Several Korean healthcare startups receive CES Innovation Awards

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020, the world’s largest home appliances and IT exhibition show, expanded its scope into digital healthcare, drawing attention also from the medical community.

The World Trade Center Las Vegas (WTCLV), the venue of CES 2020, was crowded with visitors from early in the morning on Tuesday. The four-day tech show gathers about 4,500 companies from 161 countries this year. The number of participating firms was up by around 100 compared to last year.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020 opened in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Tuesday. The show runs through Friday.

In particular, more companies in the healthcare sector joined the show. According to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the organizer of the event, the number of healthcare companies increased more than 20 percent this year, compared to last year, and their exhibition area also expanded about 15 percent.

CTA picked digital therapeutics as the first of the five technology trends to watch at CES 2020. The other four are flying cars, the future of food, facial recognition, and robots.

Digital therapeutics refers to software programs like mobile applications, games, and virtual reality (VR) that can cure diseases and improve health, just like medicines. CES 2020 will hold a conference on digital therapeutics on Tuesday and Wednesday, offering various discussions.

Akili Interactive, which developed a video game called EVO to treat children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), will talk about the future of medicine.

Many healthcare products, including those by Korean healthcare startup companies, received CES Innovation Awards.

EXOSYSTEMS became an honoree of the CES 2020 Innovation Award in “Health & Wellness” and “Tech for a Better World” categories for “exoRehab,” a wearable device on a knee for a musculoskeletal training and healthcare.

Neofect also received the Innovation Award for “Smart Balance,” a lower-body rehabilitation device, Olive Healthcare, for “Bello,” a digital belly fat scanner, and WELT, for “Smart Belt Pro,” an updated version of the previous model that added the world’s first fall prevention function.

The Korean Hospital Association (KHA) sent a delegation to CES 2020 to check themselves the fast pace of digital healthcare advancement, for the first time in the association’s history.

Led by KHA International Affairs Chair Lee Wang-jun (chairman of Myongji Hospital), the delegation includes Gangnam Severance Hospital General Director Yoon Dong-sup, Kosin University Gospel Hospital Director Choi Young-sik, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital Director Kim Seong-woo, Gumdan Top General Hospital Director Lee Jun-sup, and about 30 other hospital officials.

The delegation is to explore healthcare products displayed at Eureka Park, an exclusive arena for startups, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sixty-seven Korean startups, a record high, participate in exhibitions at Eureka Park this year, according to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Last year, the number stood at 36.

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