MedVR Innovator YiweiXun Files IPO Prospectus, Pioneering VR-Based Medical Education Platform Surgeek

If you still insist that VR (Virtual Reality) is merely for gaming or can only be used by Zhang Yimou to make films, then you are out of touch.

At the dawn of VR’s emergence, Dr. Shafi Ahmed, a renowned surgeon from the United Kingdom, publicly declared that VR would transform the current global medical education system and play a significant role in various surgical procedures.

In China, a startup named Medical Micro News is engaging in such practices. Recently, Pan Geng, CEO of Medical Micro News, announced that the project had secured tens of millions of yuan in angel investment from “Yueyin Venture Capital.”

VR in the Medical FieldIt is a natural outcome.

Yiweixun was established in July 2013 as an application innovation company that integrates virtual reality with medical education and other medicine-related fields.

When asked why the company chose to apply VR to the medical field, Pan Geng stated, “The predecessor of Medical Micro was a company engaged in the CG (computer graphics) industry, and CG is, in fact, the foundation of virtual reality. Moreover, VR technology is not unfamiliar to us; we first encountered it seven years ago when it was just emerging. However, wearable devices at that time had not yet reached the level of maturity seen today, so the technology was not widely promoted or applied.”

For Shanghai Medical Micro Digital Technology Co., Ltd., applying VR to the medical field is a natural progression.

Previously, Medical Micro News had already attempted to leverage computer-generated (CG) technology to convey medical knowledge. Pan Geng told VCBeat, “The specialized nature of medical knowledge creates barriers to its dissemination. For healthcare professionals, medical concepts can sometimes be abstract and complex; for patients, this is even more pronounced.” By utilizing computer technology to transform abstract knowledge into intuitive, vivid, and easy-to-understand animations, its dissemination becomes more effective.

Furthermore, Medical Micro News has also produced videos to facilitate communication between doctors and patients, as well as videos for pharmaceutical companies to educate both patients and physicians. “In fact, we have already accumulated a wealth of content; what we need to do now is to make this content more systematic.”

Building VR + 3DInteractive Online Surgical Training Platform — The Lancet Surgeon

To this end, Medical Micro News aims to build a medical virtual reality platform. On this platform, doctors can receive training, patients can learn about diseases, and pharmaceutical companies can engage with both doctors and patients. The government can also leverage this platform for medical education.

Currently, the main businesses of Medical Micro News include medical mobile APP development, production of medical 3D videos, and integration of medical digital displays. Moreover, Medical Micro News has accumulated well-known clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic Covidien, AstraZeneca, Weigao, Shanghai United Imaging, and Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group.

As Pan Geng stated, “Yiweixun does not focus on the R&D of underlying VR technologies, nor does it develop hardware specifically designed for physicians, such as medical devices or medical simulators. Instead, it innovates by applying existing technologies and hardware to create solutions tailored for surgical training and education in the medical field.”

Medical Micro News is building an online surgical training platform featuring VR and 3D interaction, named “Surgeek (The Lancet Master).” The product is scheduled to launch this June, with Medical Micro News inviting surgeons to participate in beta testing prior to the official release.

Currently, Medical Micro News has accumulated a database of nine major human body models and over 300 animated surgical procedure videos performed by surgeons. After completing the video recordings for general surgery, orthopedics, and neurosurgery, Medical Micro News will gradually expand its coverage to ophthalmology, obstetrics and gynecology, and even gastroenterology and cardiology, ultimately encompassing 12 medical specialties. In addition to the lead surgeon’s maneuvers, the videos also demonstrate the coordination among first and second assistants, nursing staff, and anesthesiologists.

Furthermore, the “3D Interactive Simulation” feature allows surgeons to practice surgical procedures through gamified simulations. The platform assigns scores based on a comprehensive assessment of the surgeon’s instrument handling precision and accuracy, as well as the time taken to complete the procedure. Pan Geng introduced that some content on the platform is chargeable. Users can either redeem these paid resources with points or purchase them directly. Such content consists of surgical procedures and research conducted by renowned domestic experts in the field.

Currently, the Medical Micro News team has grown to nearly 50 members, including a game development team, a virtual reality team responsible for VR video production, as well as content creation, design and creative, and mobile application development teams.

Hardware Will Not Be VRBarriers to Promotion

Pan Geng told VCBeat that the integration of the healthcare industry with VR holds significant promise. Beyond surgical training, VR has applications in psychiatric treatment, pain management, and rehabilitation. In the future, VR may enable doctors and patients to conduct consultations as if they were meeting face-to-face in telemedicine. However, the current focus in the VR sector is on hardware. Pan Geng believes that “VR will ultimately return to an era where content is king; the true value of virtual reality will be determined by its content.”

Once we return to the era where content is king, hardware will no longer be an obstacle to VR adoption.

The performance and cost of VR devices are directly proportional. Therefore, Medical Micro will provide hardware services at different levels to meet varying demand tiers. The most common are entry-level products, such as the popular XX Box and XX Glasses currently on the market. These products are low-priced, which facilitates Medical Micro’s dissemination and promotion.

Another category is PC-tethered VR headsets. Currently, products from the three major manufacturers deliver high-quality visual performance and support haptic interaction, meeting the requirements of medical training and education; thus, they will be integrated into relevant solutions. Users will pay for this segment of hardware.

Currently, Shanghai Medical Micro Digital Technology Co., Ltd. has partnered with hardware manufacturers to customize device designs, offering users a variety of hardware options.

On January 20, 2016, Medical Micro News and the Zhang Qiang Doctor Group announced a partnership. Dr. Zhang stated, “We will join forces with the digital technology team of Medical Micro News to jointly develop applications of medical VR in clinical treatment and surgical skills training.”

As Dr. Ahmed stated, “The emergence of VR technology has brought us something unprecedented, offering an optimal solution for delivering effective teaching and training to anyone, anywhere in the world.”

It is reported that on April 14, Dr. Ahmed will once again attempt an unprecedented feat by live-streaming his own cancer surgery to a global audience, assisted by a professional-grade VR camera suspended above the operating table. VCBeat will also provide follow-up coverage of this live broadcast.

According to Pan Geng, in April, Medical Micro News will also conduct the first-ever VR live broadcast of a surgical procedure in China.

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