Independent innovations such as magnetic resonance, artificial heart, and heavy ion cancer treatment equipment
High-end medical devices with independent intellectual property rights continue to emerge (in-depth observation)
The world's first whole body 5.0T magnetic resonance imaging was launched, and my country took the lead in realizing ultra-high-field whole body clinical imaging; the first domestically produced fully magnetic levitation artificial heart was approved for marketing, and heart failure patients had a "Chinese heart"; the first domestic heavy ion cancer treatment equipment Putting into use, bringing new hope to cancer patients...
From following and running to leading, from assembling parts to mastering core technologies, my country's scientific and technological independent innovation capability continues to improve, and high-end medical devices with completely independent intellectual property rights continue to emerge, breaking through key core technologies and breaking foreign monopoly.
For example, major progress has been made in the localization of high-end medical devices such as magnetic resonance, artificial heart, and heavy ion cancer treatment equipment, providing convenience for patients.
Data from the State Drug Administration shows that in the first eight months of this year, 39 domestic innovative medical device products were approved for marketing in China, a record high, providing strong support for meeting people's health needs.
From following to leading
"If you keep running behind others, you will only get further and further behind, and you will never succeed."
In the spring of 2011, when Shanghai United Imaging Medical Technology Co., Ltd. was founded, the domestic high-end medical imaging equipment market was monopolized by the three major foreign giants, General Electric, Philips and Siemens.
Since my country does not master the core technology, domestic magnetic resonance equipment mainly occupies the low-end market, and high-end 3.0T magnetic resonance is 100% dependent on imports.
United Imaging Medical has a dream: to create a Chinese brand of high-end medical equipment, so that more patients can use "high-end rather than high-priced" medical equipment.
To this end, the entrepreneurial team has set an "iron law": full coverage, independent research and development, mastering all core technologies, and benchmarking against top international companies.
Today, United Imaging Medical has successfully broken a series of key technology blockades, and the proportion of independent research and development of core components ranks among the top in the world.
Among them, a series of products such as whole body PET-CT imaging system fill the gap in the international market and achieve the world's leading technology.
Ten years of sharpening a sword.
United Imaging's medical products have not only achieved the first domestic market share for many consecutive years, but have also been exported to developed countries and regions such as the United States, Japan, and Europe, breaking the long-term monopoly of multinational companies and making my country the third country to fully master high-end magnetic fields. The country that resonates all core component technologies and machine manufacturing.
Up to now, United Imaging Medical has launched more than 80 products with completely independent intellectual property rights, many of which are the world's first.
United Imaging Medical products have now settled in more than 9,400 medical institutions in about 40 countries around the world.
In China, United Imaging medical products have settled in nearly 900 tertiary hospitals.
Xue Min, chairman of United Imaging Group, said: "The key core technology must be in your own hands. If you keep running behind others, you will only get more and more backward, and you will never succeed."
The 47-year-old Mr. Zhang is a terminally ill patient with heart failure. Not long ago, he successfully completed artificial heart implantation at Beijing Anzhen Hospital.
The artificial heart weighs only 186 grams and is about the size of a ping pong ball.
The full magnetic levitation artificial heart, also known as the "implantable left ventricular assist system", is developed and produced by Suzhou Tongxin Medical Technology Co., Ltd. It is the first full magnetic levitation artificial heart officially listed in my country.
Chen Chen, the founder and CEO of Tongxin Medical, majored in gas turbines, but he has always been interested in medicine.
In 2006, he led the team to develop a fully magnetic levitation artificial heart, but it was not accepted clinically due to its too large size and ended in failure.
However, Chen Chen was not discouraged and hoped to re-develop a fully magnetic levitation artificial heart.
In 2007, Suzhou Industrial Park contacted Chen Chen and gave a start-up fund for research and development.
Chen Chen saw the opportunity and founded Tongxin Medical in 2008.
The Ministry of Science and Technology listed the fully magnetic levitation artificial heart as a key project of the "863 Plan", and Chen Chen served as the project leader.
