Yingkang Life and United Imaging Forge Strategic Alliance to Deploy Comprehensive AI Solutions Across Healthcare Facilities
After a decade of intensive development, healthcare has become the largest application scenario for artificial intelligence. AI is embedded across various scenarios in radiology, informatics, and life sciences, driving cost reduction and efficiency gains in clinical practice, scientific research, pharmaceuticals, and management, and even enabling paradigm-shifting innovations that disrupt established workflows.
However, in practical applications, the large number of AI solution providers, most of which are fragmented and isolated, has led to dispersed and intermittent adoption of artificial intelligence in hospital settings. This makes it difficult to “seamlessly” integrate AI into clinical workflows, thereby preventing the maximization of its “digital-intelligence value.”
On June 20, INKON Life Technology Co., Ltd. (“INKON Life”) and United Imaging Healthcare Group Co., Ltd. (“United Imaging Group”) signed a strategic cooperation agreement, which is expected to provide solutions to the aforementioned issues.
Through collaboration, INKON Life Technology Co., Ltd. is attempting to launch a top-down, comprehensive initiative for building next-generation smart hospitals, systematically integrating cutting-edge technologies such as AI into clinical workflows.
In the initial phase, both parties will collaborate to establish “Three Centers and One Platform,” namely the Integrated Demonstration Center for Precision Oncology Diagnosis and Treatment, the Demonstration Center for Application of Frontier Artificial Intelligence Technologies, the Smart Health Management Center, and the Digital-Intelligent Software Platform. At that time, United Imaging Healthcare will assist hospitals under INKON Life Technology Co., Ltd. in comprehensively deploying AI, ensuring the efficient application of innovative technologies in hospital settings while further exploring broader clinical applications of smart healthcare.
From the perspective of medical AI deployment, domestic applications are either implemented in public tertiary hospitals to alleviate the pressure of insufficient medical resource supply, or deployed at primary community health centers to enhance the diagnostic and treatment capabilities of relevant medical institutions. Large-scale deployment of medical AI in non-public healthcare sectors remains rare.
Upon closer examination, many private institutions lag behind public medical facilities of similar standing in terms of physician resources and equipment configuration, making it difficult to establish distinctive hospital specialties; consequently, AI is unable to fulfill its potential in “enhancing quality and improving efficiency.”
In contrast, the hospitals under INKON Life are backed by Haier Group’s comprehensive health ecosystem brand, “Yingkang Yisheng.” They are not only equipped with cutting-edge devices such as high-field MRI, ultra-high-end CT, PET/CT, and linear accelerators, enabling them to handle the surging demand from an aging population, but have also established a robust physician title promotion system. This system incentivizes doctors to proactively improve work efficiency, thereby freeing up time for scientific research.
Therefore, to optimize the clinical environment for physicians and enhance the hospital’s overall comprehensive strength, INKON Life has both the willingness and the necessity to implement hospital-wide medical AI deployment.
Data generated from actual use in recent years has confirmed the value of INKON Life’s comprehensive deployment of AI, while its current all-encompassing AI strategy further strengthens the hospital’s smart capabilities. Suzhou Guangci Tumor Hospital launched its AI system in October 2021 and has since completed 33,518 pulmonary nodule analyses, 395 coronary artery analyses, and 33,518 fracture analyses. Taking pulmonary nodule data as an example, with AI-assisted diagnosis, the clinical detection rate in the Department of Radiology at Suzhou Guangci Hospital increased by 32%, and physicians’ image reading efficiency improved by 26%.
“Manual film reading entails a heavy workload, and small nodules are prone to being missed—two major pain points in clinical practice. AI can rapidly identify extremely tiny nodules, allowing physicians to perform review and diagnosis on this basis, thereby significantly improving both efficiency and accuracy,” said a radiologist from a hospital under INKON Life Technology Co., Ltd. in an interview with VCBeat. “Meanwhile, AI can also assist in tumor staging and the differentiation between benign and malignant lesions, providing clinical support for the early diagnosis and treatment of tumors.”
She further stated that as the scope of AI applications expands, physicians’ professional responsibilities may shift from repetitive and straightforward tasks to more advanced and complex diagnostic work. Taking lung nodule screening and diagnosis as an example, physicians previously had to devote substantial time each day to detecting nodules and assessing their benign or malignant nature. Now, however, physicians need only determine whether the nodules identified by AI are true positives, rule out false positives, and then evaluate the benign or malignant characteristics of the nodules in conjunction with AI-generated results. This allows them to dedicate more time to higher-level diagnostic activities or engage in scientific research.
In addition to empowering the diagnostic process, INKON Life has also been exploring AI-enabled pathways in fields such as chronic disease management and oncology treatment.
For instance, the “Integrated Demonstration Center for Precision Oncology Diagnosis and Treatment” planned in this collaboration aims to organically integrate the previously fragmented processes of cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, and management, thereby delivering comprehensive, full-course, and full-cycle oncology care services.
According to INKON Life, the AI-based 3D reconstruction and digital twin technologies currently deployed in its affiliated hospitals enhance the visualization of diagnostic results and treatment plans. Once medical images are rendered into 3D models, they can be freely rotated from all angles and displayed interactively, enabling physicians to better observe and analyze lesions. This also allows patients to gain a more intuitive understanding of their condition, thereby reducing information asymmetry, improving doctor-patient communication efficiency, and fostering mutual trust.
Meanwhile, surgical simulation via three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction enables precise surgical planning and execution, thereby enhancing accuracy while facilitating personalized diagnosis and treatment. In recent years, 3D reconstruction has garnered increasing attention for its role in assisting clinical diagnosis and therapy. By accurately analyzing lesions, it supports preoperative planning and navigation, allowing physicians to develop comprehensive surgical contingency plans and achieve real-time intraoperative tracking. This significantly improves surgical precision and safety, delivering optimal personalized treatment strategies for patients.
As one of the most mature and influential private healthcare groups in the industry, INKON Life has charted multiple referenceable development paths for non-public medical institutions.
Faced with new challenges such as an intensifying aging population and the trend of diseases affecting younger demographics, INKON Life has once again taken the lead by comprehensively deploying AI, positioning itself at the forefront of the industry.
According to INKON Life, the company will continue to partner with United Imaging Group in the future. With a patient-centric approach and innovation as its foundation, it aims to establish full-lifecycle management—encompassing prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation—for a broader range of diseases. By leveraging their respective strengths, both parties will continuously explore innovative applications of AI technologies in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases.
Amid the overarching trend of developing new quality productive forces in China, both parties will further deepen their capabilities in scenario integration, continuously explore innovations in medical device R&D and upgrades to healthcare service experiences, and contribute to the high-quality development of the broader health industry.