Ministry of Health and Welfare Selects 10 Projects on Virtual Environment-Based Medical Technologies

475 Billion KRW Support by 2027

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 16th that it has selected 10 projects for the 'Virtual Patient, Virtual Hospital-Based Medical Technology Development Project (R&D)' and will support them with 47.5 billion KRW until 2027.

First, in the field of virtual environment-based medical services, aiming to address unmet needs required in medical settings, seven projects were selected, including ▲development of service models to enhance patient experience value based on virtual environments ▲development of remote collaboration and education models for major diseases (such as brain surgery and cardiovascular procedures) ▲development of AI-based mental health service technologies.

In the hospital operation field, three projects were selected for virtual hospital-based technologies that implement real medical institutions in virtual environments, including ▲optimization of clinical processes ▲response to emergencies such as infectious diseases and disaster accidents ▲development of simulation technologies for efficient use of medical resources (ward and personnel allocation, etc.).

Regarding this project, the Korea Health Industry Development Institute plans to support outcome achievement through project management and evaluation, as well as provide consulting. The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated, "This will realize innovation in new medical technologies that overcome the spatial and temporal limitations of existing medical services," and added, "We expect to contribute to enhancing national technological competitiveness, leading the global market, and fostering the metaverse industry ecosystem through early success models of medical metaverse."