A persistent challenge in primary care is determining whether a sore throat requires antibiotics or can resolve on its own. Traditionally, that process has relied on clinical judgment, swabs, and lab results. The problem is that those can be delayed, inaccessible, or just unavailable altogether.
Light AI (CBOE:CA) (OTCQB:OHCFF), a healthtech company based in Vancouver, thinks it can offer a different path. The company has developed a smartphone-based diagnostic app that uses machine learning to identify Strep A infections. It’s not a vague risk score or a symptom checker. Instead, it relies on visual diagnostics, analyzing the back of the throat using the phone’s camera and returning a result in under a minute. No swabs. No lab wait times. No need for in-person triage.
Light AI’s first product, a smartphone-based Strep A diagnostic app, is expected to launch later this year, and early pre-FDA validation data suggests it’s accurate enough to carry clinical weight.
“Using the lens of your mobile phone in a matter of seconds, inexpensively, advances the movement toward global parity of treatment and is very empowering,” said Anthony Schaller, Light AI’s President and CTO.
The app works by guiding users to take a short video of the back of their throat using their smartphone. The image is processed in the cloud, where Light AI’s algorithm analyzes visual indicators associated with Group A Streptococcus. If a pattern consistent with infection is detected, the app flags the result and indicates medical attention is needed.
The implications go beyond convenience. In both the U.S. and abroad, lack of timely access to diagnostics remains a persistent challenge. Around 30 million Americans live in areas with limited access to basic healthcare services, regions often described as medical deserts. In these communities, symptoms that could be addressed with early intervention sometimes escalate into serious illness.
That problem is magnified in low-resource settings globally, where laboratory infrastructure is limited or nonexistent. There, the decision to prescribe antibiotics is often based on observation or assumption, not confirmation. The result is a twofold crisis: overuse of antibiotics where they aren’t needed, and missed treatment in the cases where they are.
Light AI’s technology doesn’t aim to replace clinicians. The goal is to support faster and accurate decision-making, especially in early-stage care or rural medicine. Unlike traditional testing methods, it doesn’t rely on consumables or physical inventory. That makes it easier to scale, particularly in areas where supply chains and staffing are already strained.
The timing is notable. Both the CDC and the Public Health Agency of Canada reported significant spikes in invasive Group A Streptococcus infections during the 2023–2024 respiratory illness season, with some jurisdictions seeing higher-than-expected pediatric hospitalizations. That trend has reignited calls for improved diagnostic tools that can be deployed in real-world settings, not just hospitals or labs.
Light AI’s broader vision is ambitious: to build what it refers to as a “Digital Clinical Lab,” combining cloud-based diagnostics with mobile access to enable rapid screening for dozens of conditions. The company is currently in the process of regulatory submissions for a professional version of the app intended for use by clinicians.
The product’s simplicity may be its biggest strength. In an era of increasingly complex health tech, Light AI’s first tool is remarkably straightforward. If you have a smartphone and a sore throat, you may be able to find out, within a minute, whether it’s something to watch or something to treat.
It’s not meant to be a replacement for a doctor’s visit. But in many cases, it will help to decide when one is truly needed.
