Carecam's Journey with A*STAR: Transforming Healthcare through T-Up

Ramanpreet Singh Pahwa, Senior Scientist at A*STAR's I²R and T-Up secondee, with Dr Elson Yong, CEO of Carecam

Carecam, a pioneering healthcare technology company and an A*STAR spinoff, has benefited significantly from its collaboration with A*STAR through the Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading (T-Up) programme. This partnership has been instrumental in refining Carecam's technology and driving their growth as a company.

Carecam's flagship product - the 3DGait is an iOS mobile application that uses computer vision and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to analyse how people walk, creating a new form of digital biomarkers that enable healthcare professionals to quickly and accurately spot mobility issues and improve patient care.

Addressing Key Challenges with T-Up

As a startup, Carecam faced a significant challenge: the need for advanced research and development (R&D) to enhance the value proposition of their technology and make it market-ready. Their goal was to refine their model and algorithm to enable detailed visual assessments of patients through software powered by AI. This required machine vision technology and the development of a custom application, capable of performing complex analyses efficiently on devices like an iPhone or an iPad.

Through the T-Up programme, Ramanpreet Singh Pahwa, Senior Scientist at A*STAR's Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R) was seconded to Carecam, where he was able to provide the expertise necessary for these advancements to Carecam's flagship product - the 3DGait.

The 3DGait features a detailed report with angular, temporal, and spatial parameters for analysis.

T-Up for Success

Ramanpreet played a crucial role in bringing intellectual property into the 3DGait. His contributions were pivotal in productising the technology and improving its efficiency and effectiveness. Today, the 3DGait leverages single camera and 3D AI technology to accurately analyse human body motion, offering insights into movement patterns and related disorders.

Carecam’s primary customers are hospitals, particularly those specialising in neurology and geriatrics. Major institutions like Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the National Heart Centre in Singapore are piloting Carecam’s 3DGait at their in-patient and out-patient facilities.

Dr Elson Yong, CEO of Carecam, shared that Ramanpreet's contributions to productising the 3DGait has directly increased Carecam's revenue to nearly $100K since its founding in March 2022.

Dr Yong also highlighted A*STAR's support in facilitating Carecam's entry into the United States (US) market, and in March 2024, the 3DGait was officially launched in the US. Currently, the 3DGait has garnered interest from a few major US-based hospitals and Carecam is looking to further its expansion into the US market.

The access to deep tech expertise and the willingness of A*STAR’s scientists to collaborate and see through the success of the product makes the T-Up programme unique,” said Dr Elson Yong, CEO of Carecam. He added, “The T-Up programme enables startups to put out products that secondees can also be proud of."

Moving ahead

Through the T-Up programme, Carecam successfully navigated the complexities of healthcare technology development; paving the way for future innovations and collaborations.

Moving ahead, Carecam shared that they are exploring more collaborations with A*STAR, further developments with local and US-based hospitals, as well as projects with the Diagnostics Development Hub (DxD Hub).

On what guided his T-Up journey at Carecam towards success, Ramanpreet shared a quote by Galileo Galilei that inspired him significantly: "Measure what can be measured and make measurable what cannot be measured."