Startup
Auxillium Health tackles chronic wounds with AI
In the United States, an estimated 6.5 million people, or about 1 in 38 adults, are affected by chronic wounds. Analysts have determined the cost to treat these patients may be as high as $96.8 billion annually. Left untreated, these wounds can lead to serious infections, amputation, and even death.
Milwaukee-based startup Auxillium Health aims to change those statistics.
Co-founded by Dr. Sandeep Gopalakrishnan and developed in collaboration with wound care specialist Dr. Jeffrey Niezgoda, the startup is using artificial intelligence to transform how and when patients receive wound care. By combining mobile imaging, predictive algorithms, and remote monitoring, the company is working to reduce the time it takes for patients to receive proper treatment, especially in areas with limited access to medical care.
Dr. Gopalakrishnan and Dr. Niezgoda recently spoke with MKEStartup.News about their AI-powered platform, how it works, and why early intervention can save both limbs and lives.
MSUN: Can you give us a high-level overview of what Auxillium Health does?
Dr. Gopalakrishnan: Auxillium Health is an AI-driven health technology company focused on chronic wound care. We started nearly seven years ago as a pilot project in Milwaukee, exploring how clinical data could be used to predict healing trajectories. That early work evolved into our current platform, which provides patients with access to expert wound care—anytime and anywhere. The goal is to reduce barriers to care and bring better outcomes to a field that is both costly and underserved.
MSUN: What types of wounds are you focusing on?
Dr. Niezgoda: We primarily target what we call “compromised wounds.” That includes diabetic foot ulcers, venous ulcers, arterial ulcers, pressure injuries (also known as bed sores), and surgical wounds that fail to heal. There’s also a category we call “atypical wounds,” which includes things like spider bites, autoimmune-related wounds, or even cancers. These wounds often persist for years. At a recent conference, a patient shared that she had lived with a venous ulcer for 40 years. Our goal is to intervene much earlier in the process.
MSUN: How does your technology help patients?
Dr. Niezgoda: The patient uses our app to take a photo of the wound. The platform then analyzes the image using AI—looking at tissue types, wound dimensions, and other visual markers. From there, the system asks a few key clinical questions: Are you diabetic? Do you have a fever? Has the drainage changed? Based on all of this, it assigns the wound a risk score: green for low-risk, yellow for intermediate, and red for high-risk.
Dr. Gopalakrishnan: Depending on the score, the system gives home care guidance, recommends follow-up imaging, or connects the patient to a telemedicine provider. The entire idea is to reach people before they end up in an emergency room, or worse, face an amputation.
MSUN: What makes Auxillium Health unique?
Dr. Niezgoda: Most wound care tools are designed to help providers document and manage wounds more efficiently. But we’re flipping the script. Auxillium is patient-facing. We want to reach people early, before the wound becomes an emergency, and guide them to the right care at the right time.
Dr. Gopalakrishnan: We’re also collecting data from a wide range of geographic regions and skin tones, including the U.S., the Caribbean, and India. This helps ensure our AI performs equitably across different patient populations. The app is already live in both the Apple and Google Play stores, and we’re actively piloting it with clinics.
Dr. Niezgoda: We also have Maya. Maya is our AI-powered virtual assistant. Patients can ask Maya wound-related questions, and she responds using vetted medical information. It’s a smart, responsive tool that helps guide users in real time.
MSUN: Who is your target customer for the platform?
Dr. Gopalakrishnan: While the end user is the patient, our customers are typically healthcare providers, mobile wound care clinics, or insurance companies. We also partner with systems that already provide telehealth. Our model is flexible—it can serve individual providers or scale up through institutional partnerships.
MSUN: What’s next for Auxillium Health?
Dr. Gopalakrishnan: Over the next year, our goal is to scale. We’re piloting the platform with several collaborating clinics to fine-tune the user experience and continue training the AI. From there, we plan to expand to more regions—both in the U.S. and internationally—with the ultimate vision of being one of the leading providers of wound care technology within five years.
Dr. Niezgoda: If we can even reduce amputations by a fraction of a percent, that’s a huge win. The potential impact is enormous, especially for patients in rural or underserved areas.
To learn more about Auxillium Health, connect with the company here.
