"Digital Intelligence Future, Unleashing Neuro-Innovation" Medical Technology Innovation Challenge Officially Launched!

On July 28, the "Digital Intelligence Future·Radiant Innovation" 2023 Medical Technology Innovation Challenge officially announced its launch, opening registrations to the entire society.

This competition is jointly organized by the Management Committee of Changzhou National High-tech Industrial Development Zone and Medtronic Kanghui, with the Artificial Intelligence Specialized Committee of the China Computer Industry Association and the Office of the Changzhou Innovation Committee serving as guiding units. The Basic and Clinical Branch of Neurosurgery of the Chinese Neuroscience Society will provide academic guidance for the competition.

Competition Launch Event Image

(In the picture from left to right are Wang Peilin, Deputy Secretary-General of the Artificial Intelligence Professional Committee of the China Computer Industry Association, and Mao Ying, Director of the Basic and Clinical Neurosurgery Branch of the Chinese Neuroscience Society,Yu Jing, Vice President of Medtronic and General Manager of China Orthopedics and Neurosurgery Business GroupMedtronic China Orthopedics and Neurosurgery Business Strategic Marketing and Commercial Excellence Senior Director Ma Chengdong

The 2023 Medical Technology Innovation Challenge will mainly focus on high-quality innovative projects in the fields of advanced neuroscience and brain science, including innovative medical devices, smart equipment, digital healthcare, and medical services. It aims to address clinical pain points and "bottleneck" issues in neuroscience and brain science, promoting high-quality development and innovative upgrades in the neuroscience and brain science industries.

Looking back, it seems that never before has there been a moment like today, filled not only with a desire for innovation but also with strong support from all sectors of the industry. The innovative model has shifted from the previous separation of production, research, medicine, and engineering to the integration of industry, academia, research, medicine, engineering, and government.

Among these, neuroscience is particularly renowned for the complexity of diseases, the severity of their impact, the heavy burden on patients, and the significant unmet needs in clinical diagnosis and treatment. Consequently, its development has garnered widespread attention. At the same time, with the emergence and application of cutting-edge technologies such as brain-computer interfaces, and driven by national policies, brain science and neuroscience have become one of the most highly regarded healthcare innovation fields both in China and internationally.

"For neuroscience and brain science, there are still too many unknowns to be explored. The purpose of this competition is to stimulate healthy competition within the industry, encourage more creative ideas, and help them grow into excellent products that benefit the country and patients, driven by various forces," said Professor Mao Ying, Director of the Basic and Clinical Branch of Neurosurgery of the Chinese Neuroscience Society.

At the same time, digital intelligence will be the main trend of innovation in the field of neuroscience in the future. Therefore, this competition also lists digital intelligence as an important consideration factor, and specially invites the Artificial Intelligence Professional Committee of the China Computer Industry Association to provide technical guidance for the competition.

The competition entrusts the Basic and Clinical Branch of Neurosurgery of the Chinese Neuroscience Society to provide academic guidance.

Wang Peilin, Deputy Secretary-General of the Artificial Intelligence Professional Committee of the China Computer Industry Association, stated: "At present, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating, and digitalization and intelligence are inevitable trends. As the guiding unit of this challenge competition, the Artificial Intelligence Professional Committee of the China Computer Industry Association positions itself as a builder of industrial ecosystems, a hub for technological innovation, an adhesive for industry-finance integration, and a catalyst for industry applications. It actively builds platforms for industrial innovation cooperation and exchange matchmaking, focusing on promoting the intelligent transformation and upgrading of traditional industries."

Changzhou National High-tech Zone and Medtronic Kanghui, in collaboration with various industry partners, have jointly presented a substantial empowerment package to the outstanding projects of this competition——

First, the outstanding projects of this competition can be given priority to be recommended for entry into the Medtronic Kanghui Changzhou Science and Technology Park Incubator.

In October 2022, Medtronic signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the High-Tech Zone of Changzhou City, officially upgrading the Changzhou production base to the Medtronic Kanghui Changzhou Science and Technology Park. It has become a regional benchmark production base and multifunctional park integrating intelligent manufacturing, excellent R&D, innovative incubation, and customer experience.

Relying on the Medtronic Kanghui Changzhou Science and Technology Park, Medtronic Kanghui can provide innovative enterprises/projects with comprehensive support covering R&D, manufacturing, regulatory quality system establishment, financial assistance, as well as enterprise operation support including company establishment, investment and financing, intellectual property, legal services, and access to Medtronic's global ecosystem.

With its top-notch R&D capabilities and years of accumulated clinical expert resources, the Medtronic Kanghui Changzhou Science and Technology Park can provide incubated enterprises/projects with R&D consulting, R&D team support, R&D equipment rental, technical consulting services, testing and evaluation services, as well as design and processing services.

In addition to the "incubation" package provided by Medtronic Kanghui for the outstanding projects of this competition, Changzhou National High-tech Zone also offered a series of innovative support policies.

