Development of Smart Healthcare Platform for Active Seniors ... Pukyong National University Selected as 'Regional Innovation Leading Research Center' by Ministry of Science and ICT

Professor Oh Jeong-hwan, Principal Investigator of the 'Smart Gym-Based Active Senior Healthcare Mediation Research Center'.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] The development of a smart healthcare platform for healthy and active middle-aged and senior citizens, known as ‘active seniors,’ is set to accelerate.

The National Pukyong National University’s ‘Smart Gym-Based Active Senior Healthcare Mediation Research Center’ has been finally selected as a ‘Regional Leading Research Center (RLRC)’ under this year’s Basic Research Project by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Starting from June, the center will receive a total of 14.15 billion KRW over seven years to build smart gyms and infrastructure linked with regional advanced hospitals, aiming to promote health and happiness for active seniors.

The Regional Leading Research Center project supports the establishment of specialized research centers in regional innovation growth sectors to drive sustainable and autonomous innovation growth based on basic research.

Four universities nationwide were finally selected by region, with Pukyong National University chosen for the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam region.

With this selection, Pukyong National University will actively utilize Busan’s specialized resources to develop skin regeneration and bone regeneration materials necessary for a high quality of life derived from marine-origin materials.

The center will also develop smart clothing capable of real-time measurement of early signs of geriatric and respiratory diseases, and establish a healthcare information service platform using the newly established smart gym sports facility within Pukyong National University.

The Smart Gym-Based Active Senior Healthcare Mediation Research Center at Pukyong National University plans to disseminate research outcomes to the local community and play a pivotal role in addressing urban issues such as aging.

By preventing diseases and improving health among the active senior age group, the center aims not only to prevent social and economic losses in the region but also to lay the foundation for building high value-added platforms such as national disease and illness management systems.

Pukyong National University will organize the center into three groups: ▲Group 1 ‘Development of Functional Source Materials for Healthcare’ ▲Group 2 ‘Development of Smart Diagnostic Sensors/Medical Devices’ ▲Group 3 ‘Research on Establishing Healthcare Information Service Systems.’

Professor Oh Jeong-hwan, head of the project, said, “With the increasing population of ‘active seniors,’ it is urgent to build infrastructure to solve healthcare management issues not only at the individual level but also at the societal level. We will strive to present a new paradigm through research by securing smart gym-based healthcare management and infrastructure linked with regional advanced hospitals.”

National Pukyong University plans to actively support excellent human resource development and strengthen research capabilities with financial and other infrastructure for the successful operation of the project.