“Was the tumor tissue removed properly?” Checking immediately in the operating room… Ultra-lightweight specimen CT is on the rise

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“We want to contribute to reducing unnecessary waiting times and the possibility of re-surgery in the operating room. We will grow into a company that helps medical staff verify necessary information more quickly during surgical procedures.”

Covite, a student-founded startup at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) led by Seo Ji-heun (CEO), is developing ‘MarginX,’ an ultra-miniature CT that allows tissue removed during surgery to be verified on-site in three-dimensional video. The goal is to complete the process from imaging to video verification within six minutes.

During cancer surgery, frozen section examinations are sometimes performed to check whether cancer cells remain at the resection margin. This method involves rapidly freezing the specimen, slicing it thinly, staining it, and having a pathologist read it under a microscope; if multiple areas are examined repeatedly, waiting times can exceed one hour. Breast-conserving surgery, widely performed in breast cancer treatment, may also require additional surgery if cancer cells remain on the resection surface. According to a study analyzing U.S. insurance claim data, 21.1% of privately insured patients underwent additional surgery within one year after breast-conserving surgery.

Seo (CEO) started the company based on the experience of witnessing a close person’s breast cancer surgery. He said, “I was worried about whether re-surgery would be necessary even after the operation ended,” and added, “I realized that the issue of confirming whether cancer remains on the resection surface increases surgical time and amplifies uncertainty.” Seo (CEO) completed studies in economics and engineering at Sogang University and earned a master’s degree in corporate finance at KAIST. He has two prior startup experiences, including remote psychiatric care and a pet dog business. He stated, “I learned that services that work in real medical settings are different and the importance of rapid verification.”

Co-founder and CTO Amar Prasad Gupta is a researcher who has studied carbon nanotube (CNT)-based miniature X-rays. He met Seo (CEO) at a KAIST foreign student networking event in January this year. Covite has been incorporating feedback from surgical, pathology, and radiology medical staff into its equipment since the early stages of development.

In operating rooms, 2D specimen X-rays are sometimes used to quickly view resected tissue, but because they produce flat images, tissues appear overlapping, making it difficult to determine the depth between lesions and the resection surface. MarginX captures the resected tissue from 360 degrees, displaying the positional relationship between the lesion and the resection surface in 3D. It allows for three-dimensional verification of tissue in the operating room even while waiting for frozen section examination results.

While 3D imaging equipment for resected tissue is not new, existing devices are mostly large cabinet-type units weighing from dozens of kilograms to over 100 kg. Seo (CEO) noted, “Bringing equipment into the operating room may require changing the existing layout and medical staff circulation paths,” adding, “This creates a burden on surgeons by disrupting their familiar surgical flow.” This is why MarginX is pursuing battery operation and internal 3D reconstruction of the equipment. It can be placed on mobile carts and moved to required operating rooms regardless of outlet locations.

The core of lightweighting is radiation shielding. Instead of the existing method of wrapping the entire cabinet thickly, Covite developed a structure that calculates the actual path of X-rays and places high-density shielding material only where necessary.

Covite aims for domestic approval in the second half of 2027 and to proceed with U.S. FDA procedures from late 2027 to early 2028. The company is currently raising seed investment, with plans to use the funds for prototype refinement, verification, and preparation for regulatory approval.

In the long term, Covite plans to supply equipment to U.S. ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and similar facilities. This decision is based on the assessment that ASCs, where surgeries are performed without hospitalization, often have more limited medical infrastructure than large hospitals. The company is also considering expanding its application scope to cancer types where preservation of normal tissue is important, such as thyroid, head and neck, and prostate cancers.

Covite will compete in the finals of the ‘2026 K-Deep Tech Startup King of Kings’ on the 30th at the B Hall Plus Stage of COEX in Seoul Samsung-dong, representing the KAIST student startup team.(Registration for attendance: https://forms.gle/McNBqdiBts8RJazVA)

The King of Kings competition, now in its fifth edition, is a deep tech startup contest hosted by MoneyToday’s startup media platform Unicorn Factory and co-hosted by six national science and technology specialized universities (KAIST, DGIST, UNIST, GIST, POSTECH, KENTECH). Reviewers include representatives from corporate venture capital (CVC) firms of major conglomerates such as Samsung C-Lab Outside and GS Vendors, as well as VC, AC (accelerator), and public technology commercialization institutional investor relations personnel, who evaluate the commercialization potential and investment attractiveness of the technologies.

A total of 12 teams, six each in the faculty and student startup categories, advanced to the finals. Teams are evaluated on technicality, marketability, business viability, and team capability through a corporate presentation (IR) format consisting of a 10-minute presentation and a 10-minute Q&A session per team.

The two teams winning the grand prize in each category will receive an award from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, along with a prize money of 3 million won. The four teams receiving the excellence award will be given the Lee (President) Award from the Research and Development Special Zone Promotion Foundation and 1 million won in prize money. The six teams receiving the encouragement award will receive the MoneyToday CEO Award and 500,000 won in prize money. All 12 finalist teams will be supported with a one-year follow-up scale-up program including corporate promotion, expert consulting, and investor networking.

<Registration for Attendance at the 5th K-Deep Tech Startup King of Kings>

-Date: October 30 (Fri) 9:30~17:00

-Location: COEX B Hall PLUS STAGE, Seoul

-Target: Deep tech field startups and investment VC reviewers

-Hosts: KAIST, DGIST, UNIST, GIST, POSTECH, KENTECH, MoneyToday Unicorn Factory

-Application : https://forms.gle/McNBqdiBts8RJazVA

[MoneyToday startup media platform Unicorn Factory]