It is reported that the outstanding projects of this competition have the opportunity to be recommended for inclusion in Changzhou City's "Dragon City Talent Plan". They will enjoy Changzhou municipal government talent introduction, enterprise funding, loan subsidies, and other industrial support policies with a maximum value exceeding 10 million yuan, as well as other rewards. Additionally, they will receive priority recommendation for applying to national and provincial talent plans, as well as science and technology and industry projects.

"After more than 30 years of development, Changzhou National High-tech Industrial Development Zone has gradually formed a high-end medical equipment and medical device industry cluster represented by innovative enterprises such as Medtronic. It has not only established a comprehensive innovation and entrepreneurship support system, offering substantial policy incentives and providing integrated support in areas such as talent innovation and entrepreneurship, equity, and financing, but also is committed to building the zone into an innovation and entrepreneurship hub that 'best understands the industry, loves talent the most, and spares no effort in investment,'" said Hang Hongwei, Deputy Director of the Changzhou National High-tech Industrial Development Zone Management Committee and Deputy District Chief of Xinbei District.

Not only that, but the organizing committee of the competition will also invite authoritative clinical experts, listed companies, investment institutions, and other industry resources. This competition will also provide industrial resource对接for outstanding projects to accelerate the industrialization process of the projects.

Finally, outstanding projects will also receive concentrated publicity and exposure opportunities from relevant media. The organizer of the competition has provided media interview and coverage opportunities for the winning projects, helping them increase market exposure, carry out market education, and deepen external understanding and impression of the projects.

The Chinese market has always been an important part of Medtronic's global strategic layout. Medtronic has long been committed to building localized capabilities and an ecosystem.

China is the only single market where Medtronic has two innovation centers globally — the Medtronic Innovation Center (Shanghai), established in 2005, introduced world-leading clinical training facilities to provide clinical training for healthcare professionals in China and even Asia; in 2021, the Medtronic Innovation Center (Chengdu) was completed, which will support the development of healthcare in the central and western regions as well as broader grassroots medical services.

Moreover, China is the only market where Medtronic has specifically established a regional venture capital fund globally. In April this year, Medtronic China II Fund was completed, which will continue to be guided by local needs in China and further integrate into the local medical innovation ecosystem.

In recent years, Medtronic China's Orthopedics and Neurosurgery Business Group has continued to invest in local capacity building, emphasizing the creation of an open localized ecosystem. In terms of products, Medtronic has continuously introduced innovative products, including its self-developed Stealth Autoguide.^TMThe neurosurgical robot was officially launched in China on July 23. It not only redefines neurosurgical robots but also serves as the core of Medtronic's digital and intelligent neurosurgical innovation ecosystem. Concurrently, Medtronic also announced "AiBLE^TM "Intelligent Neurosurgery Innovation Ecosystem" aims to lead the industry into an AI-enabled, smartly interconnected era of full-course disease management, continuously promoting high-quality development in the field of neuroscience.

In terms of ecological construction, Medtronic recently reached a strategic cooperation with Huashan Hospital. Both parties will work together to build a neuroscientific industry-medical integration innovation platform, accelerating the clinical transformation of neuroscience achievements from 0 to 1 and assisting industrial transformation from 1 to 100. Previously, Medtronic had already established close cooperative relationships with more than a hundred tertiary hospitals and over 200 clinical experts in the fields of orthopedics and neurosurgery, thereby helping enterprises/projects promptly grasp clinical needs and feedback and make timely adjustments.

In 2021, Medtronic reached a strategic cooperation with the Changzhou government to jointly upgrade the Medtronic Kanghui Changzhou Science and Technology Park. The project has already broken ground in April this year. Upon completion of the upgrade, the Medtronic Kanghui Changzhou Science and Technology Park will become Medtronic's global production base and Kanghui’s global headquarters, featuring four key functions: a Clinical Customer Center, a Smart Manufacturing Center, an Excellence R&D Center, and an Innovation Incubation Center. It will not only provide comprehensive support for Medtronic Kanghui's self-developed innovation projects but also fully empower collaborative innovation across industry, academia, research, and medicine, as well as facilitate the productization, commercialization, and industrialization of innovation ecosystem partners’ R&D projects.

The 2023 Medical Technology Innovation Challenge "Digital Intelligence Future·Radiant Spirit" is also one of the important initiatives by Medtronic Kanghui to leverage the comprehensive local capabilities of the Changzhou Science and Technology Park to build a local innovation ecosystem.

Yu Jing, Vice President of Medtronic and General Manager of China Orthopedics and Neurosurgery Business Group, stated: "With policy support and technological advancement, neuroscience innovation is encountering unprecedented development opportunities. However, there are still numerous clinical challenges and pressing needs within the industry. We look forward to seeing a group of groundbreaking local innovative projects emerge from this competition, which will help address clinical pain points, improve patient health, promote industry growth, and contribute to the construction of Healthy China through domestic innovation."