Meditech Co., Ltd., a start-up company established based on the technology of the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI, President Myeong-ho Myeong), is investing 8 billion won in the digestive system flexible endoscope field, which is dominated by Japan, and is moving forward with domestic technology localization and a full-scale attack on the 5 trillion won market.


Mediintech announced on the 15th that it had recently succeeded in attracting 8 billion won in investment from professional investment firms such as Atium Investment, Smilegate Investment, and Future Play in recognition of its high potential in the field of flexible endoscopes.

The plan is to use this investment to further enhance the technological capabilities of smart flexible endoscopes and accelerate mass production and commercialization.

Mediintech is a technology start-up company established by Dr. Lee Chi-won and Dr. Kim Myeong-jun of the KERI Electrofusion Human Care Research Center based on technology and ideas they developed themselves. They recently developed a ‘smart flexible endoscope’ using only domestic technology, thereby increasing user convenience.

Previously, doctors had to manually control the up, down, left, and right movements of the scope to detect lesions inside the patient's body, which resulted in high fatigue and very low intuitiveness. In contrast, this new technology allows you to hold a handle that weighs half as much as commercial products and move the scope with half the finger strength, just like using a game joystick.

In addition, since examinations and treatments were previously conducted only through images shown on a monitor, there were blind spots depending on the medical staff, or misdiagnoses such as missed lesion diagnoses occurred, but Mediintech has equipped its endoscopes with an advanced 'artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm' that can automatically detect lesions and reduce the misdiagnosis rate from the existing 30% to less than 5%. Beyond the localization of soft endoscope equipment, it has secured the ability to lead technology in the global market.

This achievement is expected to be utilized in the treatment of cancers such as stomach cancer and colon cancer, which are the most difficult diseases for mankind. Since the survival rate of cancers in the digestive system is over 90% if diagnosed early, the importance of endoscopy is very great. According to 'Grand View Research', a market research firm in the United States, the global market for flexible digestive endoscopes is estimated to be about 5 trillion won.

The endoscopes we commonly know have a 'scope' that goes into the body. If it is thick and hard, it is rigid, and if it is flexible, it is flexible. Flexible endoscopes greatly reduce the patient's pain, but the image quality is poor compared to rigid endoscopes, so the diagnostic rate is relatively low.

On the other hand, recent developments in monitoring technology such as lenses have overcome the shortcomings, and it is now widely used in the medical field, especially in the diagnosis of lesions in the digestive system. The problem is that domestic hospitals depend 100% on imports for these flexible digestive endoscopes, 90% of which are Japanese products.

Dr. Lee Chi-won of KERI and CEO of Mediintech said, “Although our country’s medical capabilities in the field of digestive system cancer are world-class, the reality is that we depend 100% on imported products from countries like Japan for our medical equipment.” He added, “In Korea alone, more than 20 million endoscopy-based screenings and treatments are performed annually. Therefore, if the equipment is localized, it will not only reduce social costs at the national level, but also lead to improvements in medical technology.”