First South Korean surgical robot has been released.
Meere Company held a press conference at WALKERHILL Hotel on the 14th and announced that it will be selling its laparoscope surgical robot called ‘Revo-i’. This is a first attempt by a South Korean business to challenge surgical robot market that has been monopolized by foreign businesses.
Revo-i punctures a hole smaller than 1cm into a patient’s body and performs surgery by inserting four arms. A doctor can look at 3Dimages and perform a surgery. This robot can be used for treatment on cancers such as prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, uterus cancer, stomach cancer, and rectal cancer that required elaborate surgeries.
Revo-i provides virtual training tools to educate doctors. At this event, Meere Comopany introduced a virtual training similar called ‘Revo-Sim’ for the first time. Not only does this product include simulation of basic movements but it also contains a module that allows doctors to practice actual surgeries through an organ 3D modeling.
Revo-i is the first South Korean business to obtain an approval from South Korean Government to manufacture surgical robot system. This robot completed a preclinical experiment on animals in 2016 and was approved by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to carry out preclinical experiments on actual patients. After performing preclinical experiments with Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital, Meere Company received a final approval from Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in last August.

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<Meere Company succeeded in localizing a surgical robot. At a presentation of new products that was held at WALKERHILL Hotel on the 14th, Meere Company’s technical team demonstrated its minimal invasive laparoscope surgical robot system called ‘Revo-i’. Staff Reporter Kim, Dongwook | gphoto@etnews.com >

Global laparoscope surgical robot market is led by Intuitive Surgical from the U.S. It was established in 1995 and it has dominated global surgical robot market with ‘da Vinci’ for 20 years. About 4,400 units of da Vinci were supplied globally until the end of last year. It is estimated that Intuitive Surgical holds 50% and 80% of market shares of medical robot market and surgical robot market respectively. There are 73 units of da Vinci at 55 hospitals in South Korea as well.
Surgical robot market is showing rapid growth rate. According to Intuitive Surgical, number of surgeries that involved da Vinci surpassed 5 million globally. Out of this number, about 875,000 surgeries had taken place last year. Because robotic surgeries on serious illnesses are also subjects of health insurance in South Korea starting from next year, it is expected that surgical robot market will grow even faster than current rate.
Meere Company is first going to supply Revo-i to hospitals in South Korea and then export Revo-i globally after accumulating successful surgeries. Meere Company emphasized that Revo-i is verified to be equal to other products from aspects of safety, effectiveness, convenience, and performance.
Revo-i also has competitive edge. By using Revo-i, a hospital can save 42% from a robotic surgery that includes product cost, maintenance cost, and expendable cost compared to other products. Consultants can figure out number of demands for surgeries per hospital and provide differentiated solutions.
“We are planning to provide a platform for establishing health robotic surgery environment along with South Korean Government, medical industries, and industries, universities, and research institutes.” said CEO Kim Joon-hong of Meere Company. “We are not going to focus just on maximizing our sales, but we are also going to provide programs that are for both hospitals and patients and pioneer relevant markets.”
Staff Reporter Oh, Daeseok | ods@etnews.com