Hisense Medical Files IPO Prospectus: How a $100B+ Home Appliance Giant Expanded into the Medical Field

At the 77th China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF), Hisense Medical showcased its independently developed digital operating room, medical display systems, computer-assisted surgery systems, and mobile nursing solutions, highlighting its achievements in the healthcare sector. How has this home appliance giant, with annual revenues exceeding RMB 100 billion, progressively expanded its footprint in the medical industry since entering the field in 2013? VCBeat has conducted follow-up reporting on this topic.

In December 2013, a liver tumor resection was successfully performed on a 2-year-old child, with blood loss of only 30 mL;

In 2014, a girl aged over seven survived a renal rupture following surgical repair.

In January 2016, at the Children's Hospital of Fudan University, a successful separation surgery was performed on male thoraco-omphalopagus conjoined twins, with both infants surviving.

In February this year, conjoined twin girls joined at the liver were successfully separated;

This May, a pair of three-month-old postpartum abdominal conjoined twin sisters were successfully separated...

These cases were all performed using the Hisense Computer-Assisted Surgery (Hisense CAS) system. Since children’s internal organs and blood vessels are more difficult to visualize clearly on conventional CT images compared to those of adults, such surgeries were previously challenging for physicians to perform.

VCBeat has learned thatHisense CAS can transform CT data of liver patients into a 3D digital liver to guide clinical surgery, enabling comprehensive assessment, planning, and design of surgical approaches from multiple perspectives prior to the operation.。

In simple terms, this system performs “3D liver mapping.” Previously, patients’ CT scans were only available as 2D cross-sectional images, requiring physicians to mentally reconstruct the liver’s three-dimensional structure based on their experience. In contrast, Dong Qian utilized Hisense CAS to generate a 3D reconstruction of the liver, creating separate 3D models of the four major intrahepatic ductal systems and delineating the extent of biliary tumors.Clearly delineate the distribution of bile duct tumors and their relationship with blood vessels., effectively assisting the lead surgeon in preoperatively predicting the surgical approach, thereby guiding the procedure akin to GPS navigation.

Hisense CAS was jointly developed with the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University. It successfully assisted in its first surgical procedure in 2013 and has obtained the National Medical Device Product Certification Certificate and Production License. The system is currently used clinically at more than 30 Grade III Class A hospitals across China, including Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, and the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, with over 1,000 surgeries completed to date. This product also marked Hisense’s entry into the healthcare sector.

Following the successful development of Hisense CAS, Hisense gained confidence in the medical industry. In March 2014, Qingdao Hisense Medical Equipment Co., Ltd. was formally registered and established, leveraging its core competencies:Display Technology and Image Processing TechnologyIn addition to computer-assisted surgery systems, Hisense has developed medical display systems and computer-assisted surgery systems. Its R&D team includes a large number of returnees from the United States, France, and Japan, with over 80.9% holding master’s degrees or higher.

In addition to the Hisense CAS mentioned above,Hisense’s Precision Digital Operating Room System was also showcased at the event. VCBeat learned that it features five core components: an intelligent central control system, an integrated workstation, a mobile teaching system, operating room displays, and endoscopic displays.All five devices feature distinct, clearly differentiated functionalities specifically designed for ease of use by healthcare professionals:

Hisense'sIntelligent Central ControlOnly the size of a computer chassis, it significantly saves operating room space and supports 16-channel signal input and output; the embedded all-in-one workstation is equipped with dual touchscreens, featuring a modular design for ease of use and maintenance;

Mobile Teaching SystemAdopting a trolley-based design, it can easily enable remote surgical guidance, live streaming, teaching demonstrations, and recording without the need for modifications, while also integrating signals from devices such as endoscopes and patient monitors, thereby “instantly” upgrading traditional operating rooms into digital ones;

Operating Room MonitorDesigned in accordance with medical imaging standards, it clearly displays various types of medical images; it supports "one device, four displays" with an independent partitioned design.

Endoscopic MonitorLeveraging Hisense’s 48 years of expertise in image processing, the system is compatible with endoscopes from numerous leading brands and features an ergonomic, face-to-face layout that allows medical staff to easily view patient imaging and surgical videos during procedures.

This standardized digital surgical solution,Forming a complete surgical closed loop of preoperative planning, intraoperative guidance, and postoperative patient management.Ring, at the media briefing on May 16, HaiXin Medical showcased the results of its precision digital surgical solutions, which increased the resection rate in quantitative hepatectomy by 7%, revised 34% of surgical plans, and reduced blood loss by 27%.

Hisense Surgical Intelligent Display System (Hisense Surgical Intelligent Display system (SID) is an intelligent medical display system that integrates professional-grade high-definition large-screen medical displays, gesture recognition for 3D medical imaging models, and other multifunctional capabilities.

The SID system can not only display medical images compliant with the DICOM Part 14 standard, but also present medical images and videos calibrated with different gamma curves. Meanwhile, the SID features a built-in medical image viewing system that enables side-by-side comparison of medical images with their corresponding 3D reconstructions.Surgeons can perform operations such as page turning, rotation, and zooming in and out through gesture control during surgery.

As a medical-grade operational terminal, it supports multiple interaction methods, including gesture recognition and touchscreens, to facilitate operations in various scenarios such as academic applications, remote consultations, surgical demonstrations, and nurse station coordination, thereby meeting physicians’ needs across diverse clinical environments.

A reporter observed audience members testing the system on-site and noted that its gesture recognition capabilities require improvement.

At the media briefing on May 17, Wang Shilei, General Manager of Hisense Medical, told VCBeat thatHisense Medical Has Conducted Some Research in the Field of Artificial Intelligence, leveraging its strengths in image and data processing,Conduct image-based organ segmentation and tissue segmentation, annotate abnormal tissue regions; in the field of research and development, Hisense also distinguishes itself from other artificial intelligence companies by focusing on R&DLiver CirrhosisField,and has made some progress, with the product set to enter clinical trials as soon as possible.