– POSTECH’s Medical Device Innovation Center (MDIC) will receive 700 million won (USD 580,000) per year for a total of 6.3 billion won (USD 5.2 million) over 9 years.
– POSTECH to function as a regional research hub on medical devices, bioengineering and artificial intelligence

POSTECH has been newly selected to receive funding as part of the 2020 Priority Research Institute Program for Science and Engineering operated by the Ministry of Education.

POSTECH’s Medical Device Innovation Center (MDIC), which was selected for the program, focuses on research of medical devices, bioengineering and AI and was registered as an affiliated research center of POSTECH in February this year. With this selection, the Center will receive 700 million won (USD 580,000) annually for nine years for a total of 6.3 billion won (USD 5.2 million).

As a recipient of the funding, the Center will mainly carry out research on medical devices for a patient-customized imaging-device-diagnosis-treatment platform and an AI-based biometric data analysis platform.
Professor Chulhong Kim will research new-generation photovoltaic imaging system and AI-based diagnosis and prediction service, Professor Hyung Ham Kim will focus on ultra-sound medical device materials and transplantable medical devices, and Professor Sanguk Kim will concentrate on internal simulation platform and AI-based disease diagnosis and treatment forecasting model.

The MDIC has appointed Professor Chulhong Kim of the Department of Creative IT Convergence Engineering as the center’s director. Its research team consists of 82 researchers and students with Professor Hyung Ham Kim of the Department of Creative IT Convergence Engineering and Professor Sanguk Kim of the Department of Life Sciences at its center.

POSTECH’s MDIC had much success over the years, including publishing 49 papers in 2019, 82 cumulative patent applications and 31 cumulative patent registrations. It strives for accurate diagnosis and treatment for human health and disease eradication.

The Center plans to actively cooperate with businesses, universities, research institutes and hospitals in order to implement a ‘labs to hospitals’ system through transferring POSTECH’s latest medical device-healthcare technologies, supporting startups, and managing professional convergent education of medical devices. It is in recognition of this functionality that it was selected as the first research center specializing in medical devices and healthcare.

In addition, the Center plans to contribute to the creation of a medical device-bioengineering industrial ecosystem by working with the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL), the Bio Open Innovation Center (BOIC), and the POSCO Venture Platform.