Professor Lee Soo-kyung of Dong-Eui University Department of Physical Therapy Develops Functional Insoles for Posture Correction
Co-developed with Students ... Founded Startup O2Lab and Launched 'Hallux Magic'
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Professor Lee Soo-kyung of the Department of Physical Therapy at Dong-Eui University serves as the CEO of O2Lab Co., Ltd., a company that researches smart healthcare devices and provides solutions.
He is a physical therapy expert with a unique background, having worked for 10 years in a nursing home and registered 38 patents related to clinical experience.
Professor Lee attracted attention by developing the functional insole ‘Hallux Magic’ jointly with his students and launching it through the startup company O2Lab Co., Ltd.
Hallux refers to the big toe. The functional insole ‘Hallux Magic’ offers benefits such as proper growth, disease prevention, and enhanced exercise effects.
It was developed by Professor Lee Soo-kyung of Dong-Eui University together with three graduate students majoring in physical therapy and one current student, aimed at people with foot conditions such as flat feet or plantar fasciitis, and those needing posture correction.
Professor Lee explained, “Existing products, as seen in basketball shoes, have shock absorption functions mainly at the heel, but the product we developed provides a soft cushioning effect to the foot through the insole and guides proper walking. It is the only design of its kind in the world.” He added, “This product can be used not only by people with body shape problems but also by adolescents and seniors for proper growth and disease prevention.”
In 2018, Professor Lee founded O2Lab, a specialized manufacturer of custom exercise services and special equipment. Since he started the company based on his patents, establishing the company was necessary.
He registered it as a school-affiliated company, transferred his patents to his company, and set up the office at the Dong-Eui University Startup Incubation Center.
Professor Lee emphasized, “When analyzing body shapes of high school students, many do not recognize that they have body shape problems. Most have severe scoliosis, and physical balance is important not only for adolescents but also for the elderly.”
He explained that proper walking can prevent musculoskeletal disorders occurring in the shoulders, neck, waist, and leg muscles.
Professor Lee said, “I wanted to pass on the know-how I learned from clinical experience at the university, so I took on a new challenge by joining the school. We are continuously developing products that utilize collected body balance measurement data as big data.”
He added, “Unexpectedly, many elderly people suffer fractures from falls. While working at the hospital, I found that exercise tailored to their physical condition has a fall prevention effect. This led me to focus on solving fundamental problems rather than just pain suppression,” explaining why he chose this research and development field.
In 2012, he released ‘Dynamic Balance,’ a device that allows individuals to easily measure their body balance and check the results on a computer or smartphone.
This product is a small device that collects and analyzes personal health indicator data to provide customized health management services capable of disease prevention.
He also markets a massage device called ‘X-Gun,’ which loosens tight muscles and fascia through vibration. It is known as a massage gun due to its resemblance to a gun shape.
It is ergonomically designed to maximize massage effects on muscles tense after strength training. These two products have recently gained much popularity in the startup market.
The products created by Professor Lee won the Excellence Award from the Busan Institute of Science and Technology Planning and Evaluation in 2018 and were selected as Creative Leading R&BD (Research and Development linked to commercialization) by the Busan Industry and Science Innovation Institute. They also received investment as a promising startup from the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund.
Professor Lee said, “Recently, it has become advantageous to get a job, so the admission competition rates for medical and health-related departments are increasing. I hope students will not just settle for obtaining simple certifications but take on challenges with pride.”
Last year, he was appointed as a member of the Busan City Regional Health and Medical Review Committee and the Health Promotion Review Committee. He said, “Although everything was difficult, from patents, investment, labor, to taxes while challenging entrepreneurship, the smart healthcare market has great potential in the aging era. We plan to increase market share with various products, leveraging high technology and price competitiveness comparable to advanced countries.”
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