"I firmly believe that the Chinese will be able to make the world's leading products!" In November 2021, the fully magnetic levitation artificial heart developed by Chen Chen and his team took 13 years to be approved for sale.
At present, there are only two fully magnetic levitation artificial hearts approved for the market in the world, and the other one is from the United States.
Compared with similar products in the United States, domestic products are smaller in size, lighter in weight, better in blood compatibility, and have more advantages in terms of surgical trauma, infection risk, and device reliability.
In 1993, when faced with the direction of industrialization of basic research results, researchers from the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, located in Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, finally chose the field of heavy ion therapy for cancer.
Ma Lizhen, chairman of Guoke Ion Medical Technology Co., Ltd., witnessed the birth of the first domestic heavy ion cancer treatment equipment.
Ma Ma joined the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1995 as an engineer of a heavy ion accelerator, responsible for the operation and maintenance of the accelerator. He started the design in 2008, and officially started the construction of a complete set of cancer treatment devices in 2012.
"A large number of scientists and engineers persevered in the northwest, and they achieved the success of the development of heavy ion cancer treatment equipment." Ma Lizhen recalled that the researchers worked hard and firmly believed that they would be able to create internationally advanced equipment.
In March 2020, my country's first carbon ion therapy system with independent intellectual property rights was put into clinical application in the Heavy Ion Center of Wuwei Cancer Hospital in Gansu Province.
Since then, my country has become the fourth country to achieve heavy ion beam therapy for tumors after the United States, Japan and Germany.
According to Ma Lizhen, compared with imported heavy ion cancer treatment equipment, the construction cost of domestic equipment is only 1/3 to 1/2, the weight and volume are smaller, the hospital investment is less, and the burden on patients is lighter.
Break through the core technology
"The key core technology is not given by others, it can only rely on self-reliance and independent innovation"
"At the beginning of our business, we could also develop magnetic resonance equipment by purchasing core technologies. If we go this route, our products will always be at least one generation behind others," said Zhang Qiang, chairman and CEO of United Imaging Medical.
Everything starts from scratch, and the challenges can be imagined.
At that time, multinational giants had occupied the high-end medical imaging equipment market for decades, and their accumulated technological "moat" was unattainable.
In order to break through the core technology as soon as possible, the entrepreneurial team of United Imaging Medical has been fighting day and night.
"In the beginning, many people did not believe that the Chinese could develop high-end magnetic resonance imaging, and believed that the performance of domestic equipment was unreliable." Zhang Qiang said that when United Imaging medical equipment entered the hospital in the early days, there would always be imported similar equipment nearby.
Under this invisible pressure, United Imaging's R&D team is often stationed in the hospital, listening to doctors' feedback at any time, quickly solving clinical problems, and continuously improving product performance, which amazes doctors.
In August 2017, Fujita Health University Hospital in Japan introduced an ultra-clear light guide PET-CT from United Imaging Medical.
This is the first Chinese high-end medical imaging equipment to enter the Japanese market.
Japan is known for its strict medical access. United Imaging's high-end medical equipment "breaks the ice" in Japan, which means it has truly entered the world stage.
A director of a Chinese tertiary hospital visited Japan and was very surprised to see this domestic equipment. After returning to China, he decided to purchase United Imaging medical equipment.
Facing the major needs of the country, facing the life and health of the people, and rushing to the most urgent and urgent issues are the unremitting pursuit of United Imaging staff.
At the beginning of 2020, the new crown pneumonia epidemic suddenly came, and Shanghai Ruijin Hospital urgently needed a CT dedicated for fever clinic.
United Imaging completed the installation and commissioning within 24 hours, setting an industry record.
This "Sky Eye CT" is equipped with "Sky Eye AI" fully intelligent automatic scanning and navigation, which supports intelligent positioning of compartments, and doctors do not need to enter the examination room, which greatly reduces the risk of cross infection.
The big epidemic is like a big test. United Imaging Medical has achieved an amazing "acceleration", and each product is precisely connected to the needs of epidemic prevention and control.
