May 16, 1960, the American physicist Mayman made the first laser: ruby laser. For the application of light to open a new page. Since then, the function of light is no longer limited to lighting, began to enter the communication, medical, environmental protection, energy and many other fields, to promote the development of mankind on the "high-speed train".
To commemorate the first ruby laser made by Meyman, UNESCO has designated May 16th of each year as the International Day of Light, in recognition of the enormous impact of optics and photonics.
Similarly, optical technologies are empowering the medical device industry, with mature and expanding applications that show great promise. In this interview, Dr. He Jiaye, an associate researcher at the National Innovation Center for High Performance Medical Devices, discusses the current status and market of optical technology in the medical device field, as well as the opportunities and challenges of local optical technology in the medical device field.
Editor: Perception Vision
| Interviews
Associate Researcher at the National Center for High-Performance Medical Devices (NCHPMD), Dr. He Jiaye
Dr. He Jiaye is an associate researcher at the National Center for High-Performance Medical Devices (NCHPMD), a leading medical technology company in China. He graduated from the Department of Mathematics, University of Cambridge, UK in 2013 and is an associate researcher at the National Center for High Performance Medical Devices Innovation. He has a Master's degree from the University of Cambridge and the University of Warwick, and a PhD and Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Max Planck Institute in Germany. Dr. Huisken has been engaged in bio-optical microscopy research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) and the Morgridge Institute for Research in the United States. His PhD supervisor Jan Huisken is the founder of light sheet microscopy, and his postdoctoral supervisor Ralf Jungmann is the founder of DNA-PAINT super-resolution technique. During his PhD, he completed the world's first light sheet imaging of a variety of model organisms.
Jia-Ye He joined the National Innovation Center for High Performance Medical Devices (NICPMD) in 2021, where he worked on the technical development of new optical imaging detection instruments for pathology. In just 2 years, his team has completed nearly 10 core patents and principle prototypes, and plans to carry out clinical validation within a year, realizing the localization of cutting-edge international optical testing technology and industrial transformation.
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The pure innovation of technology can not be separated from the clinical application scenarios
Optics is everywhere, solar energy utilization, laser welding and cutting, chip manufacturing, film projection, fiber optic communication, photosynthesis, X-ray applications and microscope applications. applications and microscopes, etc. In the medical field, optical technology plays an even more important role. In the medical field, optics plays an irreplaceable role.
Medical devices, as an important tool in modern medicine, play an extremely important role in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, and their strategic position is highly valued by countries around the world, while optical technology is one of the underlying core technologies of high-performance medical devices, empowering the development of a thriving medical device industry.
The National Innovation Center for High Performance Medical Devices (NICPMD) was born with the aim of breaking through the technical barriers and filling the technical gaps in the domestic industry by focusing on the multiple applications of optical technology in medical devices.
In April 2020, the National Innovation Center for High Performance Medical Devices (NICHPMD) was established by Myriad Healthcare, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (SIAT), UnionPhoto Medical, First Health Technology, and Harbin Institute of Technology, focusing on high-end medical imaging, in-vitro diagnostics, biomaterials and implantable devices, robotics and advanced therapeutics, and rehabilitation information, etc. The Center has set up a nearly 20,000-square-meter facility to support the development of medical devices. The center has built nearly 20,000 square meters of **** technology research and development platform.
According to He Jiaye, in the National Innovation Center, optical technology as the core of the medical device research is divided into three directions: First, the in vivo optical imaging instrument research, such as endoscopy, ophthalmic instruments, dermatoscopy, etc.; the second is the field of in vitro diagnostics, the use of optical technology to do ultrasensitive single-molecule detection research; the third is the medical imaging class testing instrument research, some isolated tissues, pathology imaging, used to assist in diagnosis, and the third is the medical imaging class testing instrument research. Pathological imaging, used to assist in diagnosis.
When it comes to self-developed optical medical devices, Hejia Ye said the most words are "transformation of scientific and technological achievements". From the perspective of the technological revolution, the transformation of scientific and technological achievements is indeed imminent. Because now, the world is sweeping a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial revolution, the urgent need to China's cutting-edge technology from the laboratory to industrial applications.
According to Hejia Ye's introduction, the three optical technology research direction basically completed the engineering prototype validation, the follow-up will be as soon as possible with the clinical application of the docking, is expected to be within a year on the ground to transform, to realize the industrialization of the application.
But the results of scientific research out of the laboratory, embracing industrial applications is not easy. According to Hejia Ye, the current R&D work on optical medical devices is facing three main challenges:
First, there is a mismatch between research and clinical needs.
First, the mismatch between research and clinical needs. Research institutes have many high-value patents and technologies, but they can't apply them to the industry. The industry's demand side does not know what kind of core technology the research institutes have. Therefore, the current dilemma is that "one side has the technology, one side needs the technology, but they can not accurately connect."
Secondly, different doctors have different specific needs for medical devices, which requires researchers to take the position of a student from the upstream of the industrial chain "devolved" to the medical institutions, with doctors to discuss the direction of technology development, in the shortest possible time to sort out and refine the most **** of the
Lastly, on the premise of domestic substitution, On the one hand, some of the domestic components are unable to meet the requirements of competitive indicators. On the other hand, foreign product components and due to the epidemic logistics restrictions can not be shipped to the domestic, resulting in R & D progress is hindered. R&D staff need to spend a lot of energy trying to figure out which domestic products meet the demand. Hejia Ye confessed, "This is a long process of seeking a domestic alternative, but it is significant."
In response to the above challenges, the National Innovation Center is also playing a role in the beginning and end, aiming to drive the upstream and downstream of the industry chain "to move" up.
Specifically, on the one hand, the National Innovation Center is actively sorting out the industrial demand and undertaking the corresponding tasks, and if it exceeds the scope of capabilities, it will take advantage of the platform to help research institutes and other technological parties and industrial demand parties to accurately dock.
On the other hand, the self-developed medical devices in the project and the progress of each stage, the establishment of a mechanism for interaction with clinicians, the "laboratory" set to the hospital, set to the bedside, to ensure that the development of medical devices to the clinical needs of the source, the actual solution to the clinical application of the pain points.
He further emphasized, "Clinical application scenarios are faced with patients, researchers need to take into account the practicality of medical devices, stability, cost and other factors for technology development, to purely technological innovation as the source to find the clinical exit does not work.
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Wide application of optical technology, the rapid rise of local brands
In recent years, the application of optical technology in the field of medical devices has been presented with a powerful function. According to Hejia Ye, the specific products about optical medical devices are mainly divided into two categories.
A kind of optical technology as the core of the medical instrument, optical imaging instruments are surgical microscope, isolated tissue imaging microscopic instruments, endoscopes, near-infrared light of the brain imaging instruments, etc.; Optical detection instruments mainly use optical technology to read molecular signals, such as nucleic acid instrument fluorescence PCR, sequencing instrument, and some single molecule detection The main reason for this is that it is not possible to use a single device to detect a single molecule.
Another type of medical device is to use optical technology as an aid, such as the current hot surgical robots, in which an important module is the use of optical technology in the binocular vision to help the doctor to accurately locate the lesion area location and direction, to improve the accuracy of the operation. In addition, there are also optical related products such as sensors and wearable monitoring devices.
With the continuous development of China's economy and the continuous improvement of living standards, people's awareness of health care has gradually increased, so the demand for medical equipment products is also rising, making the domestic medical equipment market performance outstanding.
As of 2020, China's medical device market size of about 734.1 billion yuan, an increase of 18.3% year-on-year, close to the global medical device growth rate of four times, maintaining a high level of growth, is expected to the next five years, the average annual compound growth rate of the market size of the field of devices is about 14%, to 2023 will break through the trillion.
While the market demand is strong, the government is also continuously releasing policies to promote the development of the medical device industry. the progress of the policy rollout has accelerated significantly since 2016, further standardizing the market, encouraging investment and technological innovation. This has undoubtedly injected a strong dose of cardiotonic agents into the accelerated growth of local enterprises.
Currently, a number of outstanding enterprises have emerged in the industry, and domestic medical device enterprises represented by Lianyin, Myriad Medical, Lepu Medical, Neusoft Medical, and so on, are increasingly participating in global competition.
There is no shortage of optical medical devices in the segmentation field, such as the first domestic high-speed 3D endoscopic OCT imaging system of Zhongke Microlight, the endoscopic components of the best-selling overseas market of Hitech Xinguang, the domestic ophthalmology medical equipment leader Mortin and high-end microscope production capacity of the local excellent enterprises Yongxin , MacAudi, Sunshine, and so on.
He commented, "These local companies focusing on R&D investment in optical medical devices have a certain market scale and are very promising, and the technology level has reached a high level, and the R&D level is also at the international forefront."
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Innovation level "parallel run" industrial strength "fall behind" to be solved
Optics
Optics is a new type of optical device that can be used in a variety of applications, such as medical devices, medical equipment and medical devices.
After years of cultivation, China's optical medical device industry and innovative enterprises into the development of the fast lane, but there are still some challenges to be solved.
According to public data, imported brands from Europe and the United States occupy 80% of China's high-end medical device market. Foreign products such as respirators, high-end X-ray CT, magnetic *** vibration diagnostic instrument, fiber endoscopy, surgical robots, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and other high-end medical equipment in the domestic market to occupy the main market of China's tertiary hospitals. Even some of the core components of high-end medical devices can not be produced domestically, need to rely on imports.
Local industry R & D level and international first-class and run, why industrial development did not keep pace with the "pace"? He Jiaye believes that China's high-end medical devices are facing a number of constraints in the field of breakthroughs, mainly reflecting three aspects :
The first is the difference between domestic and foreign processes and industry chain leading to the R & D costs are not equal. He said, for example, "If the development of an endoscope front-end optical probe, foreign manufacturers may only need a few people in the short term team can be completed, while the domestic dozens of people to go to the team to plowing the key technology for one to two years, it is possible to do this small parts to be able to produce the degree."
The second is the small market share of local manufacturers, in the economic conditions of the constraints of the conditions, the willingness to innovate to face the problem of choice: in the end, is it to invest more money to break through a certain segmentation of the field of technology, just to broaden the product line, or just do some of the technical threshold of the optical medical device is lower, just so that it can be formed as soon as possible to put into the market of large-scale products?
"If it is in the mature industry chain and technology system, I believe that local manufacturers will also be willing to go to the layout of some new tracks, to attack some of the new technology in the field of segmentation, because these R & D costs are acceptable." Hejia Ye further analyzed that.
The third is the challenge faced by the local optical medical device industry, not only whether it can realize the domestic substitution, but more importantly, after the realization of the domestic substitution, whether it can ensure the cost of the product and the high level of performance, user experience and other comprehensive indicators.
As an important strategic industry related to national economy and people's livelihood, the high-end market of medical devices is monopolized by multinational enterprises, and the key core technology is restricted by others, which needs to be broken urgently. In recent years, relevant national and local policies have been providing numerous supports for the domestic substitution of medical devices.
In 2021, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the "Government Procurement of Imported Products Audit Guidelines" (2021 version) of the notice clearly stipulates the government agencies (institutions) to purchase the proportion of domestically produced medical devices and instruments requirements, which involves 137 types of medical devices all require 100% procurement of domestic and so on.
This year, many provinces issued documents to further tighten the government procurement of imported products "gap" to promote optical medical equipment, including domestic medical equipment to achieve rapid development.
Hur Ja Ye on the growth of local optical medical equipment is also full of confidence, "On the one hand, in the strong policy guidance, domestic medical equipment will continue to deepen the medical institutions, through more and more user experience, to accelerate technological innovation and upgrading. On the other hand, the high-end field of optical imaging detector, optical detection chip, fiber optic and laser light source has achieved some independent innovation results, from point to point gradually break through the core components rely on imports of the passive situation is just around the corner."
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Conclusion
The good wind with the force, catching up with the time! The market demand continues to be strong, the country's multiple initiatives continue to release policy dividends, cutting-edge innovative technologies emerge in an endless stream ...... to optics as the representative of the medical device localization alternative to the surging momentum. With the deepening of domestic substitution, local innovative enterprises will undoubtedly usher in the golden period of development.