CGBIO Inc., a Korea’s Regenerative Medicine company, announced on September 8, 2021 a successful partnership agreement with NDR Medical Technology, a Singapore-based company, to introduce an Automated Needle Targeting (ANT)-X system that combines Artificial Intelligence (AI) and medical image processing to assist surgeons during minimally invasive surgery and to collaborate in clinical studies.
With the attendance of a government official from Enterprise Singapore in a signing ceremony, CGBIO expects this partnership to be of great help to promoting the mutual medical technology collaboration between Singapore and Korea as well as expanding its globalization strategy of local medical technology in the years to come.
Under the partnership with NDR, CGBIO will carry out clinical studies with local prominent doctors as part of efforts to expand the ANT system in a wide range of interventional procedures that need percutaneous need placement in urology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, etc., coupled with a study to finalize the launching ANT-C, a CT-guided robot.
Graduates from Nanyang Technology founded NDR Medical Technology in 2015 and developed the world’s first AI-empowered interventional robot systems.
To date, many clinicians themselves have performed their interventional procedures based on a separate program to assess a patient’s anatomy and conduct trajectory path alignment in navigating the needle from insertion point to the selected target, with the problems of insufficient precision and time-consuming operation time.
The core technology of ANT system is based on NDR’s first interventional robot that integrates C-arm fluoroscopy and CT imaging to help clinicians achieve safe and accurate percutaneous needle placement. ANT-X fully automates its system calibration and the needle alignment with a single X-ray image and allows the clinicians to focus solely on controlling the depth of insertion. Less fluoroscopic time due to accurate and quick needle alignment can result in less radiation exposure for patients and clinicians. For global expansion, NDR has obtained CE certification for ANT-X and completed clinical studies in Japan and Southeast Asian countries.
“Many global medical device companies have endeavored to be partnering with top candidates for AI software-based digital transformation,” said Hyunseung Yu, CEO of CGBIO, adding that “based on the accumulated Regenerative Medicine technology and numerous clinical experience hitherto, CGBIO and NDR together will explore the field of AI-based digital healthcare technology in Asia.”
“Through our commitment to providing reliable and accurate medical services to patients, we count on stronger business competitiveness in the global digital healthcare market.”
Source: CGBIO