KT Wins 1st Place at International Medical AI Competition, Aiming to Build Global Competitiveness

'SARAS-MESAD' Takes 1st Place

The KT Medical Artificial Intelligence Team is attending the International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) and announcing their award. Photo by KT

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] KT's medical artificial intelligence (AI) technology has won first place in an international competition.

On the 23rd, KT announced that it ranked first in the 'SARAS-MESAD,' a medical AI competition held at the International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI). MICCAI is a globally recognized authority in the field of medical AI.

This year's competition was held over approximately three months starting in May. Research teams from around the world, including University College London, Peking University, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, competed to see how accurately AI could identify each stage of prostate surgery.

KT achieved excellent results in both the actual surgical video images provided in the competition and the artificial anatomical procedure images used for surgeon training, ultimately securing first place.

The medical AI competitions hosted by MICCAI have served as a gateway to prove the technological capabilities of well-known domestic medical AI startups.

Medical AI solution developers VUNO, which went public in the first half of this year, and Lunit, preparing for an IPO, also showcased their superior technology by winning first place in this competition in 2018, 2020, and 2016 respectively.

This MICCAI competition provided an opportunity to verify whether KT's AI technology can achieve global competitiveness in the medical field. The first-place award proved that KT is sufficiently competitive in the medical AI sector.

KT, combining its existing vision AI technology with the medical field, judged that it could enter the market quickly and established a dedicated medical AI department within its Digital & Bio Health Business Unit to focus on nurturing the medical AI sector.

Recently, KT's medical AI team demonstrated its AI capabilities both internally and externally by winning the AI hackathon held for all KT group employees. Additionally, KT signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Inha University Hospital for joint research on AI-based diagnostic and treatment support algorithms. It is also promoting the development of medical AI solutions through collaborative research on dysphagia using sound AI in partnership with the Korean Society of Dysphagia.

Song Jae-ho, Vice President and Head of KT's AI/DX Convergence Business Division, said, "Based on the technology and know-how proven in this competition, we will develop solutions that utilize AI in various fields to establish competitiveness that can succeed not only domestically but also in overseas markets."