Golden Era of Clinical Innovation: Huashan Hospital and Medtronic Kanghui Join Forces to Advance Neurosurgical Innovation Ecosystem

Recently, there has been another significant move in the field of medical achievement transformation — Huashan Hospital Affiliated with Fudan University (hereinafter referred to as Huashan Hospital) signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Medtronic Kanghui to jointly build the "Neuroscience Industry-Academia-Medicine Integrated Innovation Platform" and empower the innovation and transformation of China's neuroscience devices and equipment.

 Medtronic Kanghui Signs Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University

VCBeat learned that this cooperation between Medtronic Kanghui and Huashan Hospital will focus on clinical needs such as cerebrovascular diseases, intracranial space-occupying lesions, functional neurology, craniocerebral trauma, and neurocritical care. It will concentrate on the medical-engineering transformation of intelligent devices, new technologies, and new materials, including precision navigation, artificial intelligence, and brain-computer interfaces, to enhance efficiency and inject new vitality into the development of China's neurosurgery field.

In recent years, the state has continuously increased its efforts to actively promote the transformation of innovative achievements in the medical field. The "Law of the People's Republic of China on Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements (2015 Amendment)" was officially implemented in 2015. In 2016, two guiding opinions encouraging the transformation of scientific and technological innovation achievements in health care were successively issued. In 2019, the "Opinions on Strengthening the Performance Evaluation of Tertiary Public Hospitals" included the "amount of scientific research achievement transformation per hundred health technicians" into performance evaluation. In addition, in 2021, Shanghai and Beijing successively issued relevant documents to promote the high-quality development or collaborative innovation development of the (biological) pharmaceuticals industry...

From the national level to the local level, a series of policy documents highlight the important role of medical science and technology achievements transformation in promoting the innovative development of medicine in China. The transformation of medical achievements will surely be the only way for the innovation and development of medical devices in China.

The reason is not difficult to understand. From the perspective of the industry's development background, China's healthcare industry has long been dissatisfied with "me too" and is instead committed to achieving "me better" or even "me first." To achieve this goal, the transformation of medical research findings represents the most solid path forward.

Because the products obtained through this pathway not only meet the dual demands of clinical and market needs but also possess a certain level of innovation. They enable doctors to promptly grasp clinical feedback after use and leverage the advantage of close integration with clinical practice to timely upgrade and iterate.

As national policies continue to strengthen the transformation of medical achievements, some capable and willing hospitals in China have already seized this trend and embarked on the journey of transforming medical achievements.

During this period, Huashan Hospital has been at the forefront. According to a paper published in the Chinese Health Resources in 2022, Huashan Hospital ranked fifth among the top 20 medical institutions in Shanghai with 806 patents from 2000 to 2020.

In addition to the evidence from the number of patents, all sectors of society have highly affirmed Huashan Hospital's determination and capability in the transformation of medical innovation achievements. In 2021, Huashan Hospital was selected as one of the top ten medical institutions in the comprehensive ranking (based on data from 1960 to 2020) and the top ten medical institutions in 2020. "This ranking is a recognition of Huashan Hospital’s practice in the transformation of medical science and technology innovation," the hospital’s official website stated in response to receiving this honor.

At the same time, the wheels of history are rolling forward. In recent years, the transformation of medical innovation achievements has become even more vigorous. Behind this trend lie factors such as the improvement of encouraging and regulatory policies, the enhanced awareness of all parties in the industry, the still vast unmet clinical needs, and the emergence of new technologies.

In response, Huashan Hospital has also seized the opportunity, based on a profound understanding of medical achievement transformation, to continuously deepen the work of transforming medical innovation achievements.

"The fundamental purpose of medical innovation and transformation is what? It is to treat and save patients, and on this basis, to achieve minimally invasive, efficient, and convenient solutions as much as possible," said Professor Mao Ying of Huashan Hospital.

The core of "treating diseases to save lives" is "what disease to treat," in other words, what are the clinical scenarios and clinical needs? And those who know the clinical needs best are, naturally, the doctors.

"Therefore, the best way to innovate in medical translation is to involve doctors from the very beginning. 'It's like decorating a house. The doctor is the one who will live in the house. If the decoration doesn't meet the homeowner's needs early on, there's a potential risk that the homeowner will be dissatisfied with the decoration after moving in,'" said Professor Mao Ying.

Not only that, but in addition to providing precise clinical transformation needs, deeper involvement of doctors can also close the loop of the entire innovation transformation path—because doctors are also the users of the innovation transformation results.

So, in real-world scenarios, does the deep involvement of doctors in the transformation of medical achievements face challenges? The answer is naturally "yes."

These challenges mainly include the lack of transformation platforms and the "nowhere to connect" issue with funding and industry resources. As described in a certain report — "From identifying clinical pain points to reaching the market for application, the transformation of results requires going through processes such as patent application, prototype development, product creation, clinical trials, registration, and marketing. This process is long and complex. Among these steps, being able to develop a prototype from identifying clinical pain points is already the limit of what a general hospital can achieve."

