UV Sense

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in America, with more cases each year than all other cancer types combined. Most cases are preventable, yet Americans burn repeatedly across their lifetimes because no tool has ever given them a personal, real-time signal tied to their own skin's tolerance. UV Sense closes that gap. Our UV1 wearable sensor pairs with a companion app to deliver a personalized minutes-to-burn countdown, calibrated to each user's Fitzpatrick skin type and live UV dose. Precise, personal, and actionable, so that prevention is no longer guesswork.

Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, with more cases each year than all other cancers combined. Melanoma alone accounts for over 100,000 new invasive diagnoses annually and approximately 14,000 deaths per year. Incidence has risen continuously since 1975. The U.S. Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer identified UV radiation as the primary cause. The majority of cases are preventable. The economic asymmetry between prevention and treatment is severe. The U.S. spends over $8 billion annually treating skin cancer. A single course of advanced melanoma treatment, including surgery, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy, routinely exceeds $100,000. The tools to prevent it cost almost nothing if used correctly. They are not used correctly, because they do not tell people what they need to know. The data explains why. Sunburns in childhood increase melanoma risk by 91%. Sunburns in adolescence increase it by 57%. Intermittent sun exposure, the pattern of most Americans who go outdoors recreationally, increases melanoma risk by 61%. These are not rare exposures. They are ordinary summer afternoons with no feedback mechanism in place. Existing tools do not provide that feedback. UV index forecasts are regional and static. SPF ratings do not account for skin type, sweat, activity level, or reapplication gaps. Wearable UV sensors on the market report ambient UV intensity but do not translate that into a personalized limit for the individual wearing them. The gap between a UV index reading and a decision about when to seek shade is precisely where damage accumulates, invisibly, across a lifetime. The margin for error is narrow. Research shows a tight dose window between the minimum UV exposure needed for vitamin D synthesis and the threshold at which skin damage begins. That window varies by Fitzpatrick skin type, as a Type I individual burns in a fraction of the time a Type VI individual does under identical conditions. No current consumer tool accounts for this. UV Sense does. The UV1 wearable captures live UV dose at the body. Our patented dose engine calibrates that input against the user's Fitzpatrick skin type (I-VI) to generate a personalized minutes-to-burn countdown, updated in real time. This is not a forecast or a generalized recommendation. It is a continuous, individual threshold, the one number that has never before been available to consumers at the moment it matters. UV Sense operates under the advisory guidance of Dr. Sancy Leachman, MD, PhD, a highly-regarded dermatologist with a track record of decreasing melanoma incidence in the US. A 50-device pilot is active with paying users and a research cohort. Letters of intent are in discussion with University of Utah Dermatology and medical spa operators. A U.S. patent covering body-mapping, threshold determination, and remaining safe exposure time notification was allowed on first action. Fourteen thousand Americans die from melanoma each year. A 91% elevated risk from a childhood sunburn is not a statistic about bad luck. It is a statistic about missing information. We provide that information.