From 64-Slice CT Full Coverage to Ultra-High-End Breakthrough: SMARTBEAM Launches "Dimensionality Upgrade Battle" for China-Made CT Tubes

In April 2025, the Ministry of Commerce initiated an anti-dumping investigation into the import of certain medical CT tubes originating from the United States and India, marking a critical moment for the technical breakthrough of domestically produced CT tubes. This is not only China's first anti-dumping investigation targeting CT tubes, a core component of high-end medical equipment, but also a profound contest over the discourse power of the industrial chain.

The CT Tube as the "Heart" Component of the CT System

The initiation of anti-dumping investigations is undoubtedly a critical turning point for the development of domestically produced CT tubes. On one hand, it has opened up a rare "golden window of opportunity" for local manufacturers; on the other hand, as technology matures and market demand rapidly expands, industry competition intensifies. Whether this window period can be transformed into dual advantages in both technology and market depends on the stability of tube quality, the comprehensiveness of model coverage, the autonomy and controllability of the supply chain, and the actual clinical reputation—whether it can effectively reduce fault rates such as tube arcing, abnormal heat management, and filament open circuits… These hard-core underlying metrics are the ultimate test determining whether domestically produced CT tubes can truly establish themselves in the global market.

Now, a year has passed, and the industry landscape has begun to diverge: some tube manufacturers have achieved substitution in mid-to-low-end products and are gradually extending into mid-to-high-end fields of 64-slice and above; technological routes have also clearly diverged, with ball bearings and liquid metal bearings forming separate camps. The latter, with advantages such as long lifespan, high stability, and low wear, has gradually become the "standard" for mid-to-high-end CT scanners. At this point, the focus of competition in the industry has become clear: whoever can be the first to truly implement liquid metal bearing technology and achieve large-scale, high-quality, stable delivery will gain the upper hand in future market competition.

In this race measured by technical depth and delivery capability, a company established just seven years ago is quickly breaking through: revenue has doubled for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2025; in 2025, sales broke through 100 million yuan, with annual CT tube sales exceeding 500 units. More importantly, the company has quietly achieved full coverage of mainstream 64-slice CT models from GE, Siemens, Philips, Canon, and China-produced brands. It is also the only supplier in China that spans both the pre-installation and replacement markets while providing complete solutions for multiple mainstream 64-slice CT models — it is SMARTBEAM.

Its breakthroughs at the key technical level are also commendable.SMARTBEAM not only overcame key processes such as single-ended high voltage and high-voltage-resistant ceramic coating, but also won the bid for the National Key R&D Program's "Challenge Project" in late 2024, becoming the CT tube responsible unit among more than 50 key medical field projects.

From being a "follower" in the past to becoming a participant in national strategic-level technological breakthroughs, SMARTBEAM is relying on..."Full Independent Technology + 64-Slice Full Coverage"The combination of efforts has built a solid foundation to support high-end medical manufacturing and continues to expand the capability boundaries of domestically produced CT tubes.

SMARTBEAM Leads the Only National "Challenge Leader" Major Project in the CT Tube Field

With the explosive clinical demand for cardiac scanning, spectral imaging, and ultra-high dynamic CT, CT tubes are rapidly evolving towards larger heat capacity, higher power, and longer lifespan. The thermal dissipation and wear of traditional ball bearings at ultra-high speeds have approached their physical limits, while liquid metal bearings, with advantages such as low friction, high heat dissipation, and support for high rotational speeds, have become the "standard feature" in GE, Siemens, and Philips’ new generation of mid-to-high-end CT systems.

Although this trend has become a consensus today, if we turn the clock back seven years, the field of domestically produced X-ray tubes was still in a vacuum – not to mention liquid metal bearings, even basic ball bearings were in urgent need of breakthroughs. At that time, liquid metal bearings were only used in the most high-end CT products abroad.

However, SMARTBEAM made a "radical" choice at the start of its venture: directly betting on the liquid metal route and sticking to it consistently — the company was established in 2019, completed the first liquid metal bearing CT tube experimental prototype in January 2020; submitted a patent application for "liquid metal sliding bearing, rotating core, X-ray tube, and CT scanning device" in July of the same year; and obtained the first medical device registration certificate for a domestically produced liquid metal bearing CT tube in 2022, achieving mass production.

