"We will change the landscape of the global endoscope market dominated by Japanese corporations with artificial intelligence (AI) electric endoscopes."
Meditech is a startup that develops and produces electric smart endoscopes. CEO Lee Chi-won and Vice President Kim Myung-jun founded the company together in 2020.
CEO Lee graduated from Seoul National University's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and earned a Ph.D. in bioengineering from a joint program at Seoul National University. After serving as a senior researcher at the Seoul National University Medical Research Center, he developed endoscopes at the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute. The market he envisioned was electric endoscopes.
Currently, the soft endoscopes used for upper and lower gastrointestinal examinations are dominated by three Japanese companies: Olympus, Fujifilm, and Pentax, which hold over 90% of the global market. This is also true for Korea. However, all of these companies' products are mechanical endoscopes.
CEO Lee noted, "Looking at the history of surgical robots, innovation in hardware is happening across all fields, and this will be the case for endoscopes as well," adding, "Meditech will lead the electrification of endoscopes and the integration of technologies such as AI."
Mechanical endoscopes are heavy and difficult to integrate advanced technologies like AI. Additionally, mechanical endoscopes require doctors to hold a control unit weighing 606g and manipulate the endoscope with their thumbs. This can be burdensome for prolonged procedures.
In contrast, the electric smart endoscopes developed by Meditech can achieve precise movements with much less force through electrical signals. Weighing 300g, it also offers customization options to accommodate various hand sizes of medical staff.
In particular, electric endoscopes can utilize various software applications such as AI. Meditech's electric smart endoscope automatically detects the entry direction by analyzing images with AI. The system also includes functionality that helps identify lesions and informs the doctor, despite the fact that endoscopy results can vary greatly depending on the doctor's experience.
The global average misdiagnosis rate for endoscopy is known to be about 30%. At times, lesions may be missed during the insertion process or specific areas may be overlooked. CEO Lee stated, "Meditech's electric smart endoscope aims to achieve a misdiagnosis rate of 5% by applying the AI system."
Meditech's electric smart endoscope received medical device approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety last year and completed clinical trials at Seoul National University Hospital. This year, it is set to undergo multi-center clinical trials at five institutions, including Seoul National University Hospital, Bundang Seoul National University Hospital, Yonsei University Severance Hospital, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, and Boramae Medical Center, aiming for product sales in the second to third quarter.
Meditech is also developing veterinary endoscopes through the 8th Seoul Innovation Challenge. These animal endoscopes are primarily used to locate and remove foreign objects that dogs, cats, and other pets may have ingested, rather than to find lesions using AI.
Meditech has currently raised a total of 28 billion won in investments. Following the TIPS program of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, it is also pursuing the Scale-up TIPS program.
Meditech is preparing to enter Southeast Asia and the United States, including Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. It has already received medical device approval in Vietnam and is preparing for approvals in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
CEO Lee mentioned, "We plan to enter the Southeast Asian market in the third quarter of this year," adding, "At the same time, we aim to obtain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this year and enter the U.S. market next year."
CEO Lee stated, "The development of endoscopes is Meditech's short-term goal," noting that the long-term aim is to grow into a global medical device company by integrating AI into medical devices to develop and produce rehabilitation robots, among other products."