We Took Our Eye Scan to Lviv — Under Air-Raid Sirens

When the Japanese Foreign Ministry issued a Level 2 travel warning for Ukraine in early 2025, most organizations would have paused their plans. The conflict was active. Air-raid sirens were a routine part of daily life in cities across the country. Hospital systems were strained. Basic infrastructure was fragile.

The EYE TELL team decided to go anyway.

Not because we underestimated the risk, but because we understood something more urgent: when healthcare systems collapse, early detection becomes even more critical. People in conflict zones don't have the luxury of waiting for symptoms to worsen. They can't easily access specialists. They can't afford repeated clinic visits. Yet the need to identify disease and vital-sign changes — to catch problems before they become emergencies — doesn't disappear in a war zone. It becomes more acute.

The Case for Going

EYE TELL's core technology requires only a smartphone and a web browser. No hospital equipment. No power-intensive machinery. No supply-chain dependencies. In theory, it's ideal for underserved settings — rural areas, low-resource clinics, mobile health units. Ukraine's conflict zone presented the most extreme test of that premise.

Our team had been in conversation with UNBROKEN, a Ukrainian healthcare and rehabilitation organization working with internally displaced persons and war-affected populations. They saw the potential: a 30-second pupil analysis tool that could help their teams screen for early signs of disease and monitor vital changes in people who had limited access to traditional diagnostics.

That alignment of need and capability made the decision clear. Risk was real. Urgency was greater.

Arriving in Lviv

Lviv, in western Ukraine, is relatively safer than cities closer to the front lines — but "relatively" carries weight in a conflict zone. We arrived with realistic expectations and precautions in place. Our Ukrainian partners briefed us on protocols, safe routes, and shelter procedures.

Within hours of arrival, the first air-raid siren sounded.

We moved to a shelter. The alarm lasted roughly 30 minutes. It was a moment of clarity: this was not a theoretical exercise. The mission we'd committed to was unfolding in real time, in real danger. We continued our work.

The second siren came later in our visit. Same protocol. Same resolve.

"We were told Lviv was relatively safe — but the sirens went off twice while we were there. It reinforced why we came. Early detection matters most when systems are under stress."

Demonstration and Partnership

Despite the disruptions, our team successfully demonstrated EYE TELL's workflow to healthcare workers and partners affiliated with UNBROKEN. The response was immediate: they understood the value. A screening tool that works on any smartphone, requires no infrastructure, and delivers results in 30 seconds addresses a gap that doesn't close during conflict — it widens.

Our demonstration focused on the practical reality:

The Memorandum of Understanding

By the end of the visit, our team and UNBROKEN signed a Memorandum of Understanding. This formalized our commitment to working together on pilot deployments of EYE TELL within their healthcare programs serving internally displaced persons and conflict-affected populations.

The MOU represents more than a business agreement. It's recognition that early detection doesn't pause during crisis — it becomes essential. When normal healthcare systems are disrupted, the ability to identify health changes quickly and non-invasively can make the difference between manageable intervention and medical emergency.

Why This Matters

The Ukraine mission tested our core thesis in the harshest possible environment. Early detection is not a luxury feature of healthcare systems in stable countries. It's a fundamental need — amplified in settings where resources are scarce, access is limited, and windows for intervention are narrow.

Our team returned from Lviv with a deeper conviction about EYE TELL's purpose. The technology works. The need is real. The urgency is undeniable.

In medicine and public health, early detection enables action — whether that action is seeking care, starting treatment, or preventing progression. In a conflict zone, that enabling function becomes more critical, not less. UNBROKEN's commitment to this work, and their partnership with us, reflects a shared belief: that people in crisis deserve access to tools that help them understand their health status quickly and without barriers.

That belief is worth the risk.