Israeli Startup RealizeMD Uses AI to Protect Patient Privacy

ISRAEL: RealizeMD, an Israeli startup, is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to protect the privacy of individuals in medical imagery. The company’s platform, RealizeMD, subtly alters facial features through AI manipulation, effectively transforming a patient’s face into that of someone else while preserving the original properties of the specific area that underwent cosmetic or reconstructive treatment. These anonymised images can then be freely used in before-and-after medical procedure documentation.

The creation of RealizeMD was motivated by a personal experience of CEO Uri Neeman. A family member diagnosed with breast cancer was reluctant to undergo crucial preventive medical procedures, including a mastectomy, due to concerns that insufficiently anonymous before-and-after images could reveal their identity. 

This experience led Neeman to research the issue and its implications for patients, ultimately resulting in the birth of RealizeMD.

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Mobile and Desktop Solutions

RealizeMD’s platform, now past the minimum viable product (MVP) stage, offers both mobile and desktop versions, empowering physicians to work with images of individual patients or entire databases. 

It addresses the pressing concerns of both patients and medical professionals worldwide. Medical practitioners are bound by stringent privacy and confidentiality standards, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the US and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union. These regulations have made it challenging for medical professionals to showcase successful procedures they have performed.

RealizeMD has emerged as a solution to bridge this privacy gap. It allows physicians to upload images of successful surgical procedures to its server. Within 20 seconds, they receive anonymised versions of these images, concealing all identifying features except for the impacted area. 

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Users even have the option to choose from a range of new faces, ensuring complete anonymity. These anonymised images can then be used to demonstrate the results of previous surgeries to prospective patients, fostering trust and confidence.

Compliance and Collaboration

RealizeMD is fully compliant with both HIPAA and GDPR regulations, making it suitable for use in plastic surgery, dentistry, ophthalmology, and medical aesthetics. The company has also recruited New York-based plastic surgeon Dr. David P. Rapaport as its chief medical officer to ensure that the platform aligns with the needs of medical professionals in these fields.

RealizeMD operates on a subscription basis, and according to Neeman, there is high demand for this tool in the medical community. The platform has already amassed over a million images during its MVP phase. While other companies have sought to address the issue of patient confidentiality in before-and-after images, RealizeMD distinguishes itself with its highly automated AI-based approach.

Growing Impact

Earlier this year, RealizeMD was one of the winners of the annual Early-Stage Accelerator Program hosted by the Israeli branch of MassChallenge, a global nonprofit accelerator.

 The company has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding and expects to go commercial in the US by the end of the year. With patents in hand and a global vision, RealizeMD is on a mission to transform the medical imagery landscape while safeguarding patient privacy.

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