Korean medtech poised to support struggling dementia care in the UK

Charlie Rowat, startup programme director at Rainmaking, introduced South Korean startups who showcased technologies with potential application in UK dementia care. Credit: Frankie Fattorini / GlobalData

Under the mounting strain of an aging population, the UK could look to South Korean medtech innovation to ease the pressures of dementia care on the NHS.

On April 2, medtech startups from South Korea showcased their technologies for dementia detection and care in London. The event, part of a collaboration between the Thames Freeport economic zone, venture developer Rainmaking, and community interest company Care City, positioned Korean tech innovation as a solution to alleviate pressure on the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).

New demographic realities present challenge for the NHS, already grappling with high demand and anticipating further strain from an aging population. In January 2025, UK health and social care secretary Wes Streeting announced an additional £86m to enhance adult social care, while the government plans to publish new policy for the Better Care Fund for 2025 to 2026, directing $9bn to shift care from hospitals to communities and from sickness to prevention.

“The challenges in social care will not be fixed by throwing more money, [more] people. It requires new ways of delivering services and a massive effort towards technology-enabled preventative intervention”, countered Tom White, innovation and net-zero director at Thames Freeport. This, he shared, is the goal of the Adult Social Care Accelerator, the hosting organisations’ collaborative project bringing overseas innovation to the UK.

The startups selected through the Seol Digital Foundation have demonstrated success in Korea with solutions to healthcare in aging populations which are highly translatable to the UK, according to Daniel Avery, head of venture building at Rainmaking. Avery explained that the Thames Freeport aims to build a hub for such companies in the UK, along with Europe and the US, by guiding startups in overseas markets.

According to GlobalData analyst Andrew Thompson, data collection is the obvious way in which technological innovation can aid in this regard. “The UK NHS already has a well-established community nursing service, who are increasingly entering records digitally”, he commented and well positioned to benefit from an influx of accurate, real-time data on patient wellbeing.

Silvia co-founder and CEO Myungjin Ko, MD, showcased the company’s app for early dementia prevention. The app is aimed at patients with mild cognitive impairment, around one in five people over 65 years, in what Ko termed the “golden window” for cognitive improvement before dementia becomes debilitating.

The app offers patient-tailored regimens of cognitive tasks, physical exercise, and general health advice aimed at slowing the progression of dementia. Ko cited a 2022 study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease in which Silvia users showed a 17% improvement in memory scores (K-PRMQ) compared to a paper-based control group.

Silvia tracks patients’ performance and adjusts its regimen accordingly, Ko said. Further, it collects data to share with caregivers and family to inform clinical treatment. Speaking with Medical Device Network, Ko said the company is currently seeking initial research collaboration in the UK in 2025 before establishing a foothold for its app.

Seven Point One’s artificial intelligence (AI) powered, remote AlzWIN dementia diagnosis system was outlined by the company’s CEO Evan Lee. Lee noted that the majority of patients in the earliest stages of dementia remain undiagnosed and highlighted how Seven Point One’s system presents an objective way to identify these hidden patients.

Within two minutes, participants can be questioned over the phone and have their answers analysed by the AI technology, according to Lee. Given a cognitive score from zero to 100, patients are able to track their mental function and gain early diagnosis for dementia.

Over 10,000 patients have already been diagnosed this way in Korea, said Lee, with plans to expand operations into the UK. Lee told Medical Device Network that, as the system can be run by AI, it could significantly ease pressure healthcare professionals. He noted the grading system could allow NHS GPs to triage patients according to dementia progression for personalised care.

InHandPlus is developing its AI smartwatch to analyse the behaviour of elderly dementia patients and improve medication adherence while tracking relevant biometric signs. Hwiwon Lee, founder and CEO, presented the watch, currently available in South Korea, and outlined the company’s plans to enter the European market.

Data collected from the watch’s inbuilt camera is processed by its internal AI chip, able to accurately identify medicines and food ingested by patients and feed this data back to caregivers. It can also build custom medicine schedules for patients with adaptive reminders, which Lee says could overcome current difficulties in enforcing dosing schedules remotely.

InHandPlus is collaborating with Bayer and Merck KgA to apply the smartwatch for clinical trial settings, where it has led to improved medicine adherence of 20%-30%, according to Lee. He says it has particular application for memory-impaired patients, especially those with complex dosing regimens.

JCFTechnology presented its second-generation McKare radar sensor system, aimed at prevention and rapid response to emergencies among elderly or compromised patients. Radar sensors can be mounted on surfaces at care facilities or even patient homes to relay data of patients’ location, biometrics, and risk of emergency to carers and families, as JCFT senior manager Allen Chung explained.

The company is currently installing a system in a care facility in Abbcross in Romford, London, as part of a pilot test for the product in the UK, said Chung. Meanwhile, JCFT is also developing a third generation of sensors with AI capabilities.

Chung told Medical Device Network that the company plans to use its Abbcross installation to demonstrate the degree to which UK carers’ workloads can be reduced through radar monitoring and hopes its success will lead to adoption by other care facilities in the area.

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