Severance Begins Development of Brain-AI-Robot Medical Device Operated by Brain Signals

Selected for the Pan-Ministry Advanced Medical Device R&D Initiative
Government Funding of 20.25 Billion Won to Be Invested by 2032

The research team from the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Severance Hospital and Gangnam Severance Hospital has begun developing a bidirectional brain-AI-robot integrated medical device, which enables robots to be controlled via brain signals and transmits sensory information detected by the robot back to the brain.

A research team developing a bidirectional brain-AI-robot integrated medical device that controls robots through brain signals and feeds sensory information detected by the robot back to the brain. Severance Hospital

According to Severance Hospital on June 16, this research has been selected as a new project under the "Pan-Ministry Advanced Medical Device R&D Initiative," jointly promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Approximately 30 billion won in research funding will be invested over seven years from 2026 to 2032, including 20.25 billion won in government funding.

The project is led by Severance Hospital and Gangnam Severance Hospital’s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, with participation from nine institutions, including Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and Seoul National University Hospital. The lead organization, Angel Robotics, will be responsible for developing a full-body exoskeleton robot for patients with quadriplegia.

The research team aims to develop medical devices that help restore motor and sensory functions in patients with limited limb function due to cervical spinal cord injury or Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS).

Currently, rehabilitation for patients with quadriplegia focuses on utilizing residual function and applying assistive devices. The research team plans to implement a bidirectional system in which AI analyzes a patient’s motor intent from brain signals to control robot movement, and the robot-detected tactile, pressure, and posture information is transmitted back to the brain.

The core technologies include a brain-robot interface, AI-based brain signal encoding and decoding, and an integrated system that connects a full-body exoskeleton robot through ultra-low latency communication.

Severance Hospital and Gangnam Severance Hospital’s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine will be responsible for verifying the clinical applicability of the exoskeleton robot, designing clinical trials, and establishing patient assessment protocols. Professor Na Dongwook from Severance Hospital’s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Professor Choi Wona’s team from Gangnam Severance Hospital’s Respiratory Rehabilitation Center will participate in the research, leveraging their experience in robot rehabilitation and management of patients with severe neuromuscular diseases.

The research will proceed in three phases. In the first phase, from 2026 to 2027, the team will secure core technologies for high-density cortical invasive electrodes and the integrated brain-robot system. From 2028 to 2029, the focus will be on system integration and clinical trials on patients. From 2030 to 2032, the goal will be to obtain regulatory approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and move toward commercialization.

Severance Hospital has accumulated extensive clinical experience in the field of robotic rehabilitation, having established Korea’s first robotic gait training room in 2011 and opening a robotic rehabilitation center in 2018. Through this research, the hospital plans to verify the real-world applicability of engineering-based brain-robot systems in clinical settings.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.