The promise of an objective, consistent score for a skin condition like psoriasis is a powerful one. In clinical practice, the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) is a gold standard, but its application is notoriously subjective, varying between clinicians and even for the same clinician over time. MyMonitor.Ai, a 2024-founded startup from Philadelphia, is betting that an AI can do it better, and crucially, that it can do it fairly for all skin tones. The company’s platform, which it describes as a melanin-aware imaging system, is designed to generate quantitative severity scores from a single uploaded image, a capability backed by peer-reviewed research [PubMed, retrieved 2026]. For a field where visual assessment is everything, the shift from subjective opinion to algorithmic output represents a fundamental change in how care could be measured and managed.
The Clinical and Research Wedge
MyMonitor.Ai is pursuing a dual-market strategy from the outset, a move that speaks to the interconnected nature of modern drug development and clinical practice. For practicing dermatologists, the platform offers a tool for real-time flare tracking and disease progression monitoring, providing a consistent numerical baseline against which to judge treatment efficacy [MyMonitor.ai, retrieved 2024]. The more ambitious, and potentially more lucrative, application lies in clinical research. Here, the company positions its system as a monitoring platform for trials, incorporating tokenization and zero-knowledge proof systems to address the intense data privacy and integrity requirements of pharmaceutical sponsors and contract research organizations (CROs) [Serchen, retrieved 2024]. The goal is to replace manual, error-prone scoring in multi-site trials with automated, auditable assessments, thereby improving data quality and regulatory compliance.
Why Melanin-Aware Imaging Is the Core
What separates MyMonitor.Ai from a generic computer vision project is its explicit focus on skin of color. The company states its mission is to improve care “especially for people with skin-of-color, who are often misdiagnosed or underserved” [15 Percent Pledge, retrieved 2025]. This isn’t just a diversity initiative; it’s a technical necessity. Most dermatological AI training datasets have historically been skewed toward lighter skin tones, leading to models that perform poorly,and potentially dangerously,on darker skin. By building melanin-aware imaging into its core, MyMonitor.Ai is attempting to solve for a well-documented bias at the model level. If successful, this focus could become its most defensible moat, appealing to both ethically-minded clinicians and trial sponsors needing accurate data across diverse patient populations.
The Early-Stage Landscape
As a pre-seed company that participated in the C10 Labs accelerator [LinkedIn, Nov 2024], MyMonitor.Ai is navigating a space with established players and similar aspirants. The competitive set includes companies like Legit.Health, which offers AI-powered dermatology clinical decision support, and tools like Thea Care’s SkinGen Melanin, which also emphasize performance across skin tones. The company’s broad positioning,spanning direct clinical diagnostics and back-end clinical trial infrastructure,is both its opportunity and its challenge.
- Technical validation. The publication of research on a “Single-Shot PASI” system in a peer-reviewed journal provides a critical foundation of scientific credibility that many early-stage health AI companies lack [PubMed, retrieved 2026].
- Regulatory pathway. The company has not publicly detailed a FDA submission strategy for its diagnostic claims. Navigating this process, whether for a software-as-a-medical-device (SaMD) clearance or a more limited research-use-only path, will be a capital- and time-intensive necessity.
- Commercial focus. Pursuing both the clinician and the clinical trial sponsor simultaneously requires distinct sales motions and evidence generation. Resource constraints at the pre-seed stage may force a choice on which market to penetrate first.
The standard of care today for a patient with moderate-to-severe psoriasis involves regular clinic visits where a dermatologist visually inspects the skin, mentally calculates a PASI score, and adjusts treatment accordingly. The process is subjective, and the documentation is often qualitative. In clinical trials, this subjectivity is a major source of noise, requiring rigorous rater training and still resulting in variability that can obscure a drug’s true effect. MyMonitor.Ai’s bet is that a more objective, consistent, and inclusive scoring tool can improve outcomes in both settings, turning the clinician’s eye into a calibrated instrument. For the millions of patients managing chronic inflammatory skin diseases, that shift from art to science could mean fewer flares, better-tailored therapies, and faster access to new treatments.
Sources
- [MyMonitor.ai, retrieved 2024] MyMonitor.ai homepage | https://mymonitor.ai/
- [Serchen, retrieved 2024] MyMonitor.Ai Product Details | https://www.serchen.co.uk/company/mymonitor-ai
- [15 Percent Pledge, retrieved 2025] MyMonitor,Ai business profile | https://15percentpledge.org/business/mymonitor-ai-tok5obrh7kdnputzu0ljg
- [PubMed, retrieved 2026] Artificial intelligence for the automated single-shot assessment of psoriasis severity | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35739649/
- [LinkedIn, Nov 2024] C10 Labs Winter Cohort announcement | https://www.linkedin.com/posts/matthewhcrane_episode-33-of-the-coworking-chronicles-has-activity-7427720782568665088-JJLo