The core driving force behind SMARTBEAM's bold vision and actions lies in its founder, Dr. Hu Yinfu. A specialist in electro-vacuum technology by training, Hu Yinfu earned his master’s degree from Tsinghua University and his Ph.D. from the Beijing Institute of Vacuum Electronics Technology. After graduation, he joined the No. 12 Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), where he has been engaged in the research and development of microwave tubes and ray tubes for many years. With over two decades of experience in R&D, production, and management within the field of vacuum electronics, Hu brings extensive expertise to the table.

Dr. Yin Fu Hu, Founder of SMARTBEAM

Although some investors at the time questioned that "if a startup can do a good job with ball bearings, the market space is large enough," in Hu Yinfu's view, as a latecomer, merely following existing technologies would make it hard to overtake competitors. Only by tackling the "tough challenge" of liquid metal bearings, which aligns with technological development trends, could they build core competitiveness.

Strategic resolve requires strength to support it. Achieving stable and reliable mass production of liquid metal bearing CT tubes involves a series of highly challenging processes, including liquid metal encapsulation, leak prevention, oxidation prevention, precision machining, surface treatment, assembly welding, and dynamic balance debugging.The uniqueness of SMARTBEAM lies in its complete start from zero.The Initial Path of Independent Research and Development: Unlike Having GPS（GE、Philips、Siemens）Against peers with giant company backgrounds and a certain level of technical inheritance, SMARTBEAM, without any prior experience to follow, was instead forced to start from the fundamental physical principles, resulting in a more thorough grasp of the underlying logic of process design.. This development path, which is rooted in fundamental physical cognition, supported by an autonomous and controllable process platform, and thereby achieving rapid iteration and localized surpassing, is precisely the key step for SMARTBEAM to move from catching up to running neck-and-neck, and then taking the lead.

Taking the connection of a large heat capacity target disk as an example. The connection between the target disk and the bearing is one of the core processes of a CT tube, which must ensure both connection strength and smooth thermal conductivity to withstand the extreme thermal load during anode rotation. In the early stages of research and development, SMARTBEAM found that foreign designs completely relied on specific materials and stable process windows. Once domestically produced raw materials were used, the original thermal stress distribution and heat dissipation capability quickly became unbalanced. The team realized that "the thermal conductivity design of the target disk and bearing must be re-optimized based on the characteristics of domestic raw materials and welding processes; simply copying the design won’t work." Therefore, starting from the physical essence of thermal conduction, they recalculated the heat flow paths and stress fields, adjusting the connection structure and process parameters according to the thermal conductivity and thermal expansion coefficients of domestic materials. Eventually, they overcame the challenge of "imitation failure." This ability to "thoroughly understand and quickly adjust" enabled the SMARTBEAM team to solve numerous original process challenges across multiple model developments.

For instance, in addressing the industry challenge of liquid metal filling, SMARTBEAM did not merely replicate existing formulas but systematically re-engineered the technical approach: First, it optimized the gallium-indium-tin material system to better align with its proprietary processes; then, it developed a plasma-assisted electron beam evaporation process, significantly enhancing the adhesion strength and stability of anti-spill coatings; finally, it rigorously validated the solution through comprehensive accelerated life testing under all operating conditions. This closed-loop innovation achieved a localization rate of up to 95% for components, with key performance metrics even surpassing those of the original products.

This deep understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms and rapid iteration based on local conditions has enabled SMARTBEAMSMARTBEAM has honed its technical resilience to navigate complex competitive landscapes. In 2024, SMARTBEAM was approved for the National Key Research and Development Program's "Challenge Leader" project, focusing on establishing a fully independent intellectual property system for liquid metal bearing CT tube technology. In 2025, the company was again approved for a nuclear technology R&D project by the China National Defense Science and Technology Industry Administration, taking on the critical mission of developing domestically produced 128-slice and above ultra-high-end CT and DSA tubes.

From an obscure startup to becoming the leading company as China's first and the world's fifth manufacturer of liquid metal bearing X-ray tubes, SMARTBEAM has achieved leapfrog growth in just seven years. It has not only filled a critical gap in China’s high-end imaging core components but also provided significant support for the independent control of the imaging equipment industry chain.

In the commercial logic of CT tubes, pre-installation OEM targets whole machine manufacturers, emphasizing long-term stability and collaborative development; post-sales replacement targets hospital equipment upgrades, testing product compatibility and reliability. For Chinese-produced tube manufacturers, the replacement market is often the stepping stone into the industry chain. Only by verifying the stability of the tubes in complex and real usage environments can they gain the trust of whole machine manufacturers.

