Shenzhen-based AI Medical Imaging Company Vision Sight Secures RMB 60 Million Series A Funding to Advance Product Development and Market Expansion

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on March 31, 2018, Imsight Technology, a company dedicated to empowering medical imaging diagnosis with artificial intelligence, announced the completion of its RMB 60 million Series A financing round. The round was led by Shenzhen Capital Group, with participation from Shengshi Fangzhou and Zhenshan Investment.

Previously, Imsight Medical received a grant of several million Hong Kong dollars from the Innovation and Technology Commission of Hong Kong, as well as nearly RMB 20 million in Pre-A series financing led by Legend Capital. Chen Hao, founder of Imsight Medical, stated that this round of funding will be primarily allocated to product research and development and market expansion.

Group Photo of the Imsight Technology Team

Shenzhen Imsight Medical Technology Co., Ltd. is an innovative company that prioritizes the accumulation of proprietary technologies and applies artificial intelligence to the field of medical imaging. At its core, the company leverages AI-driven deep learning and computational medical image analysis technologies to develop high-quality medical image analysis software and large-scale image processing platforms. By intelligently identifying and analyzing big data in medical imaging, it rapidly and accurately provides recommendations for assisted diagnosis and treatment plans, thereby enhancing the precision and efficiency of clinical diagnosis and therapy.

Chen Hao, founder of Imsight Medical Technology, stated to VCBeat: “The healthcare industry faces challenges such as a shortage of high-quality medical resources and a rapid increase in imaging data. The extensive data learning and precise analysis capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) present new opportunities for the development of the healthcare sector. The advent of AI will not replace physicians; rather, it serves as an aid in diagnosis, functioning as a rapid and accurate analytical tool to facilitate disease screening and treatment. We boast a robust AI technology team and work in close collaboration with senior imaging experts to ensure that our product design and development meet the clinical needs of physicians. Currently, our technologies and products have gained recognition from numerous hospitals and medical institutions. In the future, Imsight Medical Technology will accelerate the transition of its products from original laboratory R&D to clinical application, thereby achieving practical implementation of AI in the healthcare field.”

Imsight’s R&D team comprises outstanding talents from top-tier universities worldwide, including The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The University of Hong Kong, The Australian National University, Tsinghua University, Beihang University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The team possesses extensive practical experience in medical image processing, deep learning algorithms, and clinical medical research. Its core team has won championships in sixteen international medical image recognition challenges, outperforming strong competitors from leading enterprises and medical imaging research institutions. Furthermore, the team has published more than 50 papers in prestigious journals and conferences such as CVPR, ICCV, AAAI, TMI, MICCAI, and MIA, with members receiving Best Paper Awards on three occasions.

Notably, in 2017, the R&D team of Imsight Technology won the Best Paper Award at MedIA-MICCAI’17. MICCAI is the most prestigious top-tier academic conference in the fields of medical image computing and computer-assisted intervention.

In 2017, nearly 30 financing deals were announced in China’s AI healthcare sector, with total funding exceeding RMB 1.8 billion. Amidst the dynamic shifts in the capital market, Imsight Technology, as a young enterprise, pursues steady progress and differentiated competition, meticulously refining each of its products.

Imsight's Products

Imsight’s product R&D focuses on three core areas: AI-assisted diagnosis for radiological imaging, radiotherapy target delineation, and AI-assisted diagnosis for pathological (cytological and histological) imaging. Its self-developed AI-assisted diagnostic system effectively helps physicians improve diagnostic efficiency and reduce missed diagnoses. For instance, in cervical cancer screening, manual review by physicians typically takes over ten minutes, whereas Imsight’s AI-assisted diagnostic system, Cervical-Sight, identifies lesions in just a few seconds, with an accuracy rate exceeding 90% that continues to improve.

In the field of radiology, the Lung-Sight intelligent CT-assisted diagnostic system for lung diseases has been developed to automatically detect nodular lesions in patients and perform quantitative measurements. Technically, it achieves a sensitivity of over 95% for nodules ranging from 3 to 30 millimeters, with fewer than two false positives per case. Particularly for the detection of tiny nodules measuring 3–5 mm, it significantly reduces physicians’ image reading time while minimizing missed diagnoses and misdiagnoses. Meanwhile, DR-Sight (an intelligent chest X-ray screening product) can identify more than ten types of cardiothoracic conditions. It is widely applicable in health examination departments as well as inpatient and outpatient settings, assisting physicians in rapidly screening for diseases, marking lesion locations, and automatically generating illustrated reports. The product has submitted an application to the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) and has currently entered the clinical trial phase.

As is well known, pathological diagnosis is universally recognized in the medical community as the “gold standard” for disease diagnosis. The accuracy of pathology reports directly determines patients’ treatment plans. In China, there are fewer than 10,000 licensed pathologists (including assistant licensed physicians), leaving a shortfall of up to 100,000. Therefore, it is highly necessary to establish an automated, accurate, and rapid whole-slide image-based AI-assisted pathology diagnosis platform. Leveraging its proprietary core technologies, Shenzhen Imsight Medical Technology Co.Ltd has built a large-scale intelligent analysis platform for whole-slide pathology images and has developed multiple products in both cytopathology and histopathology.

Currently, Imsight has established strategic partnerships with more than 50 top-tier Grade A tertiary hospitals in China, including Peking Union Medical College Hospital, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, and Shanghai Tongji Hospital. In 2018, the company plans to expand its presence to over 100 hospitals across China while vigorously exploring overseas markets.

Over the past year, Imsight has established R&D centers and built marketing teams in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Beijing, Chengdu, and other locations, while forging partnerships with numerous domestic and international medical manufacturers and partners, including Bayer, Nvidia, Amazon, Huawei, and Jiangfeng Technology. Notably, Imsight has entered into a strategic partnership with Hengkang Medical Group, through which both parties are engaging in deep collaboration on the implementation of application scenarios.

Professor Pheng-Ann Heng of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong has dedicated twenty-five years to the field of medical image analysis. As the co-founder and Chief Scientist of Imsight Technology, he stated, “Imsight Technology is a tech company with accumulated original core technologies. We have always maintained a humble and prudent attitude toward the challenges in medical technology, conducting solid research and development to promote practical clinical applications.”

Wang Feng, Co-CEO of Imsight Technology, stated, “If you set your sights only two to three years into the future, you will face numerous competitors. However, if you look seven to ten years ahead, few companies will be able to compete with you, as amidst the frenzy of capital and widespread impatience, few are willing to make such long-term commitments or thoughtfully contemplate the future. We have always emphasized staying true to our original mission: ensuring that AI genuinely solves practical problems, effectively assists physicians, and makes a tangible contribution to human health. By integrating technological innovation with practical business implementation, we are building a new force in China’s technology sector.”

Regarding the investment in Imsight Technology, Jiang Jun, Investment Director at Shenzhen Capital Group (SCGC), stated, “Imsight Technology demonstrates strong capabilities in original technological innovation and channel expansion. It has substantial talent and technical reserves in deep learning and medical image recognition, with evident leadership in channel development. Artificial intelligence is poised to have a profound impact on numerous industries, and we look forward to Imsight Technology driving the upgrade of China’s healthcare industry in the future.” Dr. Cui Pengxiang from the SCGC Research Center remarked, “I am highly optimistic about Imsight Technology’s team composition and the prospects of AI in healthcare. During this year’s ‘Two Sessions,’ the state introduced a series of policies aimed at facilitating the implementation of AI-related industries. Following this round of financing, Imsight Technology will leverage its core technologies to establish a firm foothold in China and expand globally.”