Surgray Medical: Pioneering 3D Minimally Invasive Surgical Imaging to Break Through Global Brand Dominance

Endoscope: A medical device that can be introduced into the human body through natural orifices or surgical incisions to perform various diagnostic examinations or minimally invasive surgeries. Due to its advantages, including high diagnostic and therapeutic accuracy, minimal trauma, low risk of infection, and rapid postoperative recovery, endoscopic technology has garnered extensive attention from the medical community and has become one of the fastest-growing product segments in the global medical device industry.

Currently, approximately 90% of medical institutions in China have implemented endoscopic minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. In contrast to the widespread application of endoscopes, the domestic endoscope market remains dominated by foreign brands, owing to factors such as technical barriers and the maturity of marketing and management systems.

The 2019 survey results on data and after-sales service satisfaction in China’s medical equipment industry revealed that the Chinese flexible endoscope market is predominantly monopolized by Japanese giants such as Olympus and Fujifilm. The majority of the rigid endoscope market share is held by companies including Karl Storz, Olympus, and Stryker.

In recent years, driven by a favorable external environment characterized by the rapid overall development of medical devices and strong support from national policies, Chinese endoscopy companies have increasingly prioritized independent innovation. They are striving to narrow the gap with imported technologies and equipment, holding promise for achieving domestic substitution of imports.

Against this backdrop, Changzhou Surgray Medicine Co., Ltd. has overcome significant challenges, achieving a leapforward in both technology and quality with its innovative 3D surgical endoscopy system.

The endoscopic product series developed by Surgray Medicine, represented by its 3D laparoscope, has matched and surpassed the performance of top-tier international brands in multiple metrics, including clarity, color fidelity, and image quality.

Surgray Medicine, established in February 2016, is a company dedicated to the research and development of cutting-edge minimally invasive surgical solutions. Just two months after its founding, it secured angel-round financing from Shanlan Capital. In light of this, VCBeat conducted an exclusive interview with Dr. Xu Mantao, founder of Surgray Medicine, to gain deeper insights into the company’s development and strategic plans.

Prior to founding Surgray, Xu Mantao served as a professor at the School of Medical Devices and Food, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. Before that, he held technical leadership roles at multinational medical device companies such as Medtronic, Carestream Health, and Covidien.

During his tenure at multinational corporations, Xu Mantao was primarily responsible for researching innovative products—developing offerings that the company did not previously have, starting from a concept or idea. His task was considered complete once he had advanced the product from an initial idea to the stage where it could be included in clinical trials.

After founding Surgray, Xu Mantao brought this product development mindset to the R&D team at Changzhou Surgray Medicine Co., Ltd. In determining product development directions, the Surgray Medical team bases its initial selection of multiple R&D pathways on cutting-edge scientific literature and market research. It then filters out options with low feasibility by comprehensively evaluating factors such as technical barriers, development cycles, and costs. Finally, the company conducts surveys and interviews among professional physicians to finalize its R&D direction based on their feedback and needs.

When discussing why 3D surgical endoscopy systems were chosen as the product development direction, Xu Mantao stated that such products represent a cutting-edge international trend and constitute a market segment with significant untapped potential.

Compared with traditional 2D endoscopes, the advantages of 3D endoscopes are faster positioning, quicker image capture, and a stronger sense of depth. As the saying goes, “what you see is what you get.” Xu Mantao stated that the 3D endoscope developed by Surgray Medicine restores the advantages of natural vision, achieving an average image acquisition speed 20–30% faster than that of 2D endoscopes, thereby enabling greater hand-eye coordination and lower latency.

In the R&D of 3D endoscopes, traditional large medical device companies and innovative enterprises are basically on the same starting line. Although traditional companies have advantages such as good resource allocation and a complete supply chain, it is usually easier for smaller ships to turn around in the field of innovation, making it more likely for innovative enterprises to achieve overtaking on curves.

For a company that prioritizes innovative technology in its R&D strategy, the ability to achieve breakthroughs largely depends on the knowledge and skill reserves of its R&D team. During the early stages of product development, Xu Mantao led several young engineers in gradually exploring paths to innovation, sharing his accumulated product development experience with new team members to rapidly cultivate talent. Currently, Changzhou Surgray Medicine Co.,Ltd has established a specialized team composed of PhDs and postdoctoral researchers.

For the R&D of innovative products, there are not only technical barriers but also process barriers.

Regarding the component supply side, Xu Mantao believes that China’s consumer electronics industry chain and the mass production of optical components are relatively mature, allowing for the transfer of consumer electronic products and technologies to the medical field. Therefore, Changzhou Surgray Medicine Co., Ltd has accumulated high-quality supplier resources to ensure the implementation of product packaging and welding processes.

