바이오스펙테이터

바이오스펙테이터 Jongwon jang 기자

Based on medical images such as CT and MRI, Medical IP is acquiring platform technology for all areas that can be used in 3D, including image region extraction and segmentation, image analysis, 3D visualization of images, artificial intelligence analysis and image-based 3D printing technology, and providing service to this technology. Park, as associate professor of the Department of Radiology at Seoul National University Hospital, developed a comprehensive three-dimensional medical platform technology, and founded ‘Medical IP’ as a spin-off from Seoul National University Hospital in 2015.

Park said, “The medical staff members are the decision makers who in emergencies have to make critical judgments. Medical IP provides comprehensive 3D medical technology to help medical staff make decisions. Pre-operative planning and simulation can provide tailor-made care for patients. Also, our technology will increase the operation success rate and survival rate of patients.”

MEDIP is a source technology platform designed by Medical IP with its own engine, and its own algorithm. MEDIP is a medical technology software that visualizes the inside of the human body, and provides visualization of sequential two-dimensional images as a three-dimensional model. “MEDIP is standalone software that is easy to install, and easy to use. It is possible to enhance the image quality by removing the noise in the image, and provide a tool to visualize and analyze a specific organ in the medical image”, the Medical IP representative explained. “It is also the first medical imaging software to incorporate virtual reality (VR) functionality”, he added.

“MEDIP includes measurement and analysis capabilities that can compensate for artifacts, and overcome temporal and spatial distortions”, said Park. “The accuracy of MEDIP Deep Learning is over 97 %, and it can analyze body composition information in less than a minute. This technology has been recognized through leading institutions and journals”, he added.

Medical IP has developed the medical image analysis software MEDIP and medical 3D printing system ANATDEL. The medical staff can analyze medical imagery through MEDIP, and if they need to make a model, they can refer to the company, and produce a real 3D model.

Park said, “By producing and supplying an organ model that accurately reflects customer information, the medical staff can identify the exact location and size of the lesion before surgery, so that more effective surgical methods can be conceived, and accurate explanations can be made to patients and their families. It makes it easy to understand medical services that are otherwise difficult to comprehend, even from the viewpoint of the patient, and the satisfaction of the treatment will be improved.”

Medical IP is a patient-oriented 3D printing service platform with SNUH. From an anonymous image provided by the hospital, the system extracts image processing and organs through medical IP technology, confirms the extraction results, and provides a human organ model through 3D printing. Park said, “We have already performed about 150 printing simulations for patients with lung cancer in Seoul National University Hospital.”

Medical IP has already delivered software for UCLA, Stanford University Hospital, and UC Berkeley in the U.S. for research purposes. Park said, “This year, our company was selected by Gartner as a reference company in the 3D printing and medical health care provider fields. It is the only company selected from Korea.” Medical IP is currently undergoing US FDA approval and European CE certification at the same time, and expects to obtain a license in the second half of 2019.

Medical IP is also entering China, another big market. It will participate in offering 3D technology service at the XI’AN International Medical Center of 15,000 beds, which is being developed in Xi’An, the capital of Shaanxi Province, and one of the oldest cities in China. Medical IP is providing MEDIP and ANATDEL platform technologies to the center, and conducting collaborative research.

SangJoon Park, the CEO of Medical IP said, “In the future, the ultimate goal is to use advanced 3D printing technology to develop artificial transplant organs, and provide a way to prolong life.”