AstraZeneca Showcases Cross-Industry Health IoT Innovations at Wuxi World Internet of Things Expo Amid Strong Outlook for Medical IoT

As the weather gradually turns colder, the COVID-19 pandemic is raging worldwide once again. Yet China stands out with a uniquely favorable situation, having basically restored normal work and daily life routines. In addition to the government’s emphasis on epidemic control through stringent measures, and the public’s consideration of the overall situation by voluntarily complying with anti-epidemic regulations, the application of advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) has also provided significant empowerment in the fight against the pandemic.

What IoT technologies were applied during the pandemic, what roles did they play, and how will IoT technology empower the healthcare industry in the future? As a phased summary and forward-looking exploration of IoT applications in healthcare, the Smart Health Development Forum, themed “Smart Epidemic Control, Healthy IoT” and supported by AstraZeneca, was held at the 2020 World Internet of Things Exposition (hereinafter referred to as the Wuxi IoT Expo) recently convened in Wuxi. Guests from various sectors of the ecosystem, including government, industry, academia, research, and healthcare, shared their insights at the forum.

Hu Jianping, Deputy Director of the Statistical Information Center of the National Health Commission, delivered the opening address. He stated that innovative technologies would spur broader application scenarios across the industry, with new infrastructure, the Internet of Things (IoT), and 5G serving as new drivers for the upgrading and improvement of healthcare services. “We will strengthen top-level design and planning, commit to enhancing research on relevant laws and regulations, roll out application standards for various sectors, and gradually standardize and safeguard the healthy development of medical IoT, thereby supporting the Healthy China initiative and the development of new infrastructure.”

Lan Qing, Deputy Director of the Jiangsu Provincial Health Commission, focused on the promotional and demonstrative role of Jiangsu Province and Wuxi City in advancing the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). He stated that efforts would remain guided by public needs, with improvements to overall planning and design. By initiating construction as a pilot demonstration province, Jiangsu will vigorously promote the development of smart healthcare, strive to create distinctive features characteristic of the province, and form a replicable and scalable "Jiangsu model."

As a leading public health and disease control expert in China, Dr. Zhang Wenhong, Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, personally led teams to the front lines of the pandemic response, witnessing the critical role of Internet of Things (IoT) technology in epidemic prevention and control. He believes that China’s effective containment of the outbreak was achieved through the comprehensive application of IoT technologies, combined with public cooperation and the dedication of healthcare workers, ultimately realizing dynamic regional zero-COVID status. Looking ahead to the future of medical and health IoT, he expressed his aspirations: “In the future, we aim to leverage IoT and artificial intelligence (AI) to enable wireless medical monitoring and biosafety management, providing timely diagnosis and treatment for both patients isolating at home and those hospitalized.”

Hua Dong, President of the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, also elaborated on the role of the Internet of Things (IoT) in epidemic prevention and control: “During the pandemic, the importance of IoT technology was further highlighted, effectively compensating for gaps in economic, health, and social development. Based on the application of IoT technology in various fields such as oncology, pathology, and blood glucose monitoring, future medical development may evolve from traditional medicine and data science toward the concept of experiential medicine.”

Regarding the future exploration of the Internet of Things (IoT), Xu Jing, Vice President of AstraZeneca China and Head of the Digital and Commercial Innovation Department, believes that IoT can help precisely identify lesions before diagnosis, provide effective treatment during diagnosis, and offer comprehensive follow-up and rehabilitation services after diagnosis. “AstraZeneca has proposed solutions covering the entire disease management journey and is beginning to expand from healthcare to the broader concept of general health,” she stated.

Yang Lin, Chairman and CEO of Dijingjia Technology, aims to provide pathologists with a convenient teleconsultation system, gradually building a comprehensive digital and intelligent platform for research and clinical practice. This initiative is designed to enhance the speed and accuracy of slide interpretation by pathologists overall, in alignment with national efforts to advance healthcare informatization.

In addition to the insightful remarks delivered by the attendees, the forum also featured several major announcements.

First, the Wuxi Institute of Medical Internet of Things and VCBeat jointly released the White Paper on Healthcare Internet of Things (2020). Following the editions published in 2016 and 2018, this marks the third release in the series, establishing industry reference standards for the future development of the healthcare IoT and leading the direction of industry trends.

AstraZeneca-supported “Five Diseases and Five Cancers Screening Vehicle” was also unveiled at the conference. This innovative solution, which leverages cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and 5G, was successfully included in the “White Paper on Healthcare IoT (2020).” In the future, it will facilitate data sharing and process integration between primary healthcare institutions in county-level areas and large hospitals, thereby expanding disease screening coverage to broader regions.

The Wuxi Municipal People’s Government and the National Cancer Center officially signed an agreement on the “Wuxi Citywide Model for Lung Cancer Screening.” This project aims to further improve the rates of cancer screening, early diagnosis, and early treatment in Wuxi, striving to establish the city’s cancer prevention and control initiative as a demonstration model for comprehensive, full-cycle, and end-to-end management of regional cancer prevention and control in China, thereby providing pioneering experience for new national models of cancer prevention and control.

The Health IoT Industry Salon, co-hosted by AstraZeneca, selected eleven outstanding innovative IoT enterprises based on business dimensions such as collaborative management of the “three highs” (hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia) and chronic disease management. Through roadshows, these companies showcased their robust innovation capabilities, injecting new vitality into the development of the Health IoT sector.

Notably, AstraZeneca has participated in every edition of the Wuxi Internet of Things (IoT) Expo since its inaugural event in 2016. This year marks AstraZeneca’s fifth consecutive appearance at the expo, underscoring its steadfast support for Wuxi’s development as a “Smart City” and its strong confidence in the cross-sector integration of IoT and healthcare.

In 2017, AstraZeneca established the China IoT Innovation Center and unveiled five major innovation solutions. Since then, AstraZeneca has embarked on a path of rapid development by leveraging the cross-industry integration of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Subsequently, AstraZeneca further increased its investment in the cross-sector integration of the Internet of Things (IoT), upgrading its original five innovative solutions to eight in 2018. In 2019, AstraZeneca further expanded this portfolio to fourteen innovative solutions, covering areas such as oncology, respiratory diseases, gastroenterology, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, clinical pharmacy, and tiered diagnosis and treatment.

Currently, these initiatives have been launched from Wuxi and widely implemented across China. Some have also expanded internationally, taking root in countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative.

At the Wuxi Internet of Things Expo, the AstraZeneca China IoT Innovation Center also celebrated its third anniversary and held its inaugural “Public Open Day,” opening its doors to the people of Wuxi to jointly celebrate the expo. By enabling the public to gain a deeper understanding and firsthand experience of its integrated diagnosis-and-treatment, whole-disease-course solutions, and by promoting the concept of early screening for pre-symptomatic conditions, the initiative aims to raise public disease awareness, enhance disease management concepts, and accelerate the accessibility of innovative solutions to the general population.

The intelligent transformation of the healthcare industry is becoming increasingly urgent, and the deep integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technology with healthcare will undoubtedly become a significant force in addressing public health challenges and fostering a new landscape for the industry. As Lei Wang, Global Executive Vice President of AstraZeneca and President of International Business and China, stated at the World IoT Expo in Wuxi, “The advent of the 5G era will usher in a world where everything is connected. With the support of IoT technology, future healthcare will become more precise, efficient, convenient, and accessible.”