At the headquarters of Beijing Yicheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd., VCBeat interviewed Liu Shaozhi, Deputy General Manager of Fengtuo Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Fengtuo Bio”). Fengtuo Bio is the only holding subsidiary under Yicheng dedicated to providing internet-based medical device products and services.
On the morning of the interview, Fengtuo Biotechnology was preparing to film a demonstration video on the use of the MINI Check-up Kit, providing detailed instructions on product installation and usage for customers who purchased the kit. Due to frequent customer inquiries about product usage over the phone, Liu Shaozhi aimed to create a video that would offer a clear and intuitive demonstration.
(Group photo of the client’s visit to Yicheng Company; first from the right: Liu Shaozhi)
Lakala-Style Community Health Screening Model for Public Convenience
The MINI Health Checkup Kit is a professional medical device suite developed by Fengtuo Biotechnology, based on internet and mobile internet technologies, for the detection of physical parameters. The kit can measure dozens of parameters across seven major categories, including electrocardiogram (ECG), blood pressure, blood glucose, blood lipids, blood oxygen saturation, 11-item urinalysis, and body composition.
At the interview site, card-style ECG monitors, pulse oximeters, blood glucose meters, urinalysis devices, blood pressure monitors, body fat scales, and accessory products—including all-in-one health cards and Ethernet-enabled health hubs—were neatly arranged in high-end aluminum alloy cases resembling portable travel suitcases for easy carrying.
The Ethernet Health Box is, in essence, a consumer-grade gateway product that supports multiple wireless data transmission methods. It converts Bluetooth data, wireless telemetry data, and USB data into network data, which is then transmitted via the internet to remote data centers. Similar to Lakala terminals deployed in retail stores to provide convenient public services, the Health Box offers streamlined support for the transmission, storage, recording, and viewing of health monitoring parameters.
Addressing the current market landscape, Liu Shaozhi pointed out that although there is a wide variety of home medical devices available, most instruments operate as standalone units. Even within the same brand, they are rarely offered as integrated kits. Consequently, users are limited to fragmented measurements and isolated data recording, which fails to provide comprehensive parameter support for holistic health analysis or satisfy the growing demand for a thorough understanding of one’s overall health status.
The MINI Health Management System developed by Fengtuo Biotechnology leverages the Health Box to transmit data from various medical devices—such as ECG monitors, blood pressure monitors, and glucometers—to a remote health service center in a unified data format. This approach not only enables the integrated transmission of multiple parameters but also overcomes the limitation of conventional home-use medical devices lacking data transmission capabilities.
In conjunction with this equipment, Fengtuo Biology has partnered with research institutions and Grade A tertiary hospitals to implement the “Healthy China” health management initiative. To support this project, Fengtuo Biology has established a dedicated online health management platform that creates individualized human health models for each registered user and conducts comprehensive health assessments based on real-time testing parameters.
Users can log in to the “Healthy China” online health management system using their “Health One-Card Pass” account credentials to view or print health assessment results. Additionally, personal health data trends can be shared with friends and family via WeChat or SMS, or users can purchase physician services, allowing doctors to log in to the website to directly access the data and provide expert health analysis.
During the interview, Fengtuo Biotechnology had just entered into a “Healthy Chinese People” collaborative project with the General Hospital of the Beijing Military Region. This partnership enabled the company to invite internal medicine specialists from the hospital to join its platform, providing users with professional analytical services. In addition, Fengtuo Biotechnology has established its own full-time team of health managers, who work alongside hospital experts to serve users.
On-site observations also revealed that after ECG data is uploaded, the corresponding cardiac region on the human body model within the “Network Health Management System” displays the measurement results, color-coded in green (healthy) or red (warning). The same principle applies to other measured parameters: results are displayed at their respective anatomical locations; otherwise, the regions remain in a dark gray, inactive state.
Liu Shaozhi introduced that this human health model can currently monitor 23 physiological indicators, including electrocardiogram (ECG), heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose, blood oxygen, body composition, routine urine analysis, blood ketones, and blood uric acid. The range of indicators will be gradually expanded to continuously refine the parameters of the human health model, enabling users to understand their current health status and track historical health data trends, thereby facilitating self-managed healthcare. “Our goal is to build a human health model using big health data, effectively eliminating chronic diseases before they manifest,” said Liu Shaozhi.
In addition to promoting the MINI health checkup kits to households, Fengtuo Biotech places greater emphasis on sales channels targeting enterprises and institutions. Previously, companies typically partnered with third-party health examination providers to issue annual checkup cards worth several thousand yuan to senior executives. Now, companies can purchase Fengtuo Biotech’s MINI Health Management System, priced at over 9,000 yuan, and equip each employee with a “Health One-Card Pass” annual subscription card for 365 yuan, thereby achieving chronic disease prevention and health management for their entire workforce. Furthermore, companies may invite medical experts to their premises as needed to address health-related concerns.
