Five Medical Imaging Startups Unveil Innovations at Industry Report Launch Event

Roadshow Project 1:

Chengdu Yingda TechnologyFounder  Jiang Jiang



The company was established in May this year. Our goal is to leverage the latest cloud computing technologies to address issues related to the transmission and diagnosis of remote and mobile medical imaging.

The team’s Technical Director, Yang Xi, brings six years of R&D experience in healthcare software. Also on the team is Dr. Yang Yuheng, a radiologist with 17 years of experience, founder of Huaxia Imaging—the most active educational community for medical imaging in China—who serves as Senior Product Manager.

For fundraising, we plan to raise RMB 3 million in exchange for 15% equity, with approximately half allocated to R&D, covering a budget for about 12 months.

The primary challenge at present is how to enable hospitals to securely upload their data to the cloud, while designing an automated upload solution to ensure both transmission efficiency and data encryption.

The market for imaging education tools is also a blue ocean. We aim to develop a lightweight SDK embedded within medical education communities to help them create value-added applications. Additionally, there are mini-PACS solutions for freelance physicians, free imaging cloud services, and personal medical record storage, all of which represent future development trends.

As our strategic partner, Huaxia Imaging recorded 2,072 remote diagnostic cases in June. A portion of these cases is designated exclusively for educational and training purposes, while the remainder consists of cases where patients paid physicians for image interpretation. Additionally, we are developing an imaging consultation platform for an imaging equipment vendor in Chengdu. This vendor processes 3,000 cases per month, and the entire dataset is scheduled to be migrated to our platform by October this year.

Product version 1.0 has been launched, and SDK version 2.0 is scheduled for release at the end of August. In addition to Enterprise Cloud Diagnosis version 1.0, we are preparing for technical integration with Medlink (Medink). We also provide an app for all medical imaging education and sharing projects in China, regardless of whether they are non-profit or not; we are willing to offer our SDK to all such initiatives.

Next, after the SDK 2.0 version is launched at the end of August, the SDK engine will also be listed on the Alibaba Cloud third-party application marketplace, which is expected to take place in December this year. This will generate 5,000 remote imaging consultation records on our own system platform. By June 2016, we will develop SDK 3.0 and a community education platform, with the latter primarily intended for use by Huaxia Imaging.

Technically, we utilize HTML5 and JavaScript, enabling access directly through a web browser without the need for a resource-intensive native app. This approach minimizes maintenance efforts while delivering an excellent user experience. A key technical feature is the design of an automated transmission interface that allows hospitals to securely and automatically upload data to the cloud.

We are currently collaborating with a cloud storage provider in Beijing to implement physical isolation for independent cloud storage nodes, which will also incorporate GPUs to facilitate backend PACS image decoding and computational processing.

Moreover, we have found that Alibaba Cloud’s current traditional CPUs process backend images at a relatively slow pace. While Alibaba’s offerings are well-suited for enterprise ERP systems, their image processing capabilities are insufficient, and the pricing is relatively high. In light of security and efficiency considerations, we are planning to evaluate hardware-level hybrid cloud solutions.

Roadshow Project 2:

Yijie ImagingMarketing Director  Shao Xuejie



Yijie Imaging is a photo and video sharing application designed specifically for physicians, adopting an Instagram + YouTube model within the vertical field of medical imaging.

The pain points addressed are, first, facilitating video sharing and academic exchange among surgeons; and second, providing physicians with private cloud services to simplify the uploading of images and videos from their mobile devices.

Of course, physicians engaged in academic exchanges can be categorized into three tiers: department heads, deputy department heads, and attending physicians or recent medical school graduates. The needs of these three tiers differ significantly. It is highly unlikely that senior department heads would promote themselves on our startup platform.

Therefore, we primarily target associate chief physicians, or those who have already attained a high level of medical and surgical expertise but lack sufficient opportunities, platforms, and recognition. Meanwhile, young physicians who have recently joined the hospital can also leverage our platform for learning and exchange.

The rationale for entering the imaging sector lies in the fact that a single Grade A tertiary hospital generates 20 TB of data annually, with imaging data accounting for 13 to 15 TB. Thus, medical imaging constitutes true big data, representing more than half of the total data volume at such hospitals.

