In recent years, China's technological innovation capability has significantly improved, officially entering the ranks of innovative countries. Among them, the development of medical technology, especially high-end medical equipment, is an important manifestation of the improvement of innovation capability. Advanced medical equipment has improved medical efficiency and quality. Currently, the market size of high-end medical equipment in China is constantly expanding, and related technologies and industries are developing rapidly.

From import to export

At the recently held Shenzhen International High Performance Medical Equipment Exhibition, the world's first 5.0T human whole-body magnetic resonance imaging product was released, becoming a star of the exhibition. This high-end medical equipment embodies the achievements of the cooperation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen Advanced Technology Research Institute and other units. It was approved by the National Medical Device Registration (NMPA) in August last year, and became the world's first breakthrough ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging universal product.

Magnetic resonance imaging is a powerful tool for the imaging diagnosis of major diseases such as cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, neurological, and tumor diseases. In 2007, Fan Jianping, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen Advanced Institute, began to lay out biomedical engineering and medical device research and development when building the second research institute of the Shenzhen Advanced Institute.

16 years ago, Zheng Hairong, who had just returned to China from the University of California and joined Shenzhen Advanced Institute, was tasked with establishing a biomedical imaging research center and was shocked by the expensive price of imported magnetic resonance equipment. A machine costs tens of millions of yuan, and even scientific research may not be affordable, let alone ordinary people seeking medical treatment, "Zheng Hairong recalled. At that time, only a few medical equipment giants in the world monopolized the production of high field human magnetic resonance imaging products, which were expensive in the Chinese market and had high patient examination costs.

Medical emergencies are also a pain for the industry. In 2008, the Lauterberg Medical Imaging Laboratory of Shenzhen Advanced Institute began to layout the research and development of magnetic resonance imaging technology. Subsequently, we jointly launched the research and development plan for the "3.0T High Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging System" with Lianying Medical. In response to the global challenge of slow magnetic resonance imaging speed and the foreign technological monopoly of high field superconducting imaging, the project team has created a "software hardware collaborative" magnetic resonance rapid imaging technology system, and constructed a "sparse acquisition, fast scanning, and precise reconstruction" technology path for image data, overcoming the core components of the system and the difficulties of imaging technology.

Since its establishment, the company has placed great emphasis on the autonomy and controllability of its core components. Currently, Lianying Medical has overcome a series of key technologies, "said Wang Haining, Vice President of R&D at Lianying Medical.

In 2021, the domestically produced 3.0T high field magnetic resonance imaging equipment developed by the project team won the first prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award, achieving a major breakthrough in independent innovation of high-end medical equipment in China. The successful development of the 3T magnetic resonance system has made China one of the few countries that independently master all core technologies and complete machine manufacturing of magnetic resonance; The series of magnetic resonance imaging products from Lianying Company have entered more than a thousand hospitals in 31 provinces, effectively alleviating the problem of expensive and difficult medical treatment for ordinary people using high-end imaging equipment, and achieving reverse export to overseas markets such as the United States and Europe. China has transformed from a net importer to an exporter.

3T breaks the international monopoly, and domestically produced equipment demonstrates a latecomer advantage, while 5T achieves cross generational leadership and international leadership, effectively changing the international industrial and technological landscape of magnetic resonance imaging.

The Radiology Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital was one of the first users of 5.0T ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging. The chief physician of the department, Wang Yining, once treated a 44 year old female patient with sudden limb weakness. Previously, no abnormalities were detected using a 3T system, but a dangerous arterial dissection was diagnosed using a 5T system. The insufficient resolution of 3T examination did not detect any cerebrovascular problems, while the high-resolution vascular imaging of 5T can help us identify the cause and make earlier diagnosis and treatment. ”Wang Yining said.

In order to meet the major cutting-edge scientific needs such as neuroscience, after China's first 3T and the world's first 5T magnetic resonance imaging, Zheng Hairong's team is currently collaborating with Lianying to develop higher resolution and high-sensitivity human magnetic resonance imaging research equipment.

From achievements to products

Not only magnetic resonance imaging, but also many achievements of Shenzhen Advanced Institute have been transformed into high-end medical equipment.

Li Lei, Director of Medical Imaging Research and Development at Mindray, introduced that previously, the new generation of ultrasound shear wave elastography key technology and application jointly developed by Zheng Hairong's team from Shenzhen Advanced Institute and Mindray won the second prize of National Technology Invention Award in 2017.

We have created a fully independent intellectual property "Key Technology and Application System for Ultrasonic Shear Wave Elastography" and transformed three series of high-end ultrasound quantitative elastography products, enabling early screening and accurate grading of liver fibrosis without the need for puncture.

Actively advocating the industrialization of scientific research achievements is an important component of the culture of Shenzhen Advanced Institute. Liang Dong, director of the Institute of Medical Engineering at Shenzhen Advanced Hospital, stated that medical engineering has a fine tradition of developing scientific research instruments. Firstly, biomedical engineering is a highly interdisciplinary field, with multiple disciplines such as medicine, biology, engineering, electronics, and materials intersecting together, and its exports are medical devices and equipment; Secondly, at the beginning of its establishment, the Medical Engineering Institute set the goal of "academic leadership and service industry", forming a team of scientists and engineers mixed together; Thirdly, due to historical reasons, China's scientific instruments have long relied on imports. In order to solve this bottleneck, medical engineering institutes have taken the development of scientific research instruments as a mission and shouldered it.

Zheng Hairong believes that the three innovation mechanisms of project teams are different from traditional technological innovation models: firstly, scientific research should closely focus on national strategic needs. Although some projects have not published articles, they obtain invention patents during the research and development process, master core technologies, break through international barriers, and build an independent intellectual property system; The second is to closely cooperate with enterprises and address their urgent needs. Researchers will apply their cutting-edge technology to products to truly enhance their international competitiveness; Thirdly, there is a scientific and flexible management mechanism for scientific research teams, which breaks through the "four criteria" from salary and benefits to professional title promotion, considers the specific technical contributions of each member, and allows researchers to receive the rewards and sense of professional achievement they deserve.

From innovation chain to industrial chain

As an important support for realizing the national innovation driven strategy, the development level of instruments and meters determines the development of strategic emerging industries such as emerging information industry, high-end equipment manufacturing industry, new energy and new materials. Medical instruments are a particularly important category among them. "Zhang Tong, Secretary General of the China Instrument and Meter Society, introduced that in recent years, while the industry scale has continued to grow, the industrial chain and technological strength of China's instrument and meter industry have also developed rapidly, forming a relatively complete industrial system and technological innovation system, shortening the gap with the international advanced level.

The scale of China's medical equipment market has maintained rapid growth in the past 10 years, reaching 1.15 trillion yuan last year, and has become the second largest market in the world. The medical device industry in China is also developing rapidly, from small to large. The next step is naturally to target the high-end market with high technology and profits.

In this regard, the medical device industry in Shenzhen has performed outstandingly, accounting for three top positions. According to incomplete statistics from the Shenzhen Medical Device Industry Association, there are currently over 1800 medical device companies in Shenzhen. In terms of output value scale, Shenzhen's medical device output value accounts for about 8% to 10% of the country's total, with exports accounting for over 13%, ranking first among major cities in the country; Medical device manufacturing enterprises gather at the forefront of the country, with the number of enterprises exceeding 100 million yuan ranking first among all cities. The average output value of a single enterprise exceeds 60 million yuan, maintaining more than twice the national average level; The market value of listed companies accounts for nearly one-third of the country's total, and their size ranks first in the country.

The fundamental basis for the rapid development of industries relies on technological innovation. Since the establishment of Shenzhen Advanced Institute in the field of biomedical engineering in 2007, the high-end medical imaging team has spent 16 years breaking through the imaging methods, core components, and systems of medical imaging equipment such as high field human superconducting fast magnetic resonance, functional ultrasound imaging, and regulation. They have authorized 505 patents and transferred 208. The establishment and operation of major national scientific research and industrial innovation platforms such as the National High Performance Medical Device Innovation Center will further inject new impetus into medical device innovation.

Shenzhen has multiple advantages in developing the high-end medical device industry. Firstly, it has a rich industrial chain and strong supporting capabilities. Secondly, it has a high degree of internationalization, attracting talents from various disciplines around the world. Thirdly, it has a high degree of industry openness and close cooperation between industry, academia, research and application. On this soil full of innovation and vitality in Shenzhen, more miracles will definitely be created in the future, "said Bi Yale, Director of the Shenzhen Advanced Institute Enterprise Cooperation and Innovation Development Department. (Economic Daily reporter She Huimin)