South Korea has remained a preferred destination for medical tourism and its ophthalmic devices market is no exception to this. Augmented by continuous innovation, South Korea continues to use artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose and treat ophthalmic diseases. As a result, the value of the ophthalmic devices market in South Korea is expected to reach $156m in 2030, forecasts GlobalData, a leading data, and analytics company.

GlobalData’s research reveals that South Korea’s Ophthalmic Devices Market, which accounts for 8% of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) market in 2022, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 2% through 2030.

Ayshi Ganguly, Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Ocular diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataract are diagnosed only after irreversible damage to vision has already occurred. Companies are incorporating AI in ophthalmic devices to automate the diagnosis of ocular diseases before the structural and functional loss of an eye. This approach will significantly reduce vision loss and improve the accuracy of predicting the risk of patient developing eye-threatening diseases in the future.”

In light of this, South Korea-based Edenlux has recently announced a report on how eye health management can be facilitated using AI for the users of its flagship product Otus Plus. The incorporation of AI is enabling users to test their eye health using a spectacle-like device at home. In addition to this, one can perform eye exercises with their own custom lenses and receive test reports through an app that is part of the offering.

Ganguly concludes: “Domestic and multinational ophthalmic companies are anticipated to further invest in AI and software as medical devices (SaMD) based ophthalmological diagnostic devices to expand their business. This will further help them increase their market share and likely enable a paradigm shift in the treatment of ophthalmic diseases in the coming years.”