Professor Yoon Jin-a of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Pusan National University Hospital (PNUH) will receive 6.3 billion won ($4.6 million) in government research funding to develop a new medical device for treating lymphedema.
The hospital said Wednesday that Professor Yoon's research team project, “Development of multi-stimulation laser-ultrasound therapy device based on AI image monitoring for lymphedema relief and management,” has been selected as a new project for the 2025 Bio-Industry Technology Development Project. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Planning & Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology organized the project.
Professor Yoon's team will receive 6.3 billion won in research funding for four years and nine months to carry out the project.
The selected project deals with a rare technology at home and abroad: developing a customized multi-stimulation laser-ultrasound device to overcome the limitations of single-wavelength-based lymphedema treatment devices. The goal is to build a diagnostic and treatment platform that combines imaging and AI-based treatment response analysis technology.
The research team has developed and commercialized the “LymphoScope ICG” indocyanine lymphography device for the first time in Korea. This diagnostic technology uses ICG (Indocyanine Green) fluorescent dye to visualize the flow of the lymphatic system in real-time, which is necessary for early diagnosis, staging, and customized treatment plans for lymphedema.
The research will be conducted in collaboration with institutions specializing in preclinical, clinical, and biomedical engineering in lymphedema, including Asan Medical Center, Hanyang University, and Pukyong National University.
“There are no domestically licensed products for treating lymphedema, and foreign-made products have limited practical application due to a lack of clinical utility and technical limitations,” Professor Yoon said. “Through this project, we hope to secure a technological edge in the global medical device market and contribute to improving patients' quality of life and laying the foundation for the domestic medical device industry.”