Earwax affects over 35 million Americans and is the leading cause of conductive hearing loss- yet the procedure to remove it hasn't changed in 200 years.
Our next guest, Sahil Diwan, is revolutionizing ear care as CEO of SafKan Health and creator of OtoSet®- the world's first FDA-cleared automated ear cleaning device.
What began as a college dorm room experiment to solve his brother's chronic earwax problem has evolved into a viral phenomenon with over 250 million social media views and a network of clinics nationwide.
Driven by a vision to become the "front door to ear and hearing care," Sahil shares how SafKan is using consumer-style virality to drive clinical adoption and create unprecedented access to care.
Join us to discover how this first-generation immigrant is bridging medtech innovation with patient demand. Let's go!
Episode Highlights:
- From Dorm Room to FDA Clearance: Started with 3D-printed prototypes in a college dorm to solve his brother's chronic earwax problem.
- Viral Social Media Strategy: Generated over 1 billion views in 18 months, using consumer virality to drive patient demand for a medical device.
- Rapid Clinic Expansion: Opening a new location every 2-3 weeks, aiming for 50 clinics by end of next year.
- Front Door to Ear Care: Creating accessible ear cleaning plus hearing screenings to identify hearing loss years earlier than traditional methods.
- Power of Mentorship: Finding experienced mentors, especially for FDA processes, saved significant time, stress, and money.
About our Guest:
Sahil Diwan is the Co-Founder and CEO of SafKan Health, the company behind OtoSet® — the world’s first automated ear-cleaning headphones that can clean earwax buildup in 30 seconds.
FDA-cleared and used in clinics nationwide, OtoSet is transforming how earwax impaction — which affects 35M+ Americans and is a major cause of conductive hearing loss — is treated.
A first-generation immigrant from India, Sahil’s journey began with a deeply personal problem — his brother Aadil's lifelong struggle with earwax buildup. What started as a college dorm experiment with 3D-printed prototypes is making ear care more accessible today — an example of how automating a common procedure can make patient care more efficient.
Today, SafKan is taking on two of the biggest challenges in medtech commercialization — ensuring that clinic adoption leads to consistent product use, and fundraising for novel medical devices. SafKan is driving adoption by building awareness and patient demand through social media, with videos of OtoSet racking up 250M+ views, further increasing clinic utilization and patient outcomes.
With $13M in venture funding, partnerships with leaders like GN ReSound, Sonova, and Starkey, and OtoSet being named among the Best Health Designs of 2023 by Fast Company — Sahil is writing the future of ear care by bridging the gap between medtech and patient access.
Links Supporting This Episode:
- Safkan Health Website: CLICK HERE
- Sahil Diwan LinkedIn page: CLICK HERE
- Safkan Health LinkedIn: CLICK HERE
- Mike Biselli LinkedIn page: CLICK HERE
- Mike Biselli Twitter page: CLICK HERE
- Visit our website: CLICK...
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