Korea IT Times celebrates its 20th anniversary with Insightful columns from local and international thought leaders. Following contributions from experts from all walks of life in July, August, September, and October, the column will continue in November and December.
- Jinkook Kim, CEO of Coreline Soft: "Lung Cancer Awareness Month" in November: The No. 1 killer... Early Detection Saves Lives
- Ananth Lazarus, Managing Director, APAC, GTDC: Co-opetition: How Collaboration is Strengthening Cybersecurity Defenses in South Korea
- Jeremy Foo, Global Head of Gaming at TZ APAC: Building a Sustainable Web3 Gaming Ecosystem: Why Real Utility, Fair Play, and Innovation Are Key
- James Toledano, Chief Operating Officer of Unity Wallet: Crypto For Beginners: 4 Things To Know Before Getting Started
- James Lee, Head of the North American Division at Coreline Soft: Coraline Soft and Temple Lung Center, Opening a New Chapter in Lung Health
- Jason Lau, ISACA Board Director: AI in 2024: Balancing Innovation with Security and Ethics
- Byoung Min Im, Columnist: Malaysia's Zuhor State will be the next Singapore
- Alexandre Dreyfus, founder and CEO of Chiliz and Socios.com: Blockchain's Game-Changer Ushers in a New Era of Sports Engagement
By James Lee
Lung health is a crucial aspect directly linked to the quality of human life and is a field drawing global attention. According to the American Lung Association’s State of Lung Cancer 2023 report, in the U.S., someone is diagnosed with lung cancer every two minutes, and over 356 family members, friends, and neighbors lose their lives to the disease each day. The five-year survival rate for lung cancer patients stands at just 26.6%, but early detection can increase this rate to 63%, emphasizing the critical importance of early diagnosis.
With an estimated 16 million people living with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) alone, it has a huge impact on the US healthcare system. While national and state attention is high, navigating the maze of state-by-state healthcare policies in the US is no easy task, especially when launching a cutting-edge AI diagnostic product. As the world's largest and most advanced healthcare market, the U.S. presents significant challenges and tremendous opportunities. Coreline Soft is unraveling this complexity by restructuring its North American operations, refining its strategy, and achieving key milestones in recent months.
Coreline Soft has achieved a new leap forward through collaboration with the prestigious Temple Lung Center in the U.S. They successfully delivered three advanced imaging solutions, AVIEW COPD, CAC, and LCS, to Temple Lung Center. One of the most authoritative lung health institutions in the U.S., Temple Lung Center, led by Dr. Gerard J. Criner, is at the forefront of lung disease treatment and research. Dr. Criner has expressed trust in Coreline’s AVIEW suite, stating at a reception event that AVIEW solutions are among the best AI products he has used in the field. Along with his enthusiastic support, the Temple Lung Center team welcomed the introduction of AVIEW products and expressed their anticipation for the outcomes.
The Temple Lung Center is committed to promoting lung health and disease prevention beyond just treatment, and the Temple Healthy Chest Initiative is its flagship program to improve lung health in the community, utilizing low-dose CT (LDCT) for lung cancer screening to enable early detection and treatment of lung nodules and other chest conditions. The program contributes to the early detection of not only lung cancer but also comorbidities such as COPD and cardiovascular disease, improving the overall health and quality of life of patients. Early detection provides better patient treatment outcomes and contributes to efficiently utilizing healthcare resources.
Temple Lung Center is an institution that goes beyond treatment to promote lung health and prevent disease. In particular, the Temple Healthy Chest Initiative is a signature program to improve lung health in the community, utilizing low-dose CT (LDCT) for lung cancer screening to enable early detection and treatment of lung nodules and other chest conditions. The program contributes to the early detection of not only lung cancer but also comorbidities such as COPD and cardiovascular disease, improving the overall health and quality of life of patients. Early detection provides better patient treatment outcomes and contributes to the efficient utilization of healthcare resources.
The Temple Healthy Chest Initiative and BLVR are organically connected. This program offers patients appropriate treatment pathways through early detection and helps effectively identify patients who could benefit from innovative treatments like BLVR.
AVIEW solutions play a crucial role in this process. AVIEW LCS aids early diagnosis by automatically detecting and analyzing lung nodules. AVIEW CAC and AVIEW COPD help identify major comorbidities, and Temple’s nurse navigators utilize these results to systematically support patient-tailored follow-up care and management. In particular, AVIEW COPD evaluates the severity of emphysema by lobe, aiding in effectively selecting BLVR candidates. Such automation makes Temple Lung Center's treatment methods more efficient and systematic.
The relationship with Temple Lung Center began in earnest in 2022, but it wasn’t until late 2024 that Coreline’s AVIEW solutions were fully implemented and applied in clinical practice. This was due to the over three months spent on IT and security assessments and vendor evaluations within the Temple University Health System after the decision to introduce the new AI product and about six months on purchasing procedures and legal reviews. Coreline Soft built trust by collaborating throughout this process.
