"We combined more than one technology, and more than one depth in technology, to create this solution." 16:26
From the episode
- The startup (12:28). He describes a Saudi company he invested in that has won international medical awards. He does not name it on air.
- The science (12:51). It builds on medical thermography, the study of body temperature. The literature says that a temperature difference between the capillaries of the left and right soles can be an early sign of diabetes complications (13:57). Diabetic foot is costly and hard to treat once it develops (14:25).
- The trick (14:41). Detecting this used to need complex, expensive equipment. Now a small thermal camera attached to a phone takes the image, and AI reads differences the human eye cannot see.
- The mirror (16:35). The same team built a mirror that players stand in front of before a match. It reads the heat of peripheral blood vessels and flags muscles at risk of strain. He says it was used during the FIFA World Cup.
The idea, explained
This is a textbook deep-tech recipe: old science + newly cheap hardware + AI.
- Old science: thermography has been studied in medicine for decades.
- Cheap hardware: thermal sensors that once cost a fortune now clip onto a phone.
- AI: a trained model compares the two feet pixel by pixel and turns a fuzzy colour image into a risk score.
None of the three is new on its own. The value is in combining them and proving it works clinically, which is why it counts as deep tech.
Context and evidence
The company is likely Amplifai Health (Riyadh), which is listed in KnowledgeX's portfolio.
- Its diabetic-foot product TFScan segments the sole of the foot and analyses its temperature patterns. In a multicentre study with the Saudi Ministry of Health covering 1,120 people, the company says it can find the top 10% of highest-risk patients (MENA Startup Digest, Dec 2025).
- In January 2024 it signed an agreement with KAUST to combine its thermography AI with KAUST's hyperspectral imaging (KAUST).
- Its athlete product NUR runs on a thermal smart mirror. It tracks recovery and readiness, and was launched in Miami (Middle East AI News, July 2026).
Try it
Raise the temperature gap between the two feet. Notice how small a meaningful difference is, and how hard it is to see by eye. That is the job the AI does.
Key terms
Thermography · Diabetic foot · Computer vision · Smart mirror.