HKTDC helps PanopticAI take its AI-powered health monitoring app onto global stage
The trade promotion body supports Hong Kong’s innovative tech companies through its Start-up Express programme and international conferences
Few prosperous businesses ever get started without the support of experts. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is one such expert, which has helped numerous start-ups achieve success since it was established in 1966.
One of the trade promotion body’s missions is to provide Hong Kong companies with advisory services, resources, connections and promotional tools so that they can not only flourish but also expand their reach beyond the city’s shores.
Its Start-up Express programme is one example of how it provides business support. Each year, the scheme, which was launched in 2018, selects 10 of the city’s promising innovative technology companies and helps them to improve their capabilities, identify and explore opportunities, find business and funding partners, and increase their brand awareness.
PanopticAI, a start-up working in health technology – one of the main focuses of the programme – is one of the successful businesses that have benefited from its support.
The company, founded in 2020, has developed its Vitals app, an AI-powered health and wellness monitoring solution, which uses the built-in camera of a smartphone, tablet or computer to measure a person’s heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, oxygen saturation and stress level. Its app is able to capture these readings by analysing subtle differences in a person’s natural skin colour caused by changes in their blood flow.
The idea for the app was conceived during the Covid-19 pandemic, which sparked a growing demand for new methods of remote patient monitoring. Today the technology is continuing to help healthcare providers reduce the workload of their staff through the effective management of chronic diseases and the early detection of illnesses.
Kyle Wong, PanopticAI’s CEO and co-founder, says its Vitals app is helping to democratise healthcare and could “inadvertently reduce the burden on the whole healthcare ecosystem”.
The company’s successful development began shortly after it won the Start-up Express in 2021. The following year, PanopticAI attended the Asia Summit on Global Health – part of the International Healthcare Week organised by the HKTDC – and formalised a partnership with Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong, a private hospital in Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong Island. This allowed its Vitals development kit to be integrated into the hospital’s My Gleneagles SmartHealth mobile app.
Earlier this year, Vitals became the first app offering contactless pulse measurement using an iPhone or iPad built-in camera to receive clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). PanopticAI also became the first Hong Kong company to gain the FDA’s software-as-a-medical-device clearance.
“The biggest advantage of joining the Start-Up Express was the connections it opened us up to,” says Wong, adding that the HKTDC was able to facilitate collaboration between PanopticAI and Gleneagles Hospital when the hospital was developing its app and looking for new innovations. “Getting support from the HKTDC to exhibit our technology at international conferences really helped a small start-up like ours to get the exposure that we need.
“What we are building is technology that can help monitor health vitals from the palm of your hand using a smartphone. It will play a key role in providing personalised and preventive care, which is the future of healthcare technology.”
Watch the video to discover PanopticAI’s groundbreaking technology and how the HKTDC helps innovative local start-ups.