There were also unexpected challenges during the collaboration. When Temple learned that a salesperson from Coreline's North American operations who had been liaising with Temple Lung Centre had left the company, Temple requested an urgent meeting to ensure that the company was not withdrawing from the US market and that the AVIEW solution was a sustainable technology. At the meeting, Coreline Soft outlined its long-term vision for the US market and reaffirmed its willingness and vision to work with Temple.
Supporting Temple's research for patient health, Coreline Soft demonstrated the actual value of collaboration by co-authoring several papers using Coreline technology for the American Thoracic Society's international conference. A warm gesture during one visit illustrates the deepening relationship: Coreline staff visited Temple Lung Center, seeking to purchase T-shirts with the Temple hospital logo from the gift shop. When Temple's vice president overheard, he inquired about each employee's T-shirt size and provided extra shirts as gifts. Moments like these symbolize the human bond beyond mere business relationships, enriching the collaboration between Coreline and Temple.
Following the successful go-live at the Temple Lung Center, AVIEW products have supported accurate, data-driven decision making by healthcare professionals, significantly improving clinical workflows. This collaboration represents more than the delivery of cutting-edge technology; it represents a comprehensive solution that supports the current state of healthcare, showcases its evolution and demonstrates the real-world value of the AVIEW product line.
Building trust and a collaborative partnership in the complex and multi-stakeholder US healthcare market requires more than just delivering products. It requires a deep understanding of clinical workflows, regulatory environments and patient needs. In its partnership with Temple Lung Center, Coreline Soft has focused on close communication and education with healthcare professionals, working with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to achieve this.
Becoming a trusted and collaborative partner in the US healthcare market means fostering empathy and support within the community of healthcare professionals. By working with KOLs, Coreline has helped define the value of AVIEW solutions and established itself as an advocate among healthcare providers - not just selling products but serving as a 'partner' that delivers optimal outcomes for both healthcare professionals and patients.
Recently, Coreline participated in the 2024 GOLD COPD International Conference organized by the Temple Lung Center and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD), showcasing the strengths of AVIEW products through communication with global experts. The collaboration with Temple Lung Center demonstrates Coreline's potential for expansion within the US healthcare system and in the global market. The experience gained through partnerships with prestigious institutions such as Temple will be essential in developing and expanding future global alliances.
Delivering AVIEW products to pulmonary specialists is more than providing technology; it is a critical step in improving the diagnosis and treatment of lung disease. As pulmonary specialists play a crucial role in caring for patients with lung disease, the automated analysis and precise imaging provided by AVIEW will significantly enhance their practice. These features help specialists to diagnose diseases and develop personalized treatment plans more accurately, increasing the speed and accuracy of diagnosis and enabling the rapid action needed for patient care. As a result, pulmonologists are empowered to manage lung disease more effectively, directly contributing to improved disease management and patient outcomes.
The AVIEW product line goes beyond simply reporting AI results by applying 3D visualization technology through its viewer, allowing medical professionals to clearly and accurately verify AI-analyzed results visually. This technology makes complex data more intuitively accessible, increasing trust in healthcare professionals and maximizing the efficiency of diagnostic and treatment decisions. In addition, if healthcare professionals disagree with the AI's results, the system allows them to modify them, efficiently supporting precise, patient-tailored care. Coreline Soft's technology, combined with initiatives such as Temple Healthy Chest and the BLVR program, is setting new standards for diagnosis and treatment. Coreline Soft provides innovative AI technology and a solutions partner that brings real value to healthcare providers and patients.
Looking ahead, Coreline plans to expand its successful collaboration with Temple Lung Center to other critical hospitals and global medical institutions in the U.S. In particular, the company is working with leading institutions in lung health and respiratory disease research, such as Mount Sinai Respiratory Institute and National Jewish Health, to continuously develop new technologies and services to create a better healthcare environment. Coreline Soft is at the forefront of medical innovation, brightening the future of lung health diagnostics by supporting accurate diagnosis and treatment while reducing the workload of healthcare professionals. By offering cutting-edge AI technology, 3D visualization, and solutions that focus on healthcare professionals and patients, they are establishing their role as a partner in the healthcare industry, far more than just technology providers.
Coreline Soft is setting new standards in lung health diagnostics by understanding technology and humanity, fostering a shift in relationships and leading change at the forefront of medical innovation.
About the Author
Dr. James Lee is the Head of the North American Division at Coreline Soft, a medical AI company. With over 20 years of experience in engineering and algorithm development, Dr. Lee serves as a principal researcher and leads Coreline Soft's North American operations. He earned his electrical and electronic engineering doctorate from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), specializing in image processing. Before joining Coreline Soft, Dr. Lee led research and development teams at Samsung Electronics, focusing on video codec and image quality enhancement technologies. Later, he moved to a smaller enterprise, where he built a new team from scratch to develop innovative technologies despite the company having no prior technical foundation in the area.
Since joining Coreline Soft in 2019, Dr. Lee has been instrumental in developing the core AI engines for AI-based diagnostic tools, including AVIEW LCS, COPD, and CAC. He continues to drive platform expansion, new business development, and partnership building, contributing to the advancement of the medical AI industry. Currently, Dr. Lee is exploring the intersection of technology and healthcare in the US and creating new visions for the future.
