There is a Korean medical startup drawing attention from U.S. Nvidia and Doosan Robotics. It is the medical robot startup MEDISBY, founded by CEO JOONRYUL LIM (38), an orthopedics professor at Yonsei University Gangnam Severance Hospital.
Last year, LIM founded MEDISBY with Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Eo Young-jeong, a professor in the Department of Artificial Intelligence at Yonsei University, and developed the artificial intelligence (AI)-based medical robot system ROBOARM. The company's goal is to continue improving its performance, obtain regulatory approval in the first half of next year, and commercialize the product in the second half.
◇ "The difficulties felt in clinics became an idea"
In orthopedics, rehabilitation is as important as surgery. After surgery, patients can develop joint stiffness, where the joints become rigid. If treatment is neglected, movement becomes limited and the risk of reinjury and chronic pain increases.
CEO LIM founded the company to solve the therapeutic limits of joint mobilization observed in real-world rehabilitation settings with AI robot technology. Joint mobilization is a treatment that restores the range of motion of a joint and increases movement.
LIM said, "Until now, joint mobilization has relied on machines with limited performance or on human labor. Because of this, medical staff have faced heavy physical burdens, and there have been noted limits such as variations depending on each individual's experience and skills." He added, "Above all, as a physician, I was dissatisfied with the limits and inefficiency that arise when trying to verbally convey to a therapist the treatment path I want to apply to a patient."
The idea of "having a robot precisely and repeatedly perform the treatment path I designed myself" became the starting point for the company. With this idea, LIM won the grand prize at the Yonsei Health System–Doosan Robotics Idea Fair in 2022. LIM said, "At the time, I was encouraged to actually develop it, so we built the robot, and in that process we were evaluated as having strong business potential, which led to the startup." MEDISBY also attracted more than 1 billion won in seed funding.
This year, its technology and growth potential were quickly recognized, including selection as a member of Nvidia's global startup acceleration program Nvidia Inception and selection for the physical AI development project in Deep Tech TIPS by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS). Deep Tech TIPS is a program in which the government and private investors jointly identify startups with game-changing technologies and provide intensive support. Selected companies receive up to 1.5 billion won over three years in research and development (R&D) funds, as well as business development and marketing costs.
On the 28th, it also received the grand prize in the Korean investment attraction category awarded by the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME). This means MEDISBY achieved the strongest fundraising performance among companies participating this year in the agency's Youth Startup Academy.
◇ "A robot that repeats the treatment path"
"Clinicians directly input the 'treatment path' they devised after examining a patient into the robot. The robot then repeatedly performs that path while simultaneously measuring metrics such as speed and load to ensure safety."
MEDISBY's ROBOARM is an all-in-one rehabilitation robot that can treat the upper and lower limbs simultaneously. It was designed to implement three-dimensional rehabilitation patterns for the upper and lower limbs with a single device by using a 6-axis robot with six rotary joints (axes). It is about the size of an ultrasound device, making it easy to deploy in clinical settings.
LIM explained, "Musculoskeletal rehabilitation is not linear movement but a three-dimensional path," adding, "It features six degrees-of-freedom motion similar to a human arm."
According to LIM, existing equipment used for joint mobilization provides only one or two degrees of freedom, limiting the types and ranges of movement possible. The equipment used for the upper and lower limbs is also different. "It's like only being able to reach 80% of the full 100% range," LIM said. "So most treatments have been manual therapy."
MEDISBY has verified ROBOARM's therapeutic effects and safety. At the international conference hosted by the Korean Society of Computer Assisted Orthopaedic Surgery (CAOS Asia-Pacific 2025) held last month, it disclosed key clinical study results for ROBOARM.
According to the presentation, in terms of therapeutic effect, robot-assisted rehabilitation showed a significant average improvement of more than 20 degrees per session across all three ranges of motion (ROM): forward flexion, external rotation, and internal rotation. That is about a 60% improvement over conventional therapy (10–13 degrees of improvement). In addition, the therapist time required for repetitive rehabilitation tasks fell from 30 minutes to within five minutes.
Showing a video of a patient's rehabilitation process using ROBOARM, LIM explained, "Compensatory movements such as pelvic and shoulder misalignment disappeared after about 20 minutes of treatment, and the patient's facial expression also relaxed. This change appeared simply from repeating the input path."
LIM said, "While reducing clinicians' workloads, the number of patients that can be treated in a day can also increase significantly depending on robot operation, improving hospital efficiency and productivity." LIM emphasized, "ROBOARM is a complementary tool in which robots augment repetitive tasks while strengthening the unique roles of medical staff."
LIM said, "Our goal is to obtain regulatory approval in the first half of next year. We will accelerate entry into the Korean market and also begin full-scale global expansion."
MEDISBY plans to apply physical AI technology to ROBOARM to upgrade its functions and expand its applications. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) and Nvidia are supporting the effort for this reason.
LIM said, "There are more than 3,000 companies participating in Nvidia Inception worldwide, across a diverse range, but few in healthcare deal with 'physical AI.'"
He said, "The goal is to connect what clinicians do well with what robots do well, realizing technology that preserves the essence of treatment and contributes to strengthening medical capabilities and innovation."