This means that the transformation of medical scientific achievements, in addition to requiring "achievements" as the primary element, also needs systematic support such as funding, resources, and manpower.

In other words, on the road to medical achievement transformation, Huashan Hospital needs to find a strong external support. As it stands now, Medtronic Kanghui has become Huashan Hospital's first choice for medical achievement transformation in the neurosurgical field.

Medtronic Kanghui's collaboration with Huashan Hospital on the transformation of innovative medical devices and equipment in the neurosurgery field is not something that comes as a surprise to outsiders.

On one hand, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study, there are currently 12 mental illnesses affecting approximately 970 million people worldwide, and since 1990, the prevalence of mental illness has increased by 48%. At the same time, according to Deloitte's "Market Insights on Diagnosis and Treatment of Neurological Diseases – Analysis of Sub-sectors and Growth Factors in the Global Neuroscience Industry," in 2022, the global neuroscience market was valued at $612 billion and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.2% in the coming years. The severe impact of these diseases, coupled with the highly promising market growth rate, indicates that the transformation of medical innovation achievements in the field of neurosurgery will have both clinical significance and commercial value.

On the other hand, both Medtronic Kanghui and Huashan Hospital have made achievements in the field of neurosurgery—

The neuroscientific diagnostic and treatment capabilities of Huashan Hospital speak for themselves. Its neurosurgery department was established in 1952, boasting a history of 71 years. Throughout these 71 years of development, it has not only successively become the WHO Neurosciences Research and Training Center (1982), Fudan University's "Key Development Discipline" (2001), and "National Key Clinical Specialty" (2011), but also written multiple "firsts" and "initials" in the history of neurosurgery in China.

For Huashan Hospital, Medtronic Kanghui has not only accumulated years of industry experience in the neurosurgical field, possessing extensive and comprehensive resources in R&D, production, and even commercial channels, but in recent years has also focused on unmet needs within China, frequently taking steps to empower the industry and demonstrating a strong commitment to industrial empowerment.

Building a Base (Referring to Changzhou Science and Technology Park), Creating a Platform... Medtronic Kanghui is Actively Planning and Continuously Expanding to Empower Innovation in China's Local Orthopedic and Neurosurgical Devices and Equipment. In May this year, the Changzhou Science and Technology Park, a collaboration between Medtronic and the High-Tech Zone of Changzhou, officially broke ground. As an innovation science park in the comprehensive fields of orthopedics and neurosurgery, it will be built into a regional benchmark production base and multifunctional park integrating smart manufacturing, excellent R&D, innovation incubation, and customer experience.

Yu Jing, Vice President of Medtronic and General Manager of Medtronic China Orthopedics and Neurosurgery Business Group, stated directly at the signing ceremony: "Accelerating the research and development and implementation of innovative products in China, and assisting in the incubation and commercialization of innovative projects in China, is an undeniable responsibility of Medtronic."

Through this powerful collaboration, both parties will focus on patient needs, share technical achievements, share resource services, and build a "Neuroscience Industry-Medicine Integration Innovation Platform" with a dumbbell-shaped dual-center layout.

The Integration and Innovation Platform for Production and Medicine: Changzhou Technology Transfer Center Successfully Unveiled

Among them, Huashan Hospital will focus on demand-oriented clinical research, academic exchange for innovative transformation, patent applications for research achievements, etc.; Medtronic Kanghui will leverage the clinical customer center, intelligent manufacturing center, excellence R&D center, and innovation incubation center at the Medtronic Kanghui Changzhou Science and Technology Park. By fully utilizing its R&D and production technology advantages, it will assist doctors in completing the validation and incubation of innovative products, accelerate the commercialization process, and achieve clinical implementation and industrialization of innovations.

"The development of neurosurgery in China has a history of less than a hundred years, but the achievements made in the field of neurological diseases in our country are gratifying," said Professor Mao Ying, president of Huashan Hospital. "We are very pleased to join hands with Medtronic, a global leader in medical technology, to further embrace cutting-edge technologies, inspire clinical diagnostic thinking, cultivate higher-value neurosurgical talent, and propel the development of China's neurosurgery industry into a new journey."

"Partnering with Huashan Hospital to jointly build a neuroscientific industry-clinical integration innovation platform represents another comprehensive strategic layout by Medtronic in the innovation value chain. It will also set an innovative benchmark for the ‘industry-university-research-clinical’ collaborative model," said Yu Jing, Vice President of Medtronic and General Manager of Medtronic China’s Orthopedics and Neurosurgery Business Group. "In the future, we will continue to strengthen local capability building, optimize the co-creation platform for industry-university-research-clinical collaboration, promote the development of a localized innovation ecosystem, and work hand-in-hand with the industry to provide Chinese patients with more efficient, safer, and personalized medical solutions. We aim to enhance the innovation value chain of China’s neurosurgery field and promote high-quality development of both the discipline and the industry!"