Japanese firm Lily MedTech set to revolutionize detection and treatment of breast cancer
A startup backed by the University of Tokyo, Lily MedTech is a Japanese femtech company whose work is currently gaining attention. Their device, scheduled to hit the market in two years’ time, focuses on solving issues in breast cancer examinations and improving the efficiency of breast cancer treatment, bringing about a dramatic change in the experience for users (or patients). In both developed and emerging countries, their device has the potential to revolutionize approaches to how breast cancer is examined, diagnosed and treated.
CEO of Lily MedTech Inc., Shiho Azuma, explains that “there are currently several issues in relation to breast cancer examinations”. The largest of those issues in Japan, she says, is the low rate in which Japanese women are taking examinations: only around 41%. This is the lowest level among the 34 countries participating in the OECD (The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development).
Mammography (where X-rays are used for examination) requires administering pressure to the breasts and because of the pain involved many women are hesitant to undergo the procedure. Mammography also has the problem of being difficult to see tumors within dense breasts, which is common in young, and particularly Asian, women. Ultrasound examinations compensate for this as they can show tumors irrespective of the mammary gland’s density; however, a lot depends on the skill of the examiner who conducts the screening, and it often comes with the operational risk of failing to capture certain areas. From a global perspective, a correlation has been found between advanced economic development and increases in breast cancer, thus being able to discover breast cancer early is a pressing matter.
Enter Lily MedTech’s ultrasound imaging device for breast examination, Ring Echo, developed to solve a number of problems in breast cancer examinations for both examinees and physicians. Ring Echo is a device in the shape of a bed, where a container with a ring-shaped ultrasound transducer is installed in a hole in the center of the bed and is filled with warm water.
The examinee lies face-down on the bed and inserts their breast inside the hole. While they lie there for ten minutes, the transducer moves vertically while ultrasound waves are emitted to take a 3D image of the breast in its entirety. As the examination uses ultrasound waves, tumors can be distinguished no matter the density of the mammary gland. Plus, by being able to image the breast in a fixed, downward position, the process avoids being dependent on the skill level of the examiner — as it is for mammography — allowing a more homogenous process that can be reproduced faithfully every time. On top of this, the examinee experiences no pain nor risk of radiation exposure.
In a clinical trial that was carried out, Ring Eco was used to capturing 50 cases of breast tumors, both benign and malignant, and data was collected for further development of areas such as how tumors look, the range for filming the breasts, the comfortability of the bed, and the AI-driven image diagnosis functions.
CEO Azuma says that “Once AI can help judge whether a tumor is benign or malignant, it will make the usage of unnecessary needle biopsy, and as a result, medical costs can be lowered”. In the future, Ring Eco will come with AI that can automatically distinguish benign or malignant based on images that are taken. This can assist doctors who don’t have particular training in breast cancer screening and will be advantageous for women who live out in regions where there aren’t any specialists. It can also help expand Lily MedTech’s business further: from not only selling devices but also allowing services such as subscription-model remote diagnoses, where stable and precise diagnoses can be carried out through a combination of a radiologist and AI-powered support.
Apart from Lily MedTech, there’s only one other startup company that is developing a device that uses ring-shaped ultrasound transducers (a US-based firm), and they are also yet to bring their technology to the market. The work of this rival company is focused on highly innovative imaging functions of which standards of diagnosis are yet to be established, while Lily MedTech’s Ring Eco contrasts by being a more practical examination device that partially implements diagnosis standards that have already been established through existing ultrasound examination methods.
Currently, Ring Eco is at the stage of being prepared for approval as a medical instrument and is aiming to enter the market within the next two years.
CEO Azuma explained about her company’s prospects: “In Japan (our device) is currently being prepared for implementation in university hospitals, regional base hospitals, and breast centers as an examination device to replace mammography. Then, shortly, we want to aim for our original objectives, which are to equip Ring Eco with focused ultrasound treatment functions and expand out into other Asian countries and also Africa, where there is a lack of hospitals and physicians.”
Although originally specializing in the aerospace field, Azuma decided to instead channel her energies into the realization of Ring Echo. A major factor that influenced this was experiencing the loss of her mother to cancer when she was in senior high school.
“Having seen first-hand the pain involved with anticancer drugs, I felt that no other person should have to experience that same pain,” says Azuma. “The period in a women’s life from their late 30s to their 60s has a high incidence rate of breast cancer, but it’s also a period brimming with many life opportunities in terms of career, relationships, marriage, childbirth, and child-raising. In order for women to avoid losing any of those opportunities, I want to contribute to raising women’s QOL (Quality of Life) through helping to increase the rate that women go for examinations, supporting the discovery of early-stage cancer, and, for those women who are diagnosed with cancer, allowing them to continue living the same way they did before as best as possible.”
Lily MedTech has been picked up by some public sponsors, including NEDO-STS*1, AMED*2, and J-Startup, and in July this year, they announced an investment from Aflac Innovation Partners. The cumulative total of the company’s procured funding so far comes to around US$7.85 million. Support for the company from both within and outside of Japan is also growing.
*1 An initiative to assist seed-stage technology-based startups by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
*2 The Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development.
Text: Ching Li Tor
Original text (Japanese): Lina Ono