Our product features high-definition downloads. We have independently developed software that converts all DICOM files into standard JPG format, aiming to support physicians in building their own social media presence. While there is some loss in pixel resolution and image clarity, truly professional, high-definition observation still requires the use of a computer.

However, the app we have developed is designed to leverage physicians’ fragmented time, enabling them to review medical images on their smartphones in various settings such as airports, restrooms, and conference lounges. Furthermore, serving as a self-media platform for physicians, our app will revolutionize the way doctors attend conferences. For instance, physicians at county-level hospitals can initiate meetings independently, provided they have access to Wi-Fi or sufficient bandwidth, allowing them to engage in direct communication with peers in Beijing, New York, and other locations by sharing video and images.

Our team boasts strong complementarity. Li Qiang, our CEO and CTO, has an IT engineering background and previously worked at Huawei. I have prior experience at Siemens. Li Jipeng is an ophthalmologist from Tongren Eye Hospital. Our Product Design Director, Li Guo, is a post-90s professional.

Development Plan: Complete the angel round this year. The project will proceed in three phases: first, aggregate physicians; second, onboard consumer-facing (C-end) users; and third, introduce telemedicine services along with machine learning applications for medical imaging, such as automated image interpretation. The angel round aims to raise RMB 5 million in exchange for 15% equity.

Roadshow Project 3:

APEC Medical ImagingCEO  WuNewHua



A group of CEIBS alumni discussed establishing Aipeke Company last year, leveraging our network of over 70,000 top-tier medical experts across various specialties in the United States. We chose to integrate the internet with medical imaging, positioning ourselves as U.S. medical imaging experts accessible to users locally, enabling patients to obtain diagnostic opinions from U.S. specialists with a simple click.

Clinical diagnoses are, in fact, 70% dependent on medical imaging. For the more than five million cancer patients diagnosed annually in China, the diagnostic process also relies primarily on medical imaging. Currently, the misdiagnosis rate for medical imaging is as high as 30%, with cancer being the disease category associated with the highest rate of misdiagnosis.

Radiologists in the United States rank among the top three highest-paid physicians, whereas the situation in China is exactly the opposite. The U.S. radiology field enforces strict entry standards, a system that is lacking in China. There is also a significant gap in diagnostic imaging capabilities between the two countries; in the United States, every radiologist’s diagnosis is considered definitive.

In addition, the United States has already achieved widespread internet integration; many small hospitals do not actually have radiologists on staff, and a single medical imaging center can provide diagnostic services to dozens of clinics or small hospitals.

In fact, we are still stuck in the era of film, whereas the United States, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have all adopted optical discs. The differences between film and optical discs are that film is costly, inconvenient to carry, difficult to preserve, and has limited data capacity. In contrast, optical discs are inexpensive, offer large data storage, and are easy to store.

Our partner is EPIC, the second-largest medical imaging center in the United States. It employs 60 full-time board-certified radiologists and is also one of the earliest internet companies in the U.S. with global operational experience. Additionally, it has obtained JCAHO accreditation for patient-centered care.

Various imaging examinations can be conducted remotely via the internet. As long as there is internet access, data can be uploaded to our platform. After undergoing a rigorous quality control process, the information is transmitted to the United States, allowing patients to receive a bilingual (Chinese-English) consultation report within 48 hours. Currently, only complete data in DICOM format are eligible for diagnostic services provided by U.S. experts.

Our client base primarily includes five key segments: first, family members of patients; second, physicians and hospitals; third, health checkup institutions; fourth, insurance companies; and fifth, large enterprises and public institutions.

For patients and their families, platforms like Aipeike can be discovered through entry points such as Guahao.com during the appointment registration process.

For physicians and hospitals, we have established partnerships with well-known PACS providers such as Xinyi. Given Xinyi’s strong relationships with over 1,000 hospitals, we are able to obtain data in DICOM format. We also collaborate with Jinma Yangming, a PACS vendor based in East China.

We have also signed agreements with several county-level hospitals, under which they pay us an annual fee of RMB 200,000 or RMB 120,000 in exchange for additional support; the hospital directors have shown strong interest. Furthermore, we have partnered with premium health checkup providers such as iKang Guobin. Since these providers have made substantial investments in advanced equipment like CT and MRI scanners, we target their high-end clientele by highlighting that U.S. experts are available to interpret their imaging results.