"The key core technology is not given by others, it can only rely on self-reliance and independent innovation. Only by breaking through the key core technology can we have the right to speak in the international market." Xue Min said.
The heart is the "engine" of the human body.
The so-called full magnetic levitation artificial heart is a miniature high-power blood pump implanted in the apex of the heart to replace the "pump" function of the human heart.
Therefore, the blood pump is the core technology of the fully magnetic levitation artificial heart.
The first major problem in the development of a fully magnetic levitation artificial heart is to reduce the volume of the blood pump as much as possible while ensuring the high-efficiency operation of the blood pump.
Chen Chen led the team to creatively use the different characteristics of permanent magnets and electromagnets to reduce the volume and power consumption of electromagnets through a special modulation method of "four or two", thereby reducing the diameter of the rotor, optimizing the internal structure of the blood pump, and reducing the volume of the blood pump. Overall shrink.
The second major problem in the development of a fully magnetic levitation artificial heart is to solve the problem of blood compatibility.
Chen Chen's team continued to optimize the internal flow channel design of the blood pump, allowing the blood to flow efficiently in the blood pump, while reducing the damage to the blood, effectively solving hemolysis, thrombosis, bleeding and other blood compatibility problems.
"We can't be followers, we have to do better than others' products. To develop an innovative product, we must understand every core technology, be patient, keep trying, and keep revising." Chen Chen said, All the technologies of the full magnetic levitation artificial heart are in the hands of the Chinese. The core technologies related to the products have been applied for a number of patents in the United States, Europe, Japan and other places, breaking through the international intellectual property barriers.
Malignant tumors seriously threaten human health, and radiotherapy is one of the most important treatment methods.
Conventional radiotherapy mainly uses X-rays and γ-rays, etc. After the rays enter the human body, side effects are prone to occur.
"After the heavy ion beam enters the human body, it will not release a large amount of energy in the shallow layer to damage normal tissues, but will release almost all the energy at a certain depth, thereby greatly improving the precision of radiotherapy and reducing the pain of patients. Therefore, heavy ion radiotherapy technology It is an internationally recognized cutting-edge technology." Ma Lizhen said.
"We have more than 500 people directly involved in R&D and construction, including more than 10 academicians in the fields of basic physics, nuclear technology and applications." Ma Lizhen introduced, from drawings to equipment, from huge scientific research devices to those that can be put into Every step of the hospital's medical equipment requires scientific research and engineering personnel to overcome many difficulties.
At present, all heavy ion cancer treatment equipment has been localized, and more than 60 patented technologies have been obtained.
Recruit outstanding talents
"Attract people with dreams, retain people with career, and achieve people with stage, fully release the innovative vitality of talents, and create an atmosphere that encourages innovation and tolerates failure"
Talent is the foundation of independent innovation.
The high-end medical equipment industry is a technology-intensive industry. Where do innovative talents come from?
Zhang Qiang said: "Using dreams to attract people, use careers to retain people, use the stage to achieve people, fully release the innovative vitality of talents, and create an atmosphere that encourages innovation and tolerates failure is the secret of United Imaging's success."
Zhang Qiang remembers that United Imaging Medical put forward the company's vision at the beginning of its business - to become a world-class medical innovation leader.
Many people with ideals and feelings have resolutely joined United Imaging Medical's entrepreneurial team.
At present, United Imaging Medical has gathered a large number of outstanding professionals, with a total talent echelon of more than 5,400 people, of which more than 39% are R&D personnel.
In May 2021, United Imaging Microelectronics released the first "China Core" dedicated to high-end medical imaging.
With the birth of this "China Core", United Imaging Group has officially established a full-chain vertical innovation system from the whole machine system to the core components to the underlying components.
This is mainly due to the efficient cooperation and complementary advantages of the two teams of the whole machine and the chip, which highlights the cohesion and combat effectiveness of the talent team.
"We are committed to becoming a world-class company. This is a difficult but long-term road. In the future, United Imaging will have to advance into many 'no man's land'. Only by recruiting talents from all over the world can we continue to surpass." Xue Min said.
