IVIM Technology to Supply Intravital Microscope to GIST Early-Career Research Team

Professor Choi Jinwook's team to acquire KRW 460 million IVM-CMS3
Team behind Nature paper identifying mechanisms of early lung cancer development to use advanced Korean-made equipment

IVIM Technology said on the 10th that it had signed a contract worth KRW 460 million to supply its IVM-CMS3 intravital microscope to the research team of Professor Choi Jinwook in the Department of Life Sciences at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST). The contract was awarded through a negotiated process.

Professor Choi was selected for the 2026 Infrastructure Support Program for Early-Career Researchers (Advanced Infrastructure Track), organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT, after competing against approximately 10 applicants for each opening. Through the program, the research team will acquire an intravital microscope from IVIM Technology.

IVM-CMS3, an intravital microscope by IVIM Technology. IVIM Technology.

Professor Choi's team studies interactions between cells in the tumor microenvironment and the mechanisms behind cancer development. In April this year, the team published a study in the international journal Nature with researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in the United States, led by Professor Lee Juhyun, and from Severance Hospital at Yonsei University. The study identified a chain reaction between cells in the early stages of lung cancer development.

The team found a self-amplifying circuit in which lung stem cells with genetic mutations recruit surrounding fibroblasts and immune cells to create a fibrotic microenvironment favorable to cancer, which in turn promotes the malignant transformation of the mutated cells. The study showed that the body's microenvironment changes even before cancer develops.

The IVM-CMS3 being acquired can automatically switch between confocal and two-photon imaging within a single system. It features high-speed scanning at up to 30 frames per second (fps) and four-channel detection. It also supports body-temperature monitoring and feedback control in live animals. The team plans to use the system to observe microenvironments in living organisms and interactions between cells in real time, and to advance its research into cancer prevention and early treatment strategies.

The Infrastructure Support Program for Early-Career Researchers helps researchers appointed within the past five years acquire large-scale research equipment. Researchers can receive additional points in project reviews by building research infrastructure using domestically manufactured equipment. IVIM Technology expects this supply to help expand the adoption of advanced, domestically manufactured intravital microscopes, particularly among early-career researchers.

IVIM Technology is also continuing to supply equipment to overseas research institutions. In September this year, the company agreed to supply an IVM-CMS3 worth approximately KRW 580 million to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). It will also supply an IVM-MS3 and other equipment worth approximately KRW 490 million to a research team at Yale School of Medicine.

“It is encouraging that an early-career researcher producing world-class research has chosen our intravital microscope as a key piece of research equipment,” said Kim Pilhan, CEO of IVIM Technology. “We will support Professor Choi's team so that wider use of advanced, domestically manufactured research equipment can strengthen the competitiveness of basic biomedical research in Korea and the ecosystem for the research equipment industry.”

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