Healthy.io, together with Johns Hopkins Hospital, launched a collaborative pilot program in March 2024 that expands patient-facing wound care management into a digital platform. The 120-person study assesses the impact of Healthy.io’s Minuteful for Wound in managing chronic wounds of diabetic patients.
Minuteful for Wound, an FDA-registered remote wound monitoring system, allows patients to scan their wounds with their own smartphones and in the privacy of their homes. Clinicians can also remotely monitor their patients and provide early interventions. This helps in preventing severe wound deterioration that may lead to amputation, especially in the case of diabetic patients.
Preliminary clinical results show that in 36.0% of the patients, Minuteful for Wound enabled timely interventions such as treatment adjustments and earlier in-person check-ups. Patient satisfaction was also at 94.1%, citing the usefulness and accessibility of the system.
Growth of smartphone diagnostics
As a healthcare startup, Healthy.io focuses on remote diagnostic testing using smartphone cameras. Founded in 2013, the company raised $11.5 million in Series A funding led by Quantum Pacific in 2017, followed by $15 million as of mid-2018. In 2019, it secured $18 million in a Series B round led by Aleph, with participation from Samsung Next. By 2023, Healthy.io collected $50 million in Series D funding from Schusterman Family Investments, Aleph, and other existing shareholders.
The growing investments in Healthy.io can be attributed to the expanding clinical diagnostics market. More specialized products for disease detection, management, and treatment are continuously developed, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of artificial intelligence. Other key factors include the rising cases of chronic illnesses, an aging population, and a better understanding of early disease diagnosis.
Healthy.io: Patenting Activity
Healthy.io had several patent filings from 2015 to 2017, a few years after its establishment in 2013. Their early research and patenting activities centered on Minuteful Kidney, a service enabling at-home urine testing for early kidney disease detection. This is described in U.S. Patent No. 11,087,467. The patent includes a dipstick with several reagent pads that change color when exposed to urine, enabling smartphone-based analysis for markers such as leukocytes, nitrite, and blood.
The innovation led to several collaborations, including a partnership with the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) in 2020, and the acquisition of similar home-based diagnostics companies such as Inui Health in 2020 and Labrador Health in 2025.
Following the success of Minuteful Kidney, Healthy.io reached a peak in patenting activity with the launch of Minuteful for Wound in 2019. While there have been no new patent filings up to 2025, the company seems to be directing its resources toward expanding the scope of its existing innovations, as seen in the Johns Hopkins collaboration. In 2022, Healthy.io was also involved in experiments in Axiom Space’s Ax-1 mission regarding the kidney health and function of astronauts.
Healthy.io: Top Law Firms
Healthy.io primarily works with Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP for their patent filings. The firm’s presence in the United States and Europe aligns with the company’s goal of expanding its reach in these regions. The company also partners with other firms such as Alford Law Group, Inc., and Meitar Patents Ltd.
Healthy.io: Top Technology Areas
Most of Healthy.io’s patent filings fall under the classifications A61B (diagnosis, surgery, and identification) and G06T (image data processing and generation). These classifications highlight Healthy.io’s emphasis on combining medical diagnostics with advanced imaging technology.
In addition, a considerable number of filings fall under G16H (healthcare informatics), G06V (image or video recognition), and H04N (pictorial communication). This further underscores the company’s integration of AI, computer vision, and digital health technologies in its products.
Patents behind Minuteful for Wound
Healthy.io’s Minuteful for Wound involves several patented innovations, encompassing the analysis of wound images, the generation of wound cross-sectional views, and the monitoring of wound treatment and healing progress.
Clinical analysis of smartphone-captured wound images
Assessment of chronic wounds typically involves clinical scanners that capture wound images in calibrated illumination conditions. Using smartphones for the same purpose can be challenging due to differences in camera quality, lighting conditions, and user handling. These factors make it hard to get consistent, reliable images for clinical use.
U.S. Patent No. 11,676,705 addresses these challenges with a system that uses smartphone cameras and color reference markers to track wound healing. The system receives images of multiple adjacent wounds taken at different times, corrects for local illumination using the reference elements, and analyzes color changes to determine healing progress. It also predicts the appearance of wounds based on the time difference between images and updates personal medical records.
The patent, titled “Tracking wound healing progress using remote image analysis”, was filed on September 23, 2021, and was granted on June 13, 2023. It was invented by Healthy.io’s founder Yonatan Adiri, chief scientist Ido Omer, and chief technology officer Ron Zohar.
Computer-generated cross-sectional views of wounds
While smartphones offer portability and powerful imaging capabilities, they face major challenges in being used as clinical devices. Another limitation to the effective use of smartphones is the inability to use standard cameras to provide cross-sectional views of wounds.
U.S. Patent No. 11,749,399 takes advantage of computer vision algorithms to generate cross-sectional views of wounds. The system captures multiple 2D images from different angles and processes them to construct a 3D view of the wound. These spatial characteristics are important in wound evaluation to assess the healing progress and determine subsequent treatment steps.
The patent, titled “Cross section views of wounds”, was filed on September 30, 2022, and was granted on September 5, 2023. It was invented by Yonatan Adiri, Ron Zohar, Ido Omer, and Nathaniel Bubis.
Holistic wound care management platform
Beyond analyzing wound images and features, Healthy.io’s Minuteful for Wound also features a quick and accessible platform for effective chronic wound care, from digital monitoring to in-person treatment.
U.S. Patent No. 11,961,608 features systems and methods for wound care management. The system collects images of the wound and analyzes its condition over time. It uses this information, along with the patient’s personal medical record and demographic information, to identify the most urgent medical action. It also sends reminders to apply medication and provides access to a scheduling system for follow-up care with a medical practitioner.
The patent, titled “Image processing systems and methods for caring for skin features”, was filed on November 2, 2020, and was granted on April 16, 2024. It was invented by Yonatan Adiri, Ron Zohar, Ido Omer, Matan Ronen, Nathaniel Bubis, and Nitai Fine.
All featured patents of Healthy.io were represented by Charles Lipsey, John Paul, Richard Racine, et al. from Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP.
Note: The image used in this article is for illustrative purposes only and does not depict the actual application developed by Healthy.io..