Based on domestic research institutes and universities, cultivating local talents is the key to the success of domestic heavy ion cancer treatment equipment.
In order to promote the industrialization of heavy ion therapy technology, Guoke Ion has built a team of nearly 500 people, including more than 100 front-line workers, more than 300 technicians, and nearly 100 R&D personnel.
Many of them graduated from famous domestic universities, majoring in physics, biology, medicine, nuclear technology, electrical appliances, machinery, etc.
In order to give full play to the creativity of talents, Guoke Ion provides employees with a relaxed and free working environment.
"The company implements a result-oriented assessment. As long as the product can be submitted with high quality and quantity when it is due, it is up to the employees to decide how to work in the middle." Ma Lizhen introduced that for the project leader, it needs to allocate people, money and materials, and the company will quickly allocate them. , How to do it is determined by the project leader, and the company will not interfere.
After the researchers enter the company, as long as the research and development projects conform to the development direction of the company's products, the relevant funds are guaranteed, and a certain amount of fault tolerance is given.
It is the "magic weapon" of the artificial heart team to recruit high-quality talents at home and abroad and give full play to the advantages of collaborative innovation at home and abroad.
Chen Chen introduced that Tongxin Medical had a research and development force of less than 10 people when it was established, but in the second year, it established a wholly-owned subsidiary abroad and hired a global team of consultants to assist in research and development.
Today, the company has a talent team of more than 200 people, and has R&D centers at home and abroad, bringing together the world's top industry resources in the field of artificial heart, and giving full play to the R&D advantages of the two places.
"We have formed an international R&D team that can win battles." Chen Chen said that Tongxin Medical's R&D team is a multidisciplinary team, including medicine, machinery, electronics, software, materials, etc.
For the recruited talents, we will cultivate them into excellent industrial engineers in accordance with the highest international standards.
Smooth innovation chain
"Break the innovation silos between disciplines, build an industry-university-research-medicine collaborative innovation platform, and realize the linkage up and down the innovation value chain"
High-end medical equipment is the product of multidisciplinary intersection.
Production enterprises cannot "fight alone", but must rely on teamwork to open up the innovation chain and realize the deep integration of production, education, research and medicine.
In November 2021, the "Independent Development and Industrialization of High-Field Magnetic Resonance Medical Imaging Equipment" project, led by United Imaging Medical and jointly completed by Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, and Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, won the "Independent Development and Industrialization of High-Field Magnetic Resonance Medical Imaging Equipment" project. The first prize of the 2020 National Science and Technology Progress Award".
This is a "sample" of the deep integration of industry-university-research-medicine.
Zhang Qiang said: "One of United Imaging's important successful experiences is to break the innovation silos between disciplines, build a collaborative innovation platform for industry-university-research-medicine, and realize the linkage of the innovation value chain up and down."
10 years ago, United Imaging Medical joined hands with Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences to create a new mechanism for the "diffusion and integration" of technology and industry.
The Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has opened up a "special zone" for scientific researchers, which stipulates that researchers only need to consider the problems of enterprises, and do not have to worry about applying for topics and writing papers.
As long as you make breakthroughs in magnetic resonance technology, you can get promotions and salary increases.
Under such a mechanism, scientists and engineers achieve a "seamless connection".
Many researchers live in Shenzhen from Shenzhen to Shanghai to jointly tackle key problems with the team of engineers.
In the past, it was difficult for domestic medical imaging equipment to knock on the door of top tertiary hospitals.
However, the PLA General Hospital, Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University and other institutions have a unique vision, actively embrace independent innovation "producers", fully support domestic high-end medical equipment to take the road of independent innovation, and jointly incubate forward-looking scientific research results.
Fan Jia, Dean of Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will never forget his "first encounter" with United Imaging.
Since 2014, Zhongshan Hospital and United Imaging have jointly explored the innovative model of production, education, research and medical care, and have produced a number of world-class innovative products.