Additionally, in collaboration with insurance companies such as Taikang, cancer-specific insurance products have been launched, offering value-added services that include remote image interpretation by U.S. experts prior to patient diagnosis, with the costs covered by the insurer. Finally, negotiations are conducted with enterprises or large corporate groups to provide value-added services for their VIPs and key employees.

Therefore, our core competitiveness lies in the most scarce resource: top-tier U.S. medical experts. Furthermore, internet applications have significantly accelerated diagnostic speed, offering exceptional convenience.

Roadshow Project 4:

CloudMedFounder  Cheng Litao



Yunyi is a platform that brings together China’s most outstanding physicians, aiming to become the LinkedIn for doctors. Before embarking on this entrepreneurial venture, I was a nephrologist at Peking University Third Hospital, having graduated from Peking University Health Science Center in 2006.

In my studies and professional practice, I have come to recognize that medicine is a profession requiring lifelong learning. Broader communication and continuous education are essential, with the discussion and analysis of medical records serving as the core focus of professional exchange among physicians.

We have conducted a systematic study of physician social networking. From a model perspective, we found that Doximity, a U.S.-based company, is engaged in similar activities. When we studied it last year, the company had been in operation for three years and had already registered 40% of all physicians in the United States. This year, it has surpassed 60% physician registration, demonstrating very high market penetration and active engagement among physicians on its platform. There are only 660,000 physicians in the United States, compared to 2.7 million in China. In this market, which is four times larger, there are substantial opportunities for us to explore.

Doximity in the United States reached a valuation of $1 billion last year, and pursuing a similar model in China would also hold substantial value. What pain points for physicians can we address? Simply put, the core concept is real-name-based social networking for doctors.

During registration, all users must provide their real names and pass physician credential verification. The platform’s primary mode of interaction incorporates social networking features alongside traditional learning methods.

The physician community can be viewed as a pyramid. Physicians in small and medium-sized hospitals constitute the base and central bulk of this pyramid. At the apex are department chiefs at Grade 3A hospitals, who have achieved prominent status and substantial financial rewards. As they are difficult to influence and number only a few thousand nationwide, this segment is best excluded from consideration.

Therefore, what we need are the professionals situated between small and medium-sized hospitals and the apex of the pyramid. These individuals are typically aged 30–40, possess strong technical expertise, but have not yet gained widespread recognition. The monetization pathway for physicians is straightforward: first, technical development; second, building a reputation; and third, monetization. We aim to provide a platform that enables these doctors to showcase their capabilities, thereby helping physicians in small and medium-sized hospitals seize monetization opportunities.

To address this need, we developed a product that requires users to provide highly detailed information during the registration process, including name, gender, department, professional title, hospital, and either their practicing physician license number or badge ID. This constitutes a high-threshold registration mechanism, and full access to the product’s features is granted only upon successful completion of registration.

Six months after its launch, the product has surpassed 50,000 registered users and currently boasts very high engagement. Growth was sluggish during the first three months but surged exponentially thereafter. Physicians account for 80% of registrations, while nurses and medical students each make up 10%. This distribution indicates that the user base is predominantly composed of healthcare professionals.

Meanwhile, the proportion of mid- to senior-level physicians is remarkably high, reaching 63%. In terms of geographic distribution, Beijing accounts for the largest share at 12%, followed by Guangdong. Other regions represented include Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Shaanxi, and Anhui. Our user base now spans across China, including physicians from ethnic minority groups.

Revenue Model:First, advertising. Since physicians hold prescription authority, pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers are eager to collaborate. However, I believe it is premature to pursue monetization at this stage; commercialization should be deferred until the user base reaches a sufficient scale.Second, partnerships with insurance companies. As physicians increasingly engage in multi-site practice, insurance coverage can mitigate liability risks in the event of adverse incidents. Nevertheless, the current market size remains limited.

Roadshow Project 5:

Huiyi HuiyingFounder Chai Xiangfei



Let me directly outline the characteristics of our team and products. We are concurrently engaged in top-level PACS development, comprehensive operational software development, big data analytics, maintenance services for physicians abroad as well as those in