Revolutionary Bio-capsule Can Detect 40 Types of Cattle Diseases

Kim Hee-jin, CEO of UlikeKorea Co.

UlikeKorea Co., a Korean ICT startup well-known for its "LiveCare" livestock healthcare technology, announced on July 9 that it has surpassed 500 million data points for cattle disease big data, including data on foot-and-mouth disease, ketosis, and mastitis.

UlikeKorea was established in 2012 and launched LiveCare in 2015. The company has developed a bio-capsule that allows life-long systematic monitoring of the health of livestock. By collecting and analyzing the biometrics of cattle in real-time, it can accurately monitor entity-specific disease, estrus and calving cycle. UlikeKorea claims to be the only company in the world that has this type of livestock bio-metric data.

Kim Hee-jin, CEO of the company, said, "We have collected more than 500 million big data points regarding cattle diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease through LiveCare, a smart animal bio-capsule developed by our company for the first time in Korea." She added, "Based on our solution, AI monitors the animals for 24 hours. The bio-capsule, which is equipped with GPS function, allows us to trace the movement the cows in real time." 

LiveCare measures the core body temperature and activity of livestock by oral administration of bio-capsules to cattle (dairy and breeding cattle). Based on Internet of Things (IoT) technology, the capsule collects individual cattle’s bio-metric data. It is a smart agritech ICT product.

The LiveCare bio-capsule is the first of its kind in Korea to be certified as an animal medical device for oral use and has been approved for safety and efficacy. The diseases that can be identified by the bio-capsule includes foot-and-mouth disease, diarrhea, fever, sepsis, ketosis, mastitis, epidemic, Japanese encephalitis and pneumonia. Prevention and early treatment of various diseases are possible and can be predicted with an accuracy level of 98 percent.

In addition, based on the results of the data analyzed by deep learning, the AI technology can monitor the health status of the cattle. Users can easily check the results through a mobile appliation and web programs in real time.

Kim further said, "The advanced sensors in the bio-capsule measure and analyze the core body temperature of cattle more than 300 times a day; it is possible to detect about 40 types of diseases for each cattle, thus minimizing the loss to farmers by providing them with early warnings. In the future, an animal disease platform can be created to prevent cattle losses and predict infectious diseases that can impact the cattle market on a national level."

Ulikekorea has also successfully developed the world’s first bio-capsule for the calves, providing a full span of health monitoring services for the cattle. 

LiveCare has successfully entered the Japanese Wagyu market and will carry out health and disease management from calf to adult cattle.

LiveCare can also be used as a registration system and enhance transparency of the cattle health history.

UlikeKorea has also concluded a product development agreement with SoftBank to enter the Australian market. To expand its global presence, UlikeKorea has signed an MOU with the Danish government and will soon establish its EU office to access 17 major European countries.

"We live in an age when cattle are raised by artificial intelligence. Real-time analysis of livestock bio-metric information is conveyed to farmers to facilitate their operations," Kim said.

"We have collected 500 million data points to date and this is the world’s first big data of its kind and the largest of its kind. We plan to create a platform to provide farm operation consulting and customized treatment services. We are ready to enter the global market including the United States, Brazil, Australia, Japan, and other key markets,” she added.

Big data is one of the core technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution along with AI, Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G mobile services. Having accumulated over 500 million data points on cattle disease management, UlikeKorea is on its way to creating a global cattle disease monitoring center to prevent livestock diseases such as the foot-and-mouth disease.

UlikeKorea CEO Kim (second from right in the front row) and company employees

 

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