The pace of innovation in advanced medical devices is dazzling. From AI-driven diagnostic solutions to ultra-precise surgical robots, we are benefiting from technologies that once existed only in our imagination. Yet amid this rapid progress, we should ask whether we are overlooking the essence of medical practice—namely, that human insight and interpretive judgment remain indispensable, even in an era of highly sophisticated machines.

During the Joseon Dynasty, royal physicians often diagnosed senior members of the royal family—especially women of the court, including the Queen Dowager—without making direct physical contact. Instead, they tied a thread to the patient’s wrist and assessed the condition by sensing subtle pulse vibrations conveyed through it. What determined the success of such a diagnosis was not the thread’s material or quality. No matter how expensive or finely made it was, the thread was meaningless without a physician with the knowledge and accumulated experience to read the pulse and discern symptoms. The thread was simply a conduit for information; the true diagnostic capability lay with the physician.

Modern Western medicine, beginning in the 18th and 19th centuries, developed more direct methods such as palpation and auscultation. A representative example is the stethoscope invented by French physician René Laennec, who created an early version from a thin wooden tube to diagnose lung disease. Yet the stethoscope, too, is ultimately a tool that amplifies internal sounds and delivers them to the physician—another channel for information. Simply hearing a heart murmur or crackles in the lungs does not automatically yield a diagnosis. The physician must interpret the pitch, intensity, timing, and other characteristics in light of medical knowledge built over decades, and then determine whether the condition is pneumonia, tuberculosis, heart failure, or something else. It is not the sophistication of the tool, but the clinician’s interpretive ability in using it, that saves lives.

These historical examples from both East and West apply directly to today’s clinical settings. CT and MRI scanners, robotic surgical systems, and even genomic analysis platforms for precision medicine all function much like the “thread” and the “stethoscope” did: they collect and transmit vast and highly refined information about a patient’s condition.

Even if an AI system analyzes a lung CT scan and reports a 95% likelihood of lung cancer, the crucial point is not the “95%” itself. What is decisive is the physician’s ability to integrate multiple variables—overall health status, lifestyle factors, family history, and more—then design an optimal treatment plan and communicate it effectively with the patient. AI can present a statistical probability, but the physician bears ultimate responsibility for translating that probability into the reality of care through ethical, social, and human judgment. This will remain true regardless of how far technology advances, because medicine is both a science and an art of relationships.

Because patient trust in medical professionals increases adherence to treatment, the goal pursued by our company’s digital therapeutic, SuperBrain, is equally clear. SuperBrain is a new kind of digital tool designed to reduce the risk of dementia progression by providing structured cognitive training programs tailored to each patient’s cognitive level.

Our technological focus is on precisely analyzing patterns of change in cognitive function and delivering individualized response data to clinicians—much like a high-resolution thread—so that they can better understand each patient. Ultimately, clinicians are the ones who weave this refined “thread” of data into the best possible care for the patient. Because we believe medical professionals will build the optimal treatment plan on the foundation of the precise data we provide, SuperBrain does not aim to replace humans with technology. Rather, it seeks to become a warm and sophisticated partner—helping clinicians understand patients more deeply.

SeungHyun Han
Chief Executive Officer, Rowan

Source: SisaJournal-e (https://www.sisajournal-e.com)