[Interview] Monitor Corporation moves to disrupt dense breast screening

For decades, women have walked out of routine mammograms believing they were cancer-free. The scans showed no tumors, no abnormalities. The results were clear. But for many, the truth was far more complicated.

Dense breast tissue—the kind that appears white on a mammogram, just like a tumor—was silently obscuring potential cancer.

The problem wasn’t the technology—it was what doctors weren’t telling them. 

But now, the silence is breaking.

In the U.S., new FDA regulations require doctors to inform patients of their breast density. In Europe, the European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI) is urging screening programs to do the same, while in Australia, policymakers are considering new guidelines that could change how often high-risk women are screened.

The shift has triggered a race. Women who once assumed they were in the clear are now being told they need additional screening—and medical companies are scrambling to meet the demand.

The automated breast ultrasound system (ABUS) is gaining momentum as the go-to technology for secondary screening. But a smaller player, Seoul-based Monitor Corporation, believes it has arrived at exactly the right moment. 

Spun out of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH) in 2018, the AI startup secured early backing from Naver Corp.’s D2SF program and raised $4.8 million in Series B funding last year.

The company has developed MONCAD ABS, an AI-driven software designed to make ABUS scans faster and more accurate. Since forming a partnership with GE Healthcare at RSNA 2022, Monitor Corporation has worked to integrate its AI into GE’s Invenia ABUS 2.0, a system already in use in hospitals worldwide. 

If the technology works as promised, it could change how dense breast tissue is diagnosed—and whether more cancers get caught in time.

'We have a real opportunity here'

Traditional mammography has been the gold standard in breast cancer detection for decades. But for nearly half of all women worldwide aged over 40 with dense breast tissue, it’s not enough. Their risk of cancer is higher, yet mammograms often fail them—missing tumors that blend into the background.

The industry is now racing to close that gap.

The global market for ABUS is expected to double from $972.1 million in 2024 to $2 billion by 2030, fueled by the growing demand for secondary screening. GE Healthcare, already a dominant player, has pushed its Invenia ABUS 2.0 as the next step in breast cancer detection. But Monitor Corporation sees an opening.

According to Sam Normington, global marketing coordinator at Monitor Corporation, Monitor Corporation is pushing for MONCAD ABS, an AI-powered computer-aided detection (CAD) system designed to help radiologists analyze ABUS images with greater speed and accuracy.

In a 2024 study conducted by Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in Seoul, researchers tested  MONCAD ABS on 262 ABUS-detected breast lesions in 231 women, measuring its impact on diagnostic performance. Researchers found that the AI system improved diagnostic accuracy, particularly in identifying smaller malignancies—the kind that traditional mammography often fails to detect in dense breast tissue.

ABUS scans generate comprehensive 3D images per patient, creating a data overload that increases the risk of diagnostic fatigue and missed detections.  MONCAD ABS aims to cut through the noise, prioritizing the most suspicious areas for radiologists.

“With  MONCAD ABS, six volumes can be analyzed in 10 to 15 minutes on average,” Normington said, comparing that with the manual review process, which can take significantly longer.

But efficiency alone won’t be enough. Getting hospitals to adopt the technology is the bigger battle.

'People don’t trust companies—they trust doctors'

Monitor Corporation’s collaboration with GE Healthcare gives it a strong entry point, Normington noted, but he also knows that hospitals won’t adopt the technology just because it has corporate backing.

“Having a relationship with GE helps,” he said. “But it’s not enough. People don’t trust companies—they trust doctors, researchers, the people actually using the technology.”

That’s why Monitor Corporation is taking a different approach. Rather than relying solely on corporate alliances, the company is aggressively targeting key opinion leaders (KOLs)—the radiologists and oncologists who ultimately decide whether new screening technology gets used.

“This year is all about getting KOLs on board,” Normington said. “Once we have that, everything else—FDA approval, market-entry, scaling—becomes much easier.”

Medical AI companies that entered the market at the right time—during the peak of investor enthusiasm—now have the momentum to weather the industry’s downturn. Those that entered too late are struggling to gain traction.

“This is why 2018 was the perfect timing,” Normington explained. “Companies like us had just enough hype to push us forward, to attract investors eager to get in on an emerging market. Now, we’re in the rough patch, but we’re already through the door. We just have to survive the next two to five years.”

The boom years are over. Once flooded with investor enthusiasm, medical AI is now in what analysts call the “trough of disillusionment”—a phase where hype has faded, scrutiny has intensified, and only the strongest players remain. Investment dollars are drying up, Normington said, and for companies that didn’t lock in funding when AI was riding high, the barriers to entry have never been steeper.

Born and raised in Bradford, England, Normington, 32, arrived in Korea in 2013 and took an unconventional path to the industry. He majored in international studies at Jeonbuk National University before joining Monitor Corporation in January 2024. He made the move knowing little about the company beyond its mission.

“The website was outdated, there wasn’t much information in English,” he admitted. “But I could see they had a mission, and I felt like I would be needed. That was important.”

His conviction was strong enough to lead him to a gosiwon—one of Seoul’s notoriously tiny, windowless boarding rooms. “At 184 cm and 95 kg, it felt like a coffin,” he joked. But the sacrifice, he said, was worth it. “A lot of companies say they want to grow, but here, it feels real. We have the right team, the right timing, and the right mission.”

Now, he’s betting that Monitor Corporation is in the right place, at the right time, with the right technology.