Liu Shaozhi further introduced that this MINI health checkup system effectively shifts health screening capabilities from hospitals and checkup centers to households, enterprises, and institutions. Its sales outlets cover a wide range of locations, including community hospitals, pharmacies, wellness clubs, weight-loss centers, foot massage parlors, private clinics, and rehabilitation centers.
Taking community pharmacies as an example, by purchasing this system, pharmacies can offer members a new dual-function card that combines a pharmacy membership card with a health management card. Nearby residents can then measure various physiological indicators at the pharmacy an unlimited number of times. With an annual fee of 365 yuan, the cost amounts to just 1 yuan per day for residents. This not only drives significant foot traffic to the pharmacy but also enables it to recommend specific medications or nutritional supplements based on the test results, thereby creating a new revenue stream.
Under this model, since the product’s launch on May 18 of this year, the MINI Check-up Kit has been deployed at 500 sites across China, with each site acquiring between 500 and 2,000 users. Fengtuo Biology has set a sales target of 20,000 units for the coming year; assuming each unit serves 200 users, this would reach a total of 4 million users.
Liu Shaozhi stated, “Moving forward, we will adopt Lakala’s community convenience model. Wherever Lakala card-swiping services are available, our MINI health checkup system will be present. Imagine the future scenario: even a steamed bun shop downstairs in a residential complex could purchase our product, and residents would only need to buy a health management card to manage their own health.”
Using ECG Monitors as the Entry Point for Health Management
In this MINI Health Management System, the medical devices independently developed by Fengtuo Biotechnology are undoubtedly the core of the entire system. Among them, the Bluetooth card-style ECG monitor, officially launched in May this year, is the world’s first ECG detection device no larger than a business card. To date, the product has secured five national invention patents, two design patents, and seven utility model patents.
During measurement, hold the card-sized device and lightly touch the electrodes with the thumbs of both hands. In conjunction with the “Heart Guardian” app, the recorded ECG can be uploaded to the smartphone, where it undergoes intelligent analysis by an ECG interpretation model, and the results are then displayed. Liu Shaozhi introduced that the app currently works exclusively with this ECG monitor, but future software upgrades will enable compatibility with other products from Fengtuo Biology.
Card-style ECG monitors are compact enough to fit in a pocket or wallet for easy portability, allowing users to perform on-demand measurements whenever they experience chest tightness, dizziness, or cardiac discomfort.
Furthermore, this device is manufactured in full compliance with hospital-grade Holter ECG standards. It employs a 500 Hz sampling frequency, which is higher than the standard 200 Hz used by conventional ECG monitors, thereby enabling the acquisition of more accurate ECG waveforms.
This ECG monitor is priced at 1,280 yuan and comes with a complimentary Health All-in-One Card. The inclusion of this health management card also serves as another channel to promote the MINI Check-up System. Using the ECG monitor as an entry point, once users have measured their ECG data and wish to monitor other physiological parameters, they can use the All-in-One Card to register for membership at nearby sales outlets, thereby enabling comprehensive, long-term data monitoring and health management.
Liu Shaozhi told VCBeat that this product is primarily targeted at users aged 30 to 60, patients with congenital hereditary heart disease, and overworked senior corporate executives, all of whom require frequent ECG monitoring. He also believes that health management is inherently a process of self-regulation; when users detect abnormal indicators after an ECG measurement, they are prompted to reflect on whether they have been under excessive work stress recently, thereby reminding themselves to relax and reduce stress, allowing their measured indicators to return to normal.
Recalling the launch of Omron’s blood pressure monitors, Liu Shaozhi noted that the market response was initially dismal, with the product facing widespread opposition and skepticism. However, blood pressure monitors are now widely accepted by the public, demonstrating that cultivating a health management mindset among users is a gradual process. Similarly, as health awareness rises and understanding of cardiovascular diseases deepens, people will eventually develop the habit of monitoring their electrocardiograms (ECG).
As a subsidiary of Yicheng Company, Fengtuo Biotech enjoyed convenient access to all the favorable resources of its parent company during its early development stage. These resources included manufacturing facilities with a workforce of over 300 employees, a sales team comprising more than 100 sales representatives supported by 22 offices nationwide, and an extensive network of offline pharmacies accumulated by Yicheng over 25 years. Additionally, Yicheng’s existing medical devices and large user base constitute advantageous resources that Fengtuo Biotech can fully leverage.
Fengtuo Biotechnology’s integrated approach of combining hardware and software can attract more users while delivering a superior user experience. As the user base and volume of measurement data continue to grow, the company plans to develop disease risk prediction models and build personalized health data platforms for each individual. Liu Shaozhie believes that establishing such a big-data platform holds immense value. “The primary function of a health management platform powered by big data is to predict users’ health trends based on health analytics models, provide early risk alerts, and deeply uncover users’ latent health needs.”
Responsible Editor: Bu Yan
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