AIRS MEDICAL attended ‘COMEUP 2022’, which was held in Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul for 3 days between November 9th(Wed) and 11th(Fri), and introduced ‘SwiftMR’, their high-quality MRI image restoration software.

AIRS MEDICAL is a healthcare startup that was established in 2018 and is developing and supplying medical AI solutions for a paradigm shift in the healthcare market. Their potential was recognized, leading to them successfully attracting 25.3 billion KRW worth of investments in the Series B round in July this year, and they have accumulated a total of 33.9 billion KRW in investments so far.

The company explained that, in order to meet the expectations on the company, they will overcome limitations of existing medical services through preemptive technology development and adoption, and contribute to improving the quality of human life by realizing ‘Predictable Health’.

The first solution AIRS MEDICAL introduced as a part of that goal was SwiftMR. This is an AI software that restores the conventional low-quality images obtained from accelerated imaging with MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) equipment to high-quality images, which secured high clarity and credibility for their restored results through deep learning technology.

As SwiftMR is also provided as a SaaS (System-as-a-Service) through a cloud platform, it can be used immediately if the software is applied to existing MRI equipment. As such, it is characterized by its ability to be widely applied regardless of the MRI supplier or model.

In addition, as it processes images by sending it in PACS (picture archiving and communication system) and DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine, the international standard for medical images), it guarantees the convenience of the medical staff as it doesn’t impede the workflow of existing radiation work. The MRI imaging experience for patients is improved in this way, and wait times are also reduced, leading to faster diagnosis.

A spokesman for AIRS MEDICAL said that, “SwiftMR is a solution that is able to dramatically improve the long waiting times and high costs that had been issues with MRI imaging and diagnosis. As it provides high quality images at the same time, it is able to simultaneously improve the convenience of patients and improve profitability for the hospitals.” They went on to say, “We expect that we will be able to expand examination opportunities for people who have difficulties with MRI examination due to difficulties with maintaining a still position for long imaging times.”

They then spoke of their future plans, saying, “In addition to this, our company is developing an additional venous blood sampling technique automation solution based on AI and robotics, which we will call ‘AIIV’,” and said that, “This will use AI on medical videos to identify blood vessels as clearly as possible, and provide functions for our self-developed robot to move the tip of the needle towards the center of the blood vessel. This will lead the innovative digital transformation of medical technology.”

Having its 4th iteration this year, ‘COMEUP 2022’ was hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Young Lee) and organized by the Korea Startup Forum (Chairman Jaewook Park). Startups, investors, and people related to startups from over 15 countries attended, and this year in particular was the start of COMEUP’s rebranding from the previous government-private collaboration to the private-led event that it is now, as it aims to become a global Top 5 startup event. With the slogan of ‘WE MOVE THE WORLD’, the event was conducted both on and offline, and had various programs like Academic Conferences (Conference), Open Innovation Strategy of Global Companies (Open Innovation), COMEUP Stars Company Introduction (IR) and Booth Exhibitions, and Business Matching (Biz Matching).