365mc Networks, Korea’s largest group of obesity treatment clinics, has unveiled its artificial intelligence-based liposuction system on Tuesday to get to zero death risk in liposuction operations. The medical company said it would be the world’s first to adopt an AI technology to liposuction operations.

365mc Networks developed its “Motion capture, and Artificial Intelligence assisted Liposuction System,” or MAIL System, jointly with Microsoft Korea.

The company held the launching ceremony at Four Seasons Hotel in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, where the historic match between one of the world’s best Go player Lee Se-dol and AlphaGo, an AI system under Google, was held last year.

“We will secure safety to make operation mortality rate at zero,” said Kim Nam-chul, representative director of 365mc obesity clinic. The company aims to perform liposuction operations accurately through AI-based predictions and analysis, he added.

Kim Nam-chul, representative director of 365mc obesity clinic, unveils AI-based liposuction system at Four Seasons Hotel in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, on Tuesday.

According to 365mc, the new system enables surgeons to have a sensor on the cannula and save data of “stroke motions” made by the surgeon when suctioning the fat. The AI system analyzes the data and notifies the surgeon the risks of complication.

The company is now collecting big data from liposuction operations at 17 clinics. By the end of this year, it expects to be able to analyze data from 10,000 operations and apply them to the operating rooms.

From next year, patients who have gone through liposuction will be able to receive immediate notices about their complication risks, based on the MAIL System. The system will also predict how much time is needed for elimination of edema or bruise. During the liposuction, the surgeon will get feedback on risks of damage to internal organs as well.

To develop the AI system, 365mc used Azure, the public cloud service of Microsoft Korea. In 2014, the company commissioned the state-run Korea Electronics Technology Institute to develop an IoT sensor to digitize stroke motions of liposuction.

“By collecting big data from traces of cannula movements, we will analyze the patterns. We will know which motions lead to risks and prevent them,” Kim said. “Surgeons will get feedbacks whether they had any problem in liposuction operations and improve them. We will also need the system to improve other surgeries which require accurate skills, besides liposuction.”

365mc and Microsoft Korea plan to jointly export the MAIL System to overseas liposuction clinics. At the initial stage, they will allow a demo version for free and charge them later.

“As long as they are connected to the Internet and a computer, any medical institution can get access to the MAIL System, Kim went on to say. “For two to three months, it will be free. After that, we will charge fees.”

One or two months of use of the system will show how much clinical value it can offer. The pricing will be different depending on countries and medical costs, he added.

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