For clients, as a 3D endoscope serves as an auxiliary tool for surgeons, clinical feedback and improvement suggestions from physicians are crucial during the research and development process. Currently, Changzhou Surgray Medicine Co., Ltd. has reached a scientific research collaboration agreement with the Chinese PLA General Hospital, where the clinical trials of its 3D endoscope are also being conducted.

From a technical perspective, the imaging of 3D endoscopes is achieved by integrating and stitching together 2D images captured from multiple angles using multiple lenses. Therefore, the research and development process requires the accumulation of expertise and craftsmanship in 2D endoscopy. Variations in the size of individual lenses and imaging modules pose new requirements and challenges to conventional technologies.

At the end of 2018, Changzhou Surgray Medicine Co., Ltd. successfully obtained clinical trial approval for its 3D surgical endoscopy system and formally commenced clinical trials in April last year. The company has now successfully completed the pre-market clinical trials for its 3D endoscope. According to the feedback from these trials, Surgray Medicine’s 3D endoscope demonstrates significant advantages in color reproduction, with all other performance metrics meeting or exceeding those of leading international brands.

Looking back on the entrepreneurial journey, Xu Mantao stated that Surgray Medicine’s progress to its current stage would not have been possible without the invaluable support of key mentors and partners along the way.

Through scientific research collaboration with Professor Liu Rong’s team at the Chinese PLA General Hospital, Changzhou Surgray Medicine Co., Ltd. has been able to precisely identify and address the clinical needs of laparoscopic minimally invasive surgery, thereby avoiding detours in the R&D process. This represents an exploratory effort in the innovative development of medical translation under the civil-military integration model.

The Chinese PLA General Hospital, founded in 1953, is a large-scale modern comprehensive hospital integrating medical care, health preservation, teaching, and scientific research. The hospital has 165 clinical and medical technology departments, 233 nursing units, and 4,200 hospital beds. It handles over 4.9 million outpatient and emergency visits annually and performs nearly 90,000 surgeries per year.

Professor Liu Rong is one of the leading figures in laparoscopic and robotic hepatobiliary-pancreatic surgery in China. He pioneered the concept of laparoscopic anatomical hepatectomy worldwide and performed the world’s first laparoscopic anatomical hemihepatectomy, the first laparoscopic right trisectionectomy, the first retroperitoneal laparoscopic liver surgery, and the first retroperitoneal laparoscopic pancreatic surgery.

During exchanges with Professor Liu Rong’s team, the R&D team at Changzhou Surgray Medicine Co., Ltd. learned that 3D laparoscopy offers a series of advantages in clinical practice. However, due to cost considerations, its adoption rate remains low among healthcare institutions in China. Professor Liu Rong believes that 3D laparoscopy restores the advantages of natural vision, reducing surgical complications and shortening operative time compared with 2D laparoscopy.

In terms of market strategy, Surgray Medicine’s investor, Shanlan Capital, actively provided market intelligence and industry trend insights, helping the company avoid numerous development risks. Furthermore, as Surgray Medicine is based in the Changzhou West Taihu Lake Science and Technology Industrial Park, the park’s administrative committee has offered substantial support in corporate financing management and facilitating connections with clinical trial institutions.

Most components of the 3D surgical endoscopy system currently developed by Surgray Medicine are independently researched and designed by its in-house team. Compared with imported products, this approach enables effective cost control while ensuring superior performance, thereby offering a competitive pricing advantage.

In addition to providing 3D surgical endoscopy systems, Changzhou Surgray Medicine Co.,Ltd has also developed products such as 3D flexible endoscopes and 4K electronic endoscopes. Meanwhile, the company is exploring the integration of X-ray technology with capsule technology to develop capsule robots, achieving combined innovation.

Regarding corporate development, Xu Mantao stated that the top priority is to recruit high-end R&D and marketing management talent. In terms of product research and development, Changzhou Surgray Medicine Co.,Ltd requires technical experts in surgical robotics and surgery. Looking ahead, Surgray Medicine will also seek to establish partnerships with leading international brands to leverage complementary strengths, jointly expand marketing channels, and achieve global sales and clinical application of its products.

Furthermore, Xu Mantao plans to build a scalable 3D technology platform. Through cross-licensing of intellectual property, the platform will provide 3D endoscope R&D technologies and product components to multiple manufacturers of minimally invasive medical devices, thereby accelerating the development of 3D endoscope technology in China and helping domestically produced medical devices achieve parity with multinational corporations in product quality.