From the birth of China's first 3.0T MRI to China's first PET/MR clinical trial, from the world's first 2-meter PET-CT first applied to the world's first 5.0T MRI, Zhongshan Hospital and United Imaging Medical have joined forces. It has laid the foundation for comprehensively overcoming the "stuck neck" technology and mastering the international discourse power.
As early as 2013, Tongxin Medical began to cooperate with Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.
At the beginning, Fuwai Hospital took the lead in conducting animal experiments. After achieving good results, the product design was further optimized and clinical trials were started.
Since June 2017, Hu Shengshou, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, director of the National Cardiovascular Disease Center, and president of Fuwai Hospital, has successfully used the fully magnetic levitation artificial heart to treat 3 critically ill patients, creating a successful clinical application of artificial hearts in my country. precedent.
"Although the full magnetic levitation artificial heart has been approved for marketing, there is still room for further optimization." Chen Chen said that the artificial heart will eventually need to be used by doctors on patients. right.
In addition to Fuwai Hospital, Tongxin Medical also cooperates with Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Xi'an Xijing Hospital, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Wuhan Union Hospital and other hospitals to effectively solve clinical problems.
Chen Chen introduced that the current full magnetic levitation artificial heart is powered by external batteries, and the patient needs to carry the battery around the clock, and the power supply wire penetrates the abdominal cavity, which affects the normal life of the patient.
"The next generation of products must solve the problem of wireless charging, and patients no longer need wires. This involves batteries, wireless charging, electrical engineering and other fields, hoping to achieve breakthrough innovations."
With the help of a group of oncologists, researchers from the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have built the first medical heavy ion cancer treatment equipment with independent intellectual property rights in my country.
In April 2018, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Holdings Co., Ltd. and the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences initiated the establishment of Guoke Ion Medical Technology Co., Ltd. The backbone team is mainly composed of R&D and engineering technicians from the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
At present, the heavy ion cancer treatment equipment built in Wuwei has been put into clinical application. The heavy ion cancer treatment equipment built in Lanzhou is about to be put into clinical application. The projects in Wuhan, Hubei, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Putian, Fujian and other places are under construction.
Ma Lizhen said that the company is developing a new generation of heavy ion cancer treatment equipment, and has set up a central control room to centrally manage equipment across the country to provide standardized treatment for tumor patients in various places.
The company will continue to carry out in-depth cooperation with the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Sun Yat-sen University Affiliated Cancer Hospital, Peking University Third Hospital and other institutions, so that more scientific and technological achievements can benefit the people.
■Reporter's Notes
Take key core technologies in your own hands
The world's first full-body 5.0T magnetic resonance imaging, the first domestically produced fully magnetic levitation artificial heart, and the first domestically produced heavy ion cancer treatment equipment... The advent of these products marks that my country's high-end medical devices have broken foreign monopoly, and significant progress has been made in independent technological innovation. Exciting.
Innovation is the soul of a nation's progress and the inexhaustible source of a country's prosperity.
Historical experience has proved that key core technologies cannot be obtained, bought, or negotiated.
Only by firmly grasping the key core technologies in our own hands can we get rid of the fate of being "stuck in the neck".
For a long time, most of my country's high-end medical devices have relied on imports.
Multinational "giants" have been operating for decades or even centuries, seizing opportunities in the field of core technologies, in order to monopolize the market and obtain excess profits.
If Chinese companies want to "break through", they need a long period of scientific research and technology accumulation.
Only by being firm and confident, enduring loneliness, having the courage to explore, and not afraid of failure, can we seize the opportunity and win the initiative.
Talent is the foundation of independent innovation. We must be good at attracting, retaining, and making good use of talents, and gather talents from all over the world to use them, so that innovation potential can be fully released and innovation vitality can fully flow.
Infinite scenery is in the dangerous peak.
It is hoped that more enterprises will strive to realize the independent and controllable key core technologies, and firmly grasp the initiative of innovation and development in their own hands.
Our reporter Bai Jianfeng and Shen Shaotie