Varian and Ping An Unveil Smart Radiotherapy Cloud Solution, Pioneering the Era of 'Cloud Radiotherapy'

At the 2018 (4th) China Smart City International Expo, Varian, a global leader in cancer treatment, and Ping An, a pioneer in China’s health sector, jointly showcased their industry-leading smart radiotherapy cloud solution, highlighting the immense potential of artificial intelligence, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to empower healthcare. This solution provides robust support for the establishment and development of specialized medical consortia, ushers in a new era of “cloud radiotherapy” for smart healthcare, and constitutes an essential component in building a “Digital China” and a “Smart Society.”

According to the latest statistics from the National Cancer Center of China, more than 10,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every day in China, and the five-year relative survival rate is only 40.5%. The five-year relative survival rate for rural residents still lags significantly behind that of urban residents. Radiotherapy is one of the three major modalities for cancer treatment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, 50%-60% of cancer patients require radiotherapy during their treatment course. However, the current accessibility of radiotherapy in China reaches only 23%, with merely 11.8% of radiotherapy resources distributed in county-level hospitals. Therefore, leveraging the advantages of medical consortia and vigorously promoting the development of specialized disciplines at the primary care level to enhance grassroots radiotherapy capacity are essential to practically achieve the goal of “keeping serious diseases within the county” and improving patient survival rates.

Guided by the shared vision of expanding access to high-quality cancer care, Varian and Ping An announced a strategic partnership in December 2017. Leveraging their respective technical expertise and domain knowledge, they aim to unlock the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and big data to deliver tailored, high-quality, efficient, and cost-effective comprehensive digital solutions for cancer treatment to the Chinese population. Addressing the challenges faced by primary-care hospitals in China in developing radiotherapy capabilities, the Smart Radiotherapy Cloud solution showcased by both parties utilizes cutting-edge Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, vast radiotherapy big data, and leading AI techniques. This solution provides end-to-end support for hospitals at all levels within medical consortia, establishes a multidisciplinary consultation system for oncology specialties, standardizes diagnosis and treatment protocols, enables resource sharing, builds referral systems, and promotes the development of telemedicine resources within medical consortia.

This solution fully leverages Varian’s core strengths and cutting-edge technologies in the field of radiation oncology, incorporating several industry-first technologies and solutions. For instance, its intelligent linear accelerator platform, connected via the Internet of Things (IoT), enables 24/7 health monitoring and early warning of potential failures. Through remote diagnostics, proactive component replacement, and efficient maintenance, it ensures an uptime rate of 98%, leading the industry. Furthermore, Varian’s remote quality control solution ensures precise lesion localization, accurate radiotherapy planning, as well as precise beam positioning and energy delivery from the accelerator. In addition, Varian’s RapidPlan™ AI-driven planning system utilizes machine learning and big data analytics to streamline and accelerate the planning process for complex cancer treatments. While ensuring high quality and efficiency in radiotherapy plans, it significantly enhances consistency both within departments and across multi-center studies, representing one of the most successful applications of artificial intelligence in oncology treatment to date.

As an invited co-organizer of the 4th Smart China Expo, Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China will showcase its achievements in advancing smart city development: “Ping An Smart City Cloud.” This “8+1” smart city platform has been systematically built by leveraging Ping An’s strengths in fintech, medtech, artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data, and cloud computing. It covers areas such as smart government services, smart public finance, smart security, smart healthcare, smart education, smart real estate, smart environmental protection, smart living, and smart information, forming an integrated solution aimed at creating a new urban lifestyle characterized by “smartness, intelligent governance, and efficiency.”