As of now, SMARTBEAM has obtained 14 medical device registration certificates (8 liquid metal bearing and 6 ball bearing), with multiple liquid bearing CT tubes in the queue for registration. Relying on continuous technological accumulation, SMARTBEAM has become a supplier in China capable of simultaneously covering both the OEM market and the replacement market, offering complete solutions for various mainstream 64-slice CT models.

In the replacement market, SMARTBEAM has achieved full model coverage of mainstream 64-slice CTs from Siemens, GE, Philips, and Canon. The product quality rivals imports: the ZS502L series averages 800,000 seconds of exposure, with a maximum exceeding 1.5 million seconds, and over 90% are still in service; the ZS702L is compatible with GE's main 64-slice models and achieved "zero faults, zero claims" in its first year on the market.

SMARTBEAM 64-Slice CT Tube Product

SMARTBEAM has been able to quickly achieve full coverage of mainstream 64-slice models within just a few years, thanks to its complete self-developed capabilities in key technologies and processes. These accumulations can be reused across different model designs. Additionally, the R&D team's strong background in electro-vacuum technology and their high-frequency iterative development rhythm have enabled SMARTBEAM to lead the industry in model development efficiency.

At the same time, the alternative market faces another invisible threshold: patent risk. Alternative products need to be compatible with the mechanical interfaces and structural designs of original equipment, which can easily infringe on patents. In response, SMARTBEAM has established a systematic FTO analysis mechanism: at the beginning of development, the R&D team will work with top law firms to compare all patents of the target model one by one, identify valid design patents, and achieve differentiation through independent structural adjustments. This pursuit of compliance not only ensures the safety of commercialization in China but also allows SMARTBEAM to confidently participate in global competition.

The value of technological breakthroughs is ultimately reflected in market performance. By 2025, SMARTBEAM's cumulative sales will reach nearly a thousand units. While achieving a leap in installation volume in China, its products will be exported to more than 20 countries worldwide, covering regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, with strategic partnerships established with multiple clients in North America and Europe.

SMARTBEAM Debuts at Overseas Exhibition

The first half of China's domestic substitution is "catching up," and the second half is "overtaking." After achieving full coverage of mainstream 64-slice models, SMARTBEAM is accelerating its attack on the ultra-high-end market long monopolized by imported brands.

It is reported that the company will release several strategic new products at the CMEF conference in April: one of them is a 7.5MHU high-power product, which targets high-end models such as Philips and United Imaging. By fully indigenizing single-ended high-voltage ceramic materials and ball bearings, it achieves the optimal balance between cost and performance; another one is an 8MHU/80kW liquid metal bearing tube aimed at the ultra-high-end market, providing Chinese OEM manufacturers with a one-stop system solution of "power supply + radiator + tube."

Moreover, SMARTBEAM is not only actively laying out the DSA tube sector and collaborating with leading domestic medical imaging manufacturers on customized R&D to explore new frontiers in interventional imaging; but also, relying on national key R&D projects, it has established a cutting-edge CT tube technology system with fully independent intellectual property rights, setting the China standard for the next generation of CT tubes.

However, the competition in the high-end market has never been just a contest of single components. The overall performance of CT scanners stems from deep system-level synergy. One of the root causes of the homogenization dilemma for domestically produced CTs lies in the limited choice of X-ray tubes. If upstream component manufacturers possess bottom-up customization capabilities, the space for innovation in complete systems can be truly unleashed.

Based on this judgment, SMARTBEAM is comprehensively promoting the deep coupling of "clinical needs – system feedback – component breakthroughs." Under this model, its relationship with domestic system manufacturers has evolved from a "supply and demand relationship" to "strategic symbiosis" — system manufacturers no longer passively accept standard parts but work with SMARTBEAM to define the core parameters of next-generation products; SMARTBEAM, on the other hand, directly translates frontline clinical pain points into fundamental physical designs for the tube. When system manufacturers begin to jointly define technical parameters with tube manufacturers, the second half of China-produced CT’s development will have truly begun.

As Hu Yinfu, founder of SMARTBEAM, said, the breakthrough in X-ray tubes is not only a business opportunity for one or two enterprises but also a necessary path for China's high-end equipment manufacturing industry. By 2026, SMARTBEAM aims not only to sell more X-ray tubes but also to make the global medical market realize that the best CT X-ray tube solutions come not only from Europe and America but also from China.