr. Anand Sivaraman during an interaction with The Hindu.

“Heart attack, may be...?” comes my answer, off the top of my head.

“There you go,” says Sivaraman, seemingly excited at hearing an answer he probably was expecting.

Cardiovascular risk is one of the most important health concerns for many. What if there was a way to predict such major concerns by simply screening the eye?

Remidio, a medtech company founded by Sivaraman, was conceived with the idea of early detection of eye health issues in under two minutes. However, the start-up is now looking to move beyond and work towards predicting systemic diseases such as cardiovascular risks, chronic kidney diseases, liver cancer and so on through retinal imaging and AI. Because, in Sivaraman’s words, “in India, if you don’t solve the problems of death, you can’t promote wellness.”

It was a chance meeting with a doctor on a train and the conversation that followed which inspired Sivaraman, who was previously working with a start-up, to found Remidio.

“In invitro diagnostics, the testing is done elsewhere from the place of treatment. So, in a way, you’re saving the doctor’s time. Whereas ophthalmology is one of those areas where most of the testing is noninvasive but is still in the hands of a few specialists,” he points out.