The times create the hero! The wave of digital medical devices in "digital medicine" is surging

Since 2015, the Ministry of Science and Technology has successfully launched the pilot project application for "Digital Diagnosis and Treatment Equipment Research and Development." Since then, the "Digital Diagnosis and Treatment Equipment Research and Development" key project has been listed as one of the first six pilot projects and officially entered the implementation stage. These pilot projects are more inclined to focus on early diagnosis, precise diagnosis, minimally invasive treatment, and precision treatment, with ten major strategic products such as multi-modal molecular imaging and large-scale radiotherapy equipment as the focus. They systematically strengthen the research and development of core components and key technologies, accelerate the integration of innovation chains and industrial chains in China's medical device field, and promote the overall progress of China's digital diagnosis and treatment equipment to the international advanced level.

The "Digital Diagnosis and Treatment Equipment Research and Development" project has set four tasks: frontier and common technology innovation, major equipment research and development, application solution research, and application demonstration and evaluation research, with 20 key directions. Seven major medical device companies and 20 key products will be the first to benefit. The so-called digital diagnosis and treatment equipment refers to high-end, high-value medical devices such as CT, MRI, color ultrasound, and digital X-ray machines (DR) that can transmit medical imaging information to doctors.

We know that medical devices are affected by policies,After the successful application,Yuwell Medical, Hejia Co., Ltd., Libang Instrument, Dongsoft Group, China Resources Wandong, Dire Medical, and Dongfulong, these seven major medical device companies, relying on their own R&D innovation capabilities, diversified M&A strategies, and global marketing channels, are among the first to benefit.In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also announced the “This clarified ten key areas, including high-performance medical devices, and 23 key development directions, and digital medical devices also belong to high-performance medical devices.We have selected the following 20 key products:

Currently, many domestic and foreign companies that have taken the lead in adopting digital technologies have realized that only by changing existing processes, using more convenient methods, and adopting more visual and transparent operations can they provide better services to patients, doctors, and payers.Cooperation and acquisitions have become two major trends for companies deploying digital medical or technical solutions.

In order to optimize workflows, Roche Diagnostics and GE Healthcare jointly launched the innovative NAVIFY Tumor Board multidisciplinary consultation platform, an online solution that promotes personalized cancer treatment. The platform combines medical imaging, patient data, and clinical decision support applications to help multidisciplinary teams gain a more comprehensive understanding of each patient, achieve efficient and intelligent decision-making, and provide better treatment options for cancer patients.

As the industry's first shared integrated diagnostic platform, this collaboration provides an ecosystem that includes applications and workflow management solutions. Both participating companies are committed to seamless integration and analysis of comprehensive data from laboratory and medical imaging, patient cases, best medical practices, real-world real-time monitoring, and the latest research results. The platform aims to enhance clinicians' confidence to make the best treatment decisions for each patient. The platform has been launched in many countries in Asia and went online in Singapore in April 2019. This platform is an example of medical device companies using digital tools to optimize hospital workflows and improve patient outcomes.

Smith & Nephew acquired Brainlab's digital surgical technology for orthopedic joint reconstruction. After the acquisition, Smith & Nephew can use Brainlab's numerous technologies, including cloud computing, digital tracking, augmented reality, robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, image fusion, and anatomical cutting. The integration of these technologies will form a powerful digital ecosystem, incubating groundbreaking clinical solutions, and further strengthening Smith & Nephew's robotics technology.

As a doctor, Fan Lihong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, said that now using AI technology, he can easily tell patients about the distribution and size of lung nodules, helping to improve diagnosis and treatment while also helping patients better understand their condition. He also said that in the face of the wave of digital transformation, public comprehensive hospitals are actively seeking change, striving to use digital medical technology to "demolish" the "walls" of medical services for patients.

In Fan Lihong's view, in the future, patients may be able to achieve self-service medical services through digital means: arranging relevant examinations as needed. In his depiction of the digital medical vision, intelligent medical equipment and telemedicine equipment can also eliminate the medical "walls" of "time," "distance," and "environment," helping to achieve the Healthy China strategy.

Dr. Hu Jialu, from the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Zhongshan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University, is the person in charge of the online clinic (e-heart clinic) for cardiovascular disease in the department. According to Hu Jialu, by creating a "Internet + cardiovascular disease" medical and health service platform, the "e-heart clinic" has helped thousands of hypertensive patients establish complete online health records, and at the same time, it cooperates with various departments to conduct full-cycle management of patients; based on the "e-heart clinic," the heart-specialized follow-up system created brings convenience to patients and is very popular.

In the first quarter of 2021, digital medicine led the cutting-edge progress in biomedicine and cross-disciplinary fields, with financing and investment reaching US\$15.3 billion, exceeding half of the total financing for the previous year. As a cross-scientific innovation field, five years ago, no one really knew what this field was or how to define it. Today, digital health and digital medicine have been widely researched and applied. Without the catalysis of the epidemic, digital health and digital medicine might have taken at least ten years of slow development, instead of the unstoppable eruption like a volcano today.