Medical Device Giants Philips, Medtronic, and Elekta Embrace AI at CIIE

Recently, the “First China International Import Expo” concluded successfully in Shanghai. In conversations with global medical device giants such as Philips, Medtronic, and Elekta, VCBeat (WeChat official account: vcbeat) found that artificial intelligence has become a crucial component of their product portfolios. Whether it is Philips’ “HealthSuite Digital Platform,” Medtronic’s “Hybrid Closed-Loop Insulin Auto-Delivery System,” or Elekta’s “Smart Radiation Therapy Solutions,” these innovations signal to the world that the era of intelligent digital transformation for medical device majors has arrived.

As one of the largest exhibitors in the “Medical Devices and Pharmaceutical Healthcare Exhibition Area,” Philips has drawn significant attention for its integrated B2B and B2C business model, its comprehensive “big health” strategy covering the “entire health care journey,” and its application of digitalization, artificial intelligence, and other technologies in the healthcare sector.

At the “Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Pavilion” of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), Philips showcased its latest high-end digital imaging equipment and intelligent information systems, including the world’s first IQon Spectral CT based on spectral detection imaging, the Ingenia CX Ambition MRI, the Vereos Digital PET/CT, and the EPIQ 7 premium ultrasound series equipped with Anatomical Intelligence and featuring visualization and quantification capabilities. During the six-day exhibition, Philips secured purchase agreements for more than 150 units of its high-end imaging equipment.

In addition to medical devices, the application of technologies such as connectivity, digitalization, and artificial intelligence in the healthcare sector has become another key area of innovation that Philips is vigorously promoting at the China International Import Expo (CIIE). Centered on the concept of “care across the entire health journey,” Philips’ “integrated solutions” targeting three major diseases served as the central theme and a major highlight of its exhibition booth.

As a global leader in the fields of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and oncology care, Philips brings its world-leading innovative technologies to China. Addressing the pain points and needs of China’s healthcare system, Philips has engaged in extensive and in-depth collaborations in clinical research and business models with the government, hospitals at all levels, professional societies, universities, research institutions, and local innovative enterprises. This enables Philips to provide “comprehensive disease-specific solutions” covering the entire lifecycle for “Chest Pain Centers,” “Stroke Centers,” and “Oncology Centers” at all levels.

In the field of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health, Philips not only offers products and applications that empower individuals to better manage their own health—such as those for oral health, dietary health, and air quality—but also provides digital equipment and integrated intelligent information systems across all stages of care, including pre-hospital emergency response, early disease screening, precision diagnosis, personalized treatment, patient monitoring, post-discharge health management, and rehabilitation. These solutions assist physicians in enhancing diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities while improving hospital operational efficiency.

The oncology field faces numerous challenges. Philips focuses on integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies with clinical expertise in this disease area. Through “breakthrough innovations,” it aims to explore methods for early cancer detection, improve the accuracy of initial diagnoses, and deliver more effective healthcare services to patients at lower costs through personalized, minimally invasive interventional therapies. Its key areas of focus include natural language processing, big data mining and analytics, construction of structured clinical databases, image recognition, AI-assisted imaging diagnosis, interventional therapy, and genomics.

Therefore, as an innovative company focused on “Health Technology,” Philips aims to address the challenge of unlocking the value of the vast amounts of data in the healthcare sector. By leveraging efficient computing and precise analytical decision-making, Philips seeks to transform “big data” into “big insights,” thereby enhancing the value of healthcare systems.

For example, the “Smart Health Platform” launched by Philips at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) is a one-stop system designed to assist physicians in more efficiently collecting, managing, visualizing, and analyzing patient data. It comprises four core functional modules: direct data reporting, timeline management, data integration, and quality control dashboards. This platform helps hospitals standardize information integration in accordance with industry standards, facilitates direct quality control reporting, and thereby enhances both the quality of clinical diagnosis and treatment and the level of scientific research.

On November 8, five parties—the China Cardiovascular Alliance, the Xiamen Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission, the Cardiovascular Hospital of Xiamen University, Digital China Healthcare Technology Co., Ltd., and Philips (China) Investment Co., Ltd.—jointly signed a strategic cooperation memorandum at the China International Import Expo to launch pilot collaboration on the establishment of a “Big Data Center for Clinical Quality Control in Cardiovascular Care.”

This pilot project will leverage Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital to design a high-quality, comprehensive, and structured cardiovascular data collection system and clinical quality assessment system, facilitating appropriate data sharing with other participating medical institutions. The objective is to establish a high-quality, complete, and structured big data center for cardiovascular health, based on a cloud platform and covering all pilot medical institutions, through collaborative interconnectivity. Building on this foundation, advanced technological tools will be employed to help medical institutions effectively analyze and utilize big data, thereby supporting clinical decision-making, healthcare quality improvement, disease early warning, clinical research, and personalized treatment.

At this CIIE, Medtronic, a global provider of medical technology, services, and solutions, showcased more than 30 advanced global medical technologies and products. Addressing China’s urgent healthcare needs in areas such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, spinal and neurosurgical disorders, and diabetes, the company presented efficient solutions spanning multiple stages of medical care, including early diagnosis, surgical treatment, postoperative rehabilitation, and long-term disease management.

Medtronic’s exhibition at this year’s China International Import Expo (CIIE) prominently demonstrates its response to the rapidly growing healthcare demands in China across cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, orthopedic, diabetes, and liver disease sectors. The showcase features both heavyweight imported medical technology products that have been marketed in China for many years, as well as leading diagnostic and therapeutic solutions already validated in other global markets and poised for imminent entry into China. These innovations and cutting-edge applications reflect international medical trends toward intelligence, early diagnosis and intervention, minimally invasive procedures, and precision medicine.

Some of these products help physicians acquire relevant clinical skills more rapidly and deliver more precise diagnoses and treatments; others empower patients to engage more extensively and earlier in their disease management through mobile applications and other means, thereby enhancing their awareness and confidence in recovery.

At the Medtronic booth, attendees can gain close-up insights into advanced medical technologies and therapies already in clinical application in China. These include the use of stent retrievers for stroke treatment; non-invasive sampling and treatment of pulmonary nodules and early-stage lung cancer lesions via bronchial navigation systems that access deep lung airways; precise ablation of liver cancer cells using microwave ablation systems; treatment of atrial fibrillation with cryoballoon catheters; retrospective continuous glucose monitoring systems that enable sustained blood glucose level tracking and optimized diabetes management; and intraoperative imaging and navigation systems that assist in complex spinal and neurosurgical procedures, among others.

Some of Medtronic’s cutting-edge technologies, not yet launched in the Chinese market, were also unveiled to the public in China for the first time at the China International Import Expo (CIIE), such as the world’s first leadless pacemaker. With its ultra-compact design, it enables a minimally invasive implantation procedure and a lower-risk wearing experience, reducing patient incision size and improving long-term cardiac disease management.

In addition, the hybrid closed-loop automated insulin delivery system, named one of the Best Inventions of 2016 by TIME magazine, incorporates artificial intelligence algorithms to help patients manage blood glucose more efficiently.

Diabetes occurs when the pancreas fails to produce sufficient insulin or when the body cannot effectively utilize the insulin produced. As a chronic disease, diabetes can cause severe damage to multiple systems in the body, including the nervous and vascular systems, over time. In China, there are more than 100 million people with diabetes.

Medtronic MiniMed 670G Hybrid Closed-Loop Automated Insulin Infusion System

The Medtronic MiniMed™ 670G hybrid closed-loop insulin pump utilizes the latest global glucose sensor technology and intelligent algorithms to adjust basal insulin delivery based on real-time continuous glucose monitoring trends. It suspends insulin delivery before hypoglycemic events occur, thereby achieving functionality akin to an “artificial pancreas.” This system increases time in range for patients with diabetes and improves their quality of life.

At this China International Import Expo (CIIE), Elekta, a global pioneer in precision radiation therapy, launched the world’s first high-field magnetic resonance radiation therapy system, Elekta Unity, and the new non-invasive Leksell Gamma Knife® Icon™. Also showcased during the CIIE were Elekta’s next-generation high-precision dynamic stereotactic radiosurgery system, Elekta Axesse, and its smart radiation therapy solutions.

“The shape and location of tumors constantly change during treatment. Real-time tracking of these changes enables greater precision in radiotherapy, and Elekta Unity has turned this vision into reality,” said Professor Zhang Zhen, Director of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. “The high-field MRI-guided radiotherapy system provides clear soft-tissue imaging, allowing for precise delineation of tumor margins and maximizing the protection of normal tissues from radiation-induced damage.”

Elekta Unity integrates a radiotherapy linear accelerator and a 1.5T high-field diagnostic-grade magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system—two technologies traditionally considered physically incompatible—into a single platform, complemented by an online adaptive radiotherapy workflow software system. The advent of Elekta Unity enables, for the first time, high-resolution visualization and tracking of tumors during radiation therapy, allowing for timely evaluation of treatment efficacy and adjustment of personalized treatment plans. Functioning as a “tumor GPS” within the radiotherapy system, it establishes a new standard for precision radiation therapy.

As a global pioneer in radiation therapy, Elekta continues to lead the industry to new heights, providing patients with efficient, precise, and personalized solutions. It is for this reason that the newly released innovative product, the Leksell Gamma Knife® Icon™, represents another milestone advancement in Gamma Knife technology. The new features of the Icon enhance the therapeutic capabilities of the Gamma Knife, redefine the concept of precise stereotactic radiosurgery, and break through the traditional boundaries of cranial radiosurgery systems. In particular, it enables precise, non-invasive fractionated treatment, effectively addressing larger lesions.

Guided by national policies, Elekta China has long been committed to enhancing the supply of medical resources and supporting the high-quality development of healthcare. Since 2010, Elekta China has been progressively integrating radiotherapy-related data and information generated from diverse equipment and brands throughout patients’ treatment journeys. It has established its proprietary radiotherapy cloud platform, which not only facilitates data sharing for radiotherapy workflows within individual hospitals but also extends to cross-institutional, multi-center, and medical consortium applications.

Using artificial intelligence to alleviate the uneven distribution of medical equipment is only the first step; another major challenge is the significant talent gap across the industry as a whole. Gong Anming, Global Executive Vice President and President of China at Elekta, stated, “Elekta is committed to training radiation therapy professionals for hospitals at all levels across China. As of September 2018, we had systematically provided training totaling 12,768 person-days. Furthermore, through collaborations with internationally renowned cancer centers, Elekta supports domestic radiotherapy professionals in pursuing advanced studies each year.”

Hao Ruiqiang, Global CEO of Elekta

Elekta’s Global CEO, Hao Ruiqiang, stated to the media, “In China, we have established our largest radiotherapy equipment manufacturing base outside of Europe, with products supplied globally. Furthermore, Elekta China boasts an R&D team comprising approximately 30% of its total workforce, who are engaged in the development of Elekta’s core products. Currently, the number of employees at Elekta China has surpassed that of its Swedish headquarters.”

For traditional medical device companies, digital transformation has become an industry trend. A review of this year’s China International Import Expo (CIIE) shows that innovative products from globally renowned device manufacturers such as Philips, Medtronic, and Elekta further corroborate this view. VCBeat will continue to closely monitor the clinical implementation and adoption of these digital innovations in hospitals.