AIT Studio, “We make expensive gait analysis service common practice with AI technology”

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AIT Studio is a company that uses motion recognition AI technology for the common practice of expensive gait analysis. By applying AI technology to 'Medistep', a mobile camera-based medical device, it is 95% accurate compared to hundreds of millions of motion capture cameras, but significantly lowers the examination fee. I met Shin-ki Park, CEO of AIT Studio, and listened to the detailed story.

<Shin-ki Park, CEO of AIT Studio / source=IT DongA>


We will improve the expensive and complex gait analysis problem with motion recognition AI technology

Korea, which has already become a super-aged country, urgently needs to prepare for elderly diseases such as muscle reduction. Because it is important to detect diseases early and treat them in time, gait analysis techniques are valuable.
Park said that according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the elderly population of Korea has surpassed 10 million. 20% of elderly people are estimated to have walking disabilities, but it has been difficult to examine exactly what diseases they are through gait tests. The cost of existing motion capture camera-based gait inspection equipment is about 20 million won for Korean products and 60 million won to 300 million won for foreign products. AIT Studio has developed a mobile camera-based medical analysis device Medistep that has reduced the gait test time by about 130,000 won while reducing the existing gait test time from 130,000 won to 3,000 won.

Unlike exiting motion capture camera-based equipment, Medistep uses motion recognition AI and sensor-less technology to measure gait. When someone walks a 5M distance, he or she takes a picture of walking with a mobile camera from the side, and the motion recognition AI presents the results of the gait analysis within 60 seconds. It presents 22 gait indicators such as walking speed, stride, arm angle, upper body angle, and walking asymmetry, and it also presents time series coordinates for researchers.

<Motion aware AI measures gait / source=AIT Studio>

<process of analyzing gait using Medistep / source=AIT Studio>


In May last year, they obtained a report from the KITECH(Korea Institute of Industrial Technology) that secured 95% accuracy(walking speed and stride) compared to the 300 million won motion capture camera. Park said that it is objective evidence that the gait test is not only fast and cheap but accurate, and Medistep takes pictures of walking with a mobile camera, so you can easily operate the device even if you are not an expert. And he emphasized that Medistep is solving the problem of complex and expensive gait tests.

Medistep is divided into kiosk and iPad-based products. It was developed as the first window-based kiosk product, and we are now focusing on iPad-based products. Kiosk products took about 50 seconds to analyze, and iPad-based products can complete the analysis in 10 seconds thanks to the performance of the Apple M2 chip. As it is also pushing for overseas exports, it is focusing on distributing iPad-based Medistep that can maintain a certain form-factor anywhere and have strong security.

< kiosk(left) and iPad-based Medistep(right). / source=AIT Studio>


After the news of the development of Medistep, inquiries came from various university hospitals. It has already started joint research on sarcopenia based on Medistep and the Department of Geriatrics at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital, and has also installed medical staff in the motion room of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Yangsan Pusan National University Hospital. Starting with clinical research with university hospitals, we plan to spread Medistep to domestic hospitals and senior health care facilities.

In the past, AIT Studio has worked with the Gangnam Health Center to display Medistep in outdoor booth. At that time, we were very impressed by the fact that not only the elderly but also those who rely on assistive devices are trying to get as much gait analysis as possible. Walking is the most basic human behavior, so we don’t care about it, but it is a great fear that we can't walk properly. We are focusing its capabilities on early screening of the weak and high-risk groups of falls and helping them walk properly for a long time.

Then what kind of trial and error did Park, who developed Medistep and expanded the company?

At the beginning of the business, he developed an application to diagnose Parkinson's disease early, but it was more difficult to diagnose than I expected. For example, Parkinson's disease has not only gait symptoms but also exercise symptoms such as facial stiffness and tremors. It was difficult to expand business because the number of people using the application was too limited. So, he decided to change business to focus on gait analysis.

When AIT Studio was speeding up the development and launch of Medistep after the business transition, it formed a relationship with Korea University's startup support institution and received various support. They received support for business expenses, IR demonstration day and international medical device quality certification. When developing kiosk-based Medistep, MakerSpace was rented for 3D printing free of charge to help with their research. Last year, they carried out an ‘early startup package program for Korea University. Now they are conducting joint research with Korea University MOT (Management of Technology) as well as Korea University Sejong Campus.

We will make an era where gait analysis is common with smartphones

Park made this year the first year of product sales. Currently, not only health, welfare and physical therapy companies but also rehabilitation, orthopedics, neurology hospitals and other various other places are providing product inquiries. This year, ATI Studio plans to give a lot of results to investors who trusted and invested them based on their sales performance.

As a follow-up to Medistep, Park is preparing various new products such as pediatric gait analysis, mobile gait analysis, and three-dimensional gait analysis. He aimed to create an era in which it is natural for parents and children to be photographed and diagnosed with smartphones if their walking is strange. He hopes you have a lot of interest in AIT Studio.

By Dong-jin Kim. (kdj@itdonga.com)