Disrupting MedTech: Gennadi Saiko Makes Smartphones Save Limbs and Lives
Gennadi Saiko, founder and CEO of Oxilight, joins Disruption Interruption host Karla Jo Helms (KJ) to discuss how he's revolutionizing wound care diagnostics by transforming smartphones into powerful medical imaging devices, moving critical assessments from expensive hospital labs to patients' homes.
TAMPA BAY, Fla., Feb. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Chronic wounds are a silent epidemic in the United States, affecting one in six Medicare beneficiaries, about 10.5 million people, and costing Medicare an estimated $22.5 billion annually. Gennadi Saiko, founder and CEO of Oxilight, joins Disruption Interruption host Karla Jo Helms (KJ) to discuss how he's disrupting the medical diagnostics market by making diagnostic technology portable, affordable, and accessible. "I don't want to improve hospital healthcare. I want to improve healthcare in general," says Saiko. His company is transforming smartphones into powerful wound care diagnostic tools, enabling early detection and intervention that can save both limbs and lives.
The Crisis Hidden in Plain Sight
The prevalence of diabetes among seniors in the United States has reached alarming levels. Twenty-seven percent of people aged 65 and older now have the disease. But the diabetes crisis is no longer limited to older populations. "Right now we have 25-year-olds with diabetes," explains Saiko. This metabolic disease affects people across all age groups, and its most devastating complication, diabetic foot ulcers, accounts for 80% of all non-traumatic amputations.
The traditional approach to wound care has relied on antiquated methods. "A couple of years ago, doctors were using rulers to measure wounds," Saiko reveals. This anatomical imaging requires multiple measurements over time to track healing trajectories, creating a compliance problem when patients do not return for follow-up appointments. By the time patients with infected wounds finally seek help, it is often too late. "At this stage, you may need to amputate a leg," warns Saiko.
What makes chronic wounds particularly dangerous is their ability to trap patients in a vicious cycle. Unlike normal wounds that heal within three weeks, chronic wounds require medical intervention. Detecting which wounds will become chronic is where traditional diagnostics fall short.
A Pocket-Sized Revolution in Diagnostics
Saiko's solution represents a fundamental shift in medical device strategy. While competitors were building tablet-sized devices costing $20,000 each, Oxilight created a $200 smartphone attachment that combines three diagnostic technologies into one portable device. "What is the game changer here? It's the multimodal stuff. You need to combine a couple things into one device. In this case, you have a 360-degree view on a problem," Saiko explains.
The device performs multispectral imaging, fluorescence imaging to detect bacteria, and thermal imaging to identify temperature increases that signal infection. This multimodal approach solves a critical problem in medical diagnostics: specificity. "All these devices are very sensitive. The problem is specificity. All these false positives where there is nothing, but you identify it as something and cut the leg after that," says Saiko. By combining three technologies, Oxilight boosts specificity dramatically while providing immediate prognostic information from a single snapshot.
The portability factor is transformative. Frontline nurses can now perform sophisticated diagnostics during home visits, catching problems early. "She can just take it from her pocket, put it on your smartphone, take a picture, and send it to the doctor," Saiko illustrates. For patients in rural communities where hospitals may be 100 kilometers away, this accessibility is literally life changing. "Moving to the patient's home, this is really a big deal," he emphasizes. Preventing just one amputation saves healthcare systems ten times the cost while dramatically improving patient quality of life.
Links
Disrupting MedTech: Turning the Smartphone into a Life-Saving Medical Device with Gennadi Saiko
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gennadisaiko/
Company Website: https://oxilight.ca
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About Gennadi Saiko
Gennadi Saiko is a MedTech entrepreneur, scientist, and product strategist dedicated to transforming how medical devices are built, validated, and brought to market. As the Founder and CEO of Oxilight, his company is redefining wound care diagnostics by turning smartphones into powerful multi-spectral imaging devices, making advanced assessments portable, affordable, and accessible beyond hospital walls.
Before founding Oxilight, Gennadi began his career in a cutting-edge FinTech startup before transitioning into medical physics and biooptics, where he focused on cardiovascular and wound care applications. At Oxilight, he designed and developed a revolutionary wound imaging system that was later acquired by Swift Medical, helping bring the Swift Ray 1 to market. With nearly two decades immersed in startups, he has held senior management roles and led ventures from concept through commercialization, aligning product development with regulatory compliance and clinical validation.
An Adjunct Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, Gennadi is also the author of a practical guide to MedTech product development, helping scientists and founders navigate the complex path from prototype to patient impact. Beyond his entrepreneurial pursuits, he advises and supports HealthTech and MedTech startups through consultancy, advisory, and fractional executive roles, championing scalable innovation that saves lives and limbs.
About Karla Jo Helms
Karla Jo Helms is the Chief Evangelist and Anti-PR® Strategist for JOTO PR Disruptors™. Karla Jo learned firsthand how unforgiving business can be when millions of dollars are on the line — and how the control of public opinion often determines whether one company is happily chosen, or another is brutally rejected. Being an alumnus of crisis management, Karla Jo has worked with litigation attorneys, private investigators, and the media to help restore companies of goodwill into the good graces of public opinion — Karla Jo operates on the ethic of getting it right the first time, not relying on second chances and doing what it takes to excel. Helms speaks globally on public relations, how the PR industry itself has lost its way, and how, in the right hands, corporations can harness the power of Anti-PR to drive markets and impact market perception.
References
Sen, C. K. (2025). Human Wound and Its Burden: Updated 2025 Compendium of Estimates. PubMed. doi.org/10.1177/21621918251359554
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SOURCE Disruption Interruption
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