ETHICON, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies Korea, said Thursday that it launched a microwave ablation system called NEUWAVE that kills cancer cells.

The system, which uses the microwave ablation method, is the first minimally invasive device that inserts electrodes into cancer cells and raises the temperature around them to burn off cancer cells. NEUWAVE was first launched in the United States in 2015 and gained reimbursement in Korea starting July 1.

The NEUWAVE system can control and transmit energy efficiently compared to conventional resection, enabling quick and precise cauterization, ETHICON said.

Up to three probes can be used at the same time while shortening procedure time to about 10 minutes, reducing tissue damage and enabling rapid recovery. Physicians may also remove cancer cells up to 2 centimeters or more as well as cancer cells that are close to blood vessels and other organs.

Meanwhile, a domestic research team led by Professor Rhim Hyun-chul from Samsung Medical Center, Department of Radiology is conducting clinical trials using NEUWAVE in Korea, marking the first studies on the system to be done outside the United States. The research will focus on applying microwave ablation to patients with hepatocellular carcinoma cells that are about 2 to 5 centimeters in size.