Koh Young’s medical robot conducts 100 brain surgeries a year

Koh Young Technology Inc., a South Korean 3D imagery tech company listed on the Kosdaq, announced on Tuesday that its medical robot Kymero has conducted a total of 100 brain surgeries. 

The company began developing a medical robot specialized for neurosurgeries in 2011, thanks to a project by The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy aimed at developing source technology in the robotics arena.

In late 2016, Koh Young acquired a permit to manufacture and sell Kymero from The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, which performs a similar function to the US Food and Drug Administration. 

Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital was the first to adopt the robot in October 2020 after clinical trials. Samsung Medical Center followed suit from last July. Together, the two hospitals have successfully conducted 100 neurosurgeries using Kymero.

Medical robots guide a procedure by providing a real-time surgery route based on a patient’s video footage, which allows for a quicker and more accurate operation. 

Koh Young plans to raise product awareness by expanding its demo sessions to a broader number of hospitals within Korea and by attending neurosurgery conferences at home and abroad. 

A company official told The Korea Economic Daily that it plans to "target the international medical robot market by obtaining approval from the US Food and Drug Administration and China’s National Medical Products Administration.”

Write to Dong-Hyun Kim at 3code@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.