Hecto Group to Develop AI Medical Devices for Early Lung Cancer Detection and Recurrence Prediction

[Financial News] Hecto Group is moving into the development of artificial intelligence medical devices that help with the early detection of lung cancer and prediction of recurrence. The company plans to expand its in-house AI capabilities into the medical field and accelerate its entry into the related market.
Hecto Group's dedicated AI unit, HAI, said on the 1st that it will join the OnKoTECT consortium, led by Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, to carry out a state-funded project in the digital healthcare sector under the Ministry of Trade and Industry's Bioindustry Technology Development program.
The OnKoTECT consortium is led by Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. Major domestic medical institutions, along with AI and data companies, are participating in the project, which will receive a total of 15.5 billion won in research funding through December 2030. The goal is to develop and commercialize AI technologies that support early diagnosis and recurrence prediction for pancreatic and lung cancer.
Hecto will be responsible for developing LuTECT-1, an AI medical device that assists in the early detection of lung cancer, and LuTECT-2, an AI medical device that helps predict lung cancer recurrence. The company plans to commercialize the products after obtaining approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, with applications in general hospitals, health screening centers, and the National Lung Cancer Screening Program in Korea.
The project will combine the clinical capabilities of medical institutions with companies' AI technologies, creating a structure that links software medical device development with clinical validation and regulatory approval.
Hecto has built up expertise in a range of AI technologies, including recommendation systems, computer vision, small language models (sLLMs), and AI agents. It is also developing in-house technologies needed for medical AI, such as Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI), federated learning systems, and Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), which manage the development, deployment, and operation of AI models.
A Hecto official said, "This national R&D project will serve as an opportunity to expand Hecto's AI technologies into the medical field and validate them in the real market." The official added, "We will develop AI medical devices that can provide practical help in the early detection of lung cancer and the management of recurrence after surgery, and we will expand our business into global hospitals, screening institutions, and the medical AI market."
Meanwhile, the global medical AI market is projected to grow from $36.96 billion in 2025 to $51.2 billion in 2026. By 2035, it is expected to expand to about $744.34 billion.

[email protected] Jung Sang-hee Reporter