GE HealthCare Unveils Largest Digital Innovation Center in Shanghai, Accelerating Localized R&D and Digital Healthcare Transformation in China

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Recently, GE Healthcare's third "Innovation Center" in China officially opened in Zhangjiang, Pudong, Shanghai.It is the first innovative platform of GE Healthcare in China that focuses on digital healthcare, and also the largest and most comprehensive innovation entity among the three innovation centers of GE Healthcare.Currently, the center has 100 R&D experts, with the first batch of 4 digital technology companies having moved in.

Data shows that, as the largest single-country market for GE Healthcare outside the United States, it has been deeply rooted in China for more than 30 years. In addition to the newly unveiled "Innovation Center" in Shanghai,Prior to this, GE Healthcare had established "Innovation Centers" in Beijing and Wuxi, and set up multiple production bases in China.

The "Innovation Center" in Shanghai will focus on digital medical technology and application innovation, serving as the "smart brain" to empower GE Healthcare China's R&D, a nurturing incubator for specialized and innovative enterprises, and a one-stop platform to accelerate the transformation of digital healthcare achievements.The first four digital technology startups to settle in are Ruilong Nuofu, Jinse Medical, Duying Medical, and Yizhun Medical.

01

Three "Innovation Centers"

When localization and domestic production reach a certain scale, the next step of differentiation will lie in innovation. Therefore, while maintaining its strong momentum in domestic production and collaboration, GE Healthcare has upgraded its strategy in China and proposed a new strategic concept of "Boundless Innovation."Based on this, from 2021 to the present three-year period, GE Healthcare has successively launched three "Innovation Centers" in Beijing, Wuxi, and Shanghai. Each center focuses on its own strengths, creating incubation platforms targeting the supply chain, imaging chain, and digital chain respectively.

Beijing "Innovation Center"

Among them, the Beijing "Innovation Center" was established in 2021. Relying on GE Healthcare's product design and R&D capabilities in China, as well as the full local production at the Beijing Imaging Equipment Manufacturing Base, it focuses on industry-university-research joint R&D, advanced manufacturing, lean operations, and other projects in the medical field to accelerate the commercialization of innovative achievements.

In April 2023, Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone officially awarded GE Healthcare's Beijing Innovation Center as the first technology enterprise incubator in the medical and health sector within the zone — "GE Healthcare Innovation Incubation Platform."The incubator will provide various resource对接services for startup enterprise partners,贯通the chain of technology transfer, and孵化empower the innovation ecosystem.

Wuxi "Innovation Center"

In October 2021, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of GE Healthcare's Wuxi base, GE Healthcare's "Wuxi Innovation Center" was officially launched.The first batch of resident companies, Shennan, Dewei, Maide Intelligent, and Shukun Technology, signed strategic cooperation agreements with GE Healthcare.

Wuxi is the second stop of GE Healthcare's "Innovation Center," aiming to effectively integrate the research capabilities of hospitals, experts, universities, AI companies, and other parties both in China and abroad, as well as GE Healthcare's full industry chain resources.Focusing on the customized needs of users in China, accelerating the implementation of innovations, and covering functions such as software and hardware development, testing and validation, and product maintenance for ultrasound and patient monitoring devices.

As one of GE Healthcare's largest global R&D centers, the Wuxi base has developed the world's first laptop color ultrasound and the first tablet color ultrasound. It has now become GE Healthcare's largest innovation center for ultrasound products, as well as a production base for medical products such as ventilators, anesthesia machines, and patient monitors.

Shanghai "Innovation Center"

The official unveiling of the Shanghai Innovation Center this time not only represents GE Healthcare's global precision medicine strategy post-spinoff, but also marks another milestone in the deep advancement of its China strategy, which focuses on "comprehensive localization, boundless innovation, and win-win cooperation."The center is committed to bridging global resource allocation and scientific innovation capabilities,打通国际国内的产学研用生态链条，and advancing the development of Shanghai's science and technology innovation center and the integration of the Yangtze River Delta to new heights.

According to reports,Shanghai "Innovation Center" initially covers an area of 4,000 square meters, with 100 R&D experts. It is the largest and most fully functional innovation entity among the three Innovation Centers of GE Healthcare.Will focus on digital medical technology and application innovation, creating an "intelligent brain" to empower GE Healthcare China R&D, a nurturing carrier for specialized and innovative enterprises, and a one-stop platform to accelerate the transformation of digital medical achievements.

Will continue to empower GE Healthcare's 1,800 R&D engineers in China with digital innovation, serving as the "innovative brain" driving GE Healthcare's R&D in China, while collaborating with ecosystem partners to explore the implementation of cutting-edge digital technologies and integrated diagnosis-treatment solutions.

02

The First Batch of 4 Enterprises to Settle In

As GE Healthcare's largest and most comprehensive innovation entity in China, the Shanghai Innovation Center has welcomed its first batch of four digital technology startups: Surgerii, Jinse Medical, Duying Medical, and Yizhun Medical.Among them, Raydragon Robotics mainly focuses on the field of laparoscopic surgical robots, Jinse Medical focuses on extended reality technology and virtual reality environment interaction, Duying Medical focuses on AI technology in the ultrasound field, and Yizhun Medical focuses on AI imaging-assisted diagnosis.

Rui Long Nuo Fu

Rui Long诺赋 was established in 2019 and independently developed the Hai Shan Yi™ laparoscopic robot.Adopting a modular design, the single surgical arm bedside trolley is distributed beside the operating table, occupying a smaller footprint and using space more efficiently, providing more flexible and ample space for the surgeon and assistant.

The system design fully considers the clinical surgical needs of minimally invasive surgeons, characterized by modularity, dexterity, and configurability. It not only reduces the economic burden of robot-assisted surgery but also enhances the surgical experience for surgeons, expands multi-specialty procedures in robotic surgery, and promotes the comprehensive popularization of RAS.

Jinse Medical

Jinse Medical was founded in 2016, and its core founding team has been deeply engaged in the digital healthcare field since 2012.Focus on the technical development of digital technologies such as mixed reality (MR) and artificial intelligence in traditional medical device fields like orthopedics.

The core product under research is an MR intraoperative navigation glasses, which differs from conventional surgical navigation based on two-dimensional X-ray imaging. MR technology enables the integration of the real world and virtual space.Projecting the patient's surgical site as a holographic 3D image accurately into the real world is equivalent to giving doctors a pair of "X-ray eyes," allowing them to see deeper bone structures inside the patient’s body, and even blood vessels or nerves, thereby achieving precise intraoperative positioning.

Duying Medical

Duying Medical was founded in 2019, focusing on the full-chain independent research and development of domestically produced intelligent ultrasound software products.The company has achieved key breakthroughs in multiple areas, including advanced AI algorithms in dynamic high dimensions, an ultrasound screening system for deformity diseases, a large-scale ultra-fine ultrasound imaging quality control platform, a universal deep learning framework for ultrasound hardware, and professional intelligent image annotation software. Combined with an extensive high-quality imaging database, Duying Healthcare's intelligent ultrasound products have covered important clinical fields such as obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology, superficial organs, and abdominal regions.

Yizhun Medical

Since its establishment in 2017, YiZhun Medical has continuously expanded research and development in the field of AI-assisted medical imaging diagnosis. By utilizing image recognition and deep learning technologies, it achieves intelligent identification and analysis of lesions, providing medical imaging diagnostic analysis services to medical institutions at all levels, maximizing the clinical value of imaging.

03

5 Years to Launch 200 China-Innovated Products

According to relevant reports, Zhang Yihao, Global Executive Vice President of GE Healthcare, President and CEO of GE Healthcare China, publicly stated in an interview with First Financial on the day of the unveiling,The goal is to bring 200 locally developed medical products in China to market within the next five years, which means the pace of innovation will need to be at least twice as fast as it has been over the past decade.

It is understood that GE Healthcare's localization strategy began to take shape as early as the late 20th century — in 1986, the first GE office in China was established in Beijing.

• In 1995, GE Healthcare Beijing Wanhe Medical Equipment Co., Ltd. was established. The company mainly focuses on the research and development and production of imaging equipment such as CT scanners, X-ray machines, angiography systems, and surgical machines. Two-thirds of GE's global CT production comes from here.

• In 1994, the GE Healthcare contrast agent production base was registered and established in Zhangjiang, Shanghai, becoming GE's largest contrast agent production base globally.

• In 1996, GE and Haiying established a joint venture in Wuxi, the Haiying Wuxi factory (now wholly owned by GE). Today, the Wuxi factory has become GE's largest global ultrasound and probe production base.

• In 2014, GE Healthcare began developing and producing its MRI systems and magnets in China for the first time. It is now GE's second-largest global MRI manufacturing facility and also the largest production base for MRI equipment in China.

The above has established GE Healthcare's five major production facilities in China, meticulously covering resources for 20,000 hospitals nationwide. It has also nurtured, incubated, and serviced multiple medical device innovation enterprises based on this, spanning upstream and downstream segments of the industry chain as well as specialized fields like medical imaging digitization.

In terms of product localization, GE Healthcare's ultrasound products have been fully localized. Following that, the company will increasingly focus on localizing the production and R&D of its CT scanners, angiography machines, mammography systems, MR, and more.

Among them, with the high-end CT platform Revolution series in the CT field. At the 30th National Congress of Radiology of China (CCR2023) held from November 16 to 19, 2023, this product also came into the spotlight of many industry experts and peers.

It is reported that GE Healthcare's Revolution CT is currently the most high-end CT equipment in the industry, with sales consistently ranking at the top. It integrates the top technologies in the CT field, not only offering a unique overall "dual-low" solution, but also unifying spectral imaging, wide coverage, and speed in its technology. It sets a new standard in cardiovascular, neurological, oncological, respiratory, urological, and orthopedic imaging as well as low-dose screening, providing a solid hardware foundation for the depth and breadth of clinical application exploration.

In terms of local innovation,It is worth mentioning that, as of now, GE Healthcare's "Innovation Center" has collaborated with more than 40 partners from various fields. Specifically, in terms of artificial intelligence alone, it has integrated over 30 digital products/technologies for innovative fusion and clinical application.Continuously focus on the four areas of "global + China" original innovation, digital-physical integration, industry-university-research-application, and innovation incubation to accelerate the construction of a local medical innovation ecosystem and promote the "two-way synergy" between digital technology and clinical applications.

As an important milestone of GE Healthcare's China strategy of "Comprehensive Localization, Boundless Innovation, and Win-Win Cooperation," the official inauguration of the Shanghai Innovation Center will further accelerate GE Healthcare's localization and digital innovation in China. It will not only serve as a bridge connecting international cutting-edge knowledge and technology but also provide a global stage for pioneering scientists from various fields to expand collaboration opportunities and unleash innovative inspiration and potential, driving more innovative technologies and achievements into hospital settings. In this regard, DeviceChina will continue to follow up.