Korea appoints 5 public health data analysis centers
The Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare has officially launched designated centers for the safe use of medical data.
The department has named five centers that have been equipped with physical, technical and regulatory security measures to enable the secure use of public clinical and medical data for research purposes.
These centers are the Korea Health and Medical Information Service in Seoul, Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center in Daegu, Wonju Severance Christian Hospital in Wonju, Chungnam National University Hospital in Chungnam and China. National Cancer Center (NCC) in Gyeonggi.
Furthermore, the Department has announced that the use of cancer data from the NCC’s K-CURE project through data usage centers will begin in June.
Korea promotes commercialization of VR therapy for the blind
The Korean Ministry of Health recently designated VR-based software for visual impairment treatment as an innovative medical device, speeding up the approval process.
Developed by local digital therapy company Nunaps, VIVID Brain is Korea’s first DTx recognized to improve vision impairment caused by brain damage. It provides visual perception training to enhance brain flexibility, varying from conventional sensory compensation and substitution techniques used to treat vision impairment.
South Korea recently made changes to its approval process for new medical devices to accelerate their use in clinical settings.
VIVID Brain is still in the process of proof-of-concept research to further achieve certification for clinical use in Korea.
Indonesia, Iran cooperate for remote surgery
Indonesia and Iran have expanded healthcare cooperation by opening a remote robotic surgery center.
The two governments have been testing the concept since 2021 at Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung and Sardjito Hospital in Yogyakarta. It aims to remove geographical barriers to allow specialists to deliver their services remotely to patients outside of major cities and to collaborate with fellow specialists abroad. It also seeks to minimize postoperative complications and reduce financial costs.
