Question 1

What GekkoVet online diagnostic and treatment tool is?

Accepted Answer

GekkoVet is a novel digital innovation, which combines veterinary literature with algorithm, creating a list of differential diagnoses with related symptoms and treatments. It works as an online browser-based system which acts like an interactive book providing diagnostic and treatment assistance anywhere and anytime, created by veterinarians to veterinarians.

Question 2

What is the challenge or problem GekkoVet solves for veterinarians?

Accepted Answer

The past challenge has been that it is difficult for veterinarians to remember out by heart all symptoms and values of different diseases in different animal species, as there are tens of thousands symptom-diagnosis combinations. GekkoVet helps veterinarians to remember all the needed data, which is now placed in one digital tool. Additionally, GekkoVet will reduce experience created bias by showing also the rare and under-diagnosed diseases in the differential diagnoses list. GekkoVet is available on-site and provides instant help for a veterinarian in the blink of an eye, saving veterinarians’ time. By using GekkoVet, veterinarians can be reassured on their decisions as they now have a comprehensive digital tool for reliable medical back-up. GekkoVet brings therefore peace of mind for its users.

Question 3

How GekkoVet will change the daily routines of veterinarians?

Accepted Answer

From now on veterinarians have interactive help at site real-time and GekkoVet will be a part of the routine patient process. GekkoVet provides easy and fast back-up and guidance for many purposes like diagnostics, treatments, and drug dosages.

Question 4

What kind of veterinarians will benefit the most of GekkoVet?

Accepted Answer

Newly graduates and general practitioners will be the ones that benefit the most. Newly graduates will get back-up, knowledge and reassurance when starting the clinical work. General practitioners will now have expertise level knowledge e.g. in internal medicine, extensive diagnostics guidance, and treatment options.

Question 5

Does an experienced veterinarian need GekkoVet, and if, in what kind of situations?

Accepted Answer

Yes, experienced veterinarians will benefit as they can check the details in symptoms, values or treatments and get help especially with rare diseases and in difficult referral cases. Also, a specialist treating a patient outside his/her own field will get valuable back-up. GekkoVet will also remind the experts of predisposing and subsequent diseases from other fields of veterinary medicine.

Question 6

What are the data sources of GekkoVet?

Accepted Answer

GekkoVet uses only relevant, validated, globally accepted, and widely used veterinary
literature, from the latest publications and consensus statements. GekkoVet uses the literature that is used in veterinary medicine studies in Universities. The list of used source material is available at software.

Question 7

How the quality of the GekkoVet is validated and how can you ensure that it does not give wrong diagnoses or misleading treatment suggestions?

Accepted Answer

All suggestions are based on validated data. GekkoVet suggests only diagnoses based on
the symptom-disease matches that are given in the validated literature. Veterinarian will apply the guidance given by GekkoVet in practice in each case. Veterinarian needs to take into account the “real-world” situation: patient, its history and the circumstances (environment etc.).

Question 8

Who is responsible for the diagnoses and treatment decisions when GekkoVet is used?

Accepted Answer

Diagnosis and treatment decisions are always made by the treating veterinarian. GekkoVet brings the veterinary medicine knowledge in a structured, easy, quick access and interactive format for the veterinarian. Like when using textbooks and other literature, the treating veterinarian always makes the actual diagnoses and treatment selections.

Question 9

How GekkoVet considers the regional differences in the prevalence of the diseases?

Accepted Answer

The veterinarian can filter the differential diagnoses list using for example regional filters or
patient characteristics.

Question 10

What's the benefit of GekkoVet to the pets and their owners?

Accepted Answer

GekkoVet helps the pet owner take the best possible care of their pet as the pet will get the correct diagnosis and suitable treatment quicker and more efficiently. GekkoVet will remind the treating veterinarian of rare diseases as well as predisposing and subsequent conditions which can be linked to the main diagnosis. With GekkoVet both the owner and the veterinarian can be confident that all the important signs are notified.

Question 11

GekkoVet collects and stores real-world data. What kind of data you have and to what purpose it will be used?

Accepted Answer

GekkoVet collects structured data from the cases into its databank. The data includes combinations of chosen symptoms, values, diagnoses and chosen treatments. Also, outcomes of the chosen treatments are possible to collect and store. All data in the databank is always anonymized and available for data extracts only on aggregated level. Individual veterinarian or pet data can never be identified or extracted to the data reports. The benefit of collecting and analyzing real-world data is the possibility to evaluate chosen therapies and their outcomes in broad, heterogenous populations. This is not possible in randomized clinical trials with strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. GekkoVet is the first global real-world veterinary medicine databank to our knowledge. The worldwide data gathered from real-world cases can be utilized e.g. for guideline formation or for a decision support tool in clinical practice and to generally develop veterinary medicine further. It can also simply provide answers to questions previously infeasible. The goal is to gain real-world data all the way from symptoms to outcomes on a broad global scale to create a pathway for veterinarians to share their collective wisdom and to gain completely new insights for the veterinarian society and for the new veterinary generations.

Question 12

GekkoVet is utilizing artificial intelligence in its operations. How GekkoVet is going to use AI?

Accepted Answer

Before speaking about AI, let’s speak about data in general. It is important to notice that all symptom, disease and treatment data in GekkoVet is currently based on scientific research and latest veterinary medicine literature. However, the core of the matter is: when more and more veterinarians use GekkoVet the more real-world data worldwide will be accumulated into the databank of GekkoVet. GekkoVet has been designed to collect and analyze data from the beginning and it has a solid technical data platform to perform complex analyzes. Once enough data (which is always anonymized) exists in this databank, AI tools can be utilized for example to seek for different correlations between certain variables (such as breed, age, symptoms or disease) or to look at regional population deviations – to name only a few.
To conclude, AI is just a practical yet important tool for GekkoVet to perform complex analyzes from the data that is accumulated into the GekkoVet databank. Now that the real-world data and the right tools to process it are in place the veterinarians can benefit from the new insights that have been drawn from their collective wisdom.

Question 13

What is specifically meant, when speaking about machine learning with GekkoVet?"

Accepted Answer

In GekkoVet machine learning technologies are used to perform complex analyzes from the collected real-world data to understand e.g. how different variables or correlations are connected to certain diseases or what treatments provide best overall outcomes. In general, GekkoVet utilizes machine learning in its real-world data management and it has all needed machine learning tools available (e.g. deep learning, neural networks, regression methods). The tools are utilized on needs basis in the various data analyses. The more data is accumulated the wider the range of machine learning tools will be. GekkoVet data model development is an endless process as more data is accumulated day by day and the data analyzing methods including machine learning will develop at an accelerating pace.

Question 14

What is the algorithm that is used in creating the differential diagnoses lists?

Accepted Answer

The algorithm calculates probabilities for different diseases based on the symptoms and findings chosen by the user. Each differential diagnosis gets a disease score, which is based on the added symptoms, laboratory results, diagnostic procedures and the signalment of the patient. If a symptom or a finding is related to a certain disease according to the literature, then it will get points based on the typicality of the symptom or finding in the disease. In other words, if a symptom occurs always or usually in a certain disease, it gets more points when calculating the disease score than the symptoms which just may occur in the disease. If a symptom can never occur in a certain disease, this disease is excluded from the differential diagnoses list when the symptom is added to the symptoms list. The signalment of the patient (for example patient’s species, age, breed, and sex) is also taken into account when calculating the scores for a disease. Our team is constantly working on enhancing the algorithm even further.

Question 15

Is it possible to integrate GekkoCompass with other solutions like patient information systems?

Accepted Answer

GekkoCompass can be integrated with any third-party product, that can use data via API.

Question 16

Who owns GekkoCompass?

Accepted Answer

GekkoVet Oy owns GekkoCompass. GekkoVet Oy is a privately held company based in Finland, owned by its founders.

Question 17

Who are the founders of GekkoVet Oy?

Accepted Answer

GekkoVet Oy’s core team consists of diverse group of people including veterinarians, IT experts, pharmacists, and visionaries, all with extensive experience in international operations.

Question 18

How GekkoVet tool development is funded?

Accepted Answer

GekkoVet tool development is funded privately to large extent. As GekkoVet tool is seen as a very promising and innovative product also the Finnish government and the EU have funded GekkoVet Oy.

Question 19

What kind of public sources have funded GekkoVet tool?

Accepted Answer

The EU has supported us in making GekkoVet ready for use from both technical solutions and diagnostical information. The support covers the following part: Internal medicine: Dogs & cats.

Question 20

Who owns the anonymized patient data, which is gathered through GekkoVet?

Accepted Answer

GekkoVet Oy owns the data.

Question 21

Why the name “Gekko”?

Accepted Answer

Gekko is the lizard that has a panoramic vision and moves fast, ‘360° Vet med in the blink of an eye’.

Question 22

How to register at gekkovet.com?

Accepted Answer

Check out this registration walk-through.

Question 23

How can I redeem my discount code?

Accepted Answer

Check out theseinstructions how to redeem you discount code.