Disposable endoscopes: A new track for domestic medical devices

Medical devices are a "bright pearl" in the biopharmaceutical industry and a synonym for technological innovation, often associated with "high-end technology". In modern hospitals, a wide variety of medical devices serve as important assistants in modern medical diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, the medical device industry has become an important area of the biopharmaceutical industry in various countries around the world, a strategic emerging industry that is both capital and knowledge intensive.

　　In the past, the medical device industry was mainly dominated by European and American giants, with brands such as Siemens and Olympus being particularly well-known. In recent years, China's medical device industry has continued to grow and develop, following a path from tracking and imitation to original innovation.

　　Disposable endoscopes are popular

　　Among the many medical devices, there is a product that uses a small lens to enter the human body through natural body cavities or small surgical incisions, directly observing the organs to be examined, and is known as the doctor's "eyes". This is the endoscope, a medical device frequently used in patients' daily medical examinations.

　　“In modern medicine, endoscopy is the gold standard for early cancer screening and minimally invasive surgery; it can detect lesions that cannot be displayed by X-rays." Medical experts generally believe that endoscopes such as laparoscopes, thoracoscopes, hysteroscopes, and arthroscopes are indispensable for examinations and minimally invasive surgeries in various surgical departments, including general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, urology, thoracic surgery, and orthopedics.

　　Endoscopes have been used for over a hundred years. Generally speaking, they mainly consist of a host and a mirror, etc., and are considered large medical equipment and fixed assets of medical institutions. In recent years, a new type of disposable endoscope, which is a consumable, has begun to be used in clinical trials and some treatment areas, complementing traditional endoscopes and is even considered a potential replacement. For example, Ambu's bronchoscope from Denmark has been widely used in the global clinical field. Under the guidance of new industry trends, some domestic medical device companies have also begun to enter this new field.

　　Why are disposable devices so popular? Clinical medical experts told reporters that this is largely due to considerations of hospital infection prevention, and medical institutions have a real need for disposable endoscopes. "We first used disposable endoscopes in the field of infectious diseases; when performing surgery on an AIDS patient with kidney stones, we used a disposable ureteral nephroscope." Fu Fajun, director of urology at Changsha Central Hospital, said that disposable endoscopes can greatly reduce the risk of cross-infection in the treatment of patients with infectious diseases such as pulmonary tuberculosis, AIDS, and hepatitis B.

　　Disinfection of traditional endoscopes is a major pain point in clinical use. In the view of Zhang Hao, deputy director of the Department of Gynecology at the First People's Hospital of Guangzhou, traditional endoscopes have a precise structure with many small switches and are difficult to disassemble and clean each part. Even tiny residual microorganisms and secretions provide a potential environment for cross-infection. Disposable endoscopes, on the other hand, eliminate this problem as they are discarded after use.

　　Is a disposable alternative reliable for a precision medical device that used to cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan? Whether it can achieve the same detection effect is a doubt people have about this new thing. Reporters learned that an important indicator for measuring the quality of an endoscope is its image quality. According to ZengGuohuaand other medical experts, the image quality and operability of disposable endoscopes have basically reached or approached the level of traditional endoscopes, meeting the needs of most clinical treatments. This is also the reason for the growth of new companies in this field, such as Ambu from Denmark.

　　Can hospitals and patients afford it?

　　For China, the popularization of disposable devices can also reduce procurement costs, allowing more primary-level medical institutions to use this medical service. Many medical professionals have pointed out that traditional endoscopes often cost hundreds of thousands of yuan for a host and tens of thousands of yuan for a soft scope, plus repair fees, disinfection fees, and labor costs, making them expensive. Primary-level institutions basically "cannot afford" to buy or use them.

　　“In large hospitals, for some popular examination items, patients often have to make appointments and queue up to use endoscopes. Smaller hospitals simply do not have the capacity to purchase endoscopes, and many examination and surgical procedures cannot be performed." Wang Wen, director of orthopedics at Guangzhou Red Cross Hospital, said.

　　Wang Wen said that the emergence of disposable endoscopes allows medical institutions in remote and primary-level areas to purchase disposable endoscopes at lower unit Prices for disease examination and treatment.

　　Reporters learned that at this stage, for hospitals, this new product has a cost advantage, but in the short term, for patients, the use of disposable instruments may be more expensive than traditional endoscopy examination fees.

　　Yi Feng, chairman of Guangzhou Rupai Medical Devices Co., Ltd., which is engaged in the research and development and production of endoscopes, said that this is temporary; once the number of products used increases, the cost will inevitably decrease, and ultimately, it will not increase the cost for hospitals and patients.

　　Can the new thing be used?

　　Reporters learned that although disposable endoscopes are now available in the medical market for gastroscopy, colonoscopy, hysteroscopy, cholangiography, and ureteroscopy, the use of disposable endoscopes is still mainly limited to clinical trials, and medical institutions do not have many large-scale purchases.

　　Yi Feng introduced that the limitations on charging catalogues and the small application scale are two major obstacles to the promotion and application of new technologies and products.

　　According to China's laws and regulations, medical products and services in non-profit medical institutions implement government-guided Prices. New medical device products must be approved before they can be included in the charging catalogue. "For disposable endoscopes and other medical devices, medical institutions have a demand, but only a few provinces in the country have included disposable endoscopes in the charging catalogue. In provinces where it is not listed in the charging catalogue, hospitals cannot purchase it, and patients cannot use it or they are forced to use it secretly or just for trials." Yi Feng said.

　　The small market application scale has resulted in the Price of disposable endoscope bodies not being able to come down, which is still higher than that of traditional endoscope bodies. Reporters learned that at present, the Price of domestic disposable endoscopes is greatly reduced compared with that of traditional endoscopes, usually below 100,000 yuan. However, the Price of a single disposable soft endoscope is 20% to 30% higher than that of a traditional soft endoscope.

　　Industry insiders analyzed that disposable endoscopes are a relatively new field. In the initial stage, its Price will certainly be higher than that of traditional endoscopes. As market applications expand and mass production increases, its Price will certainly drop to the same level as or even lower than that of traditional endoscopes in the future.

　　In recent years, with the application of new technologies such as biomedicine and 3D printing, a number of new companies have emerged in the domestic medical equipment field. They are trying to compete with international big Brands and achieve a "counterattack" of domestic Brands in this high-end medical industry.

　　“In the field of disposable endoscopes, domestic Brands have competitive advantages in technology, industrial chain, and comprehensive costs. For this newmedical industryfield, we remain optimistic and hopeful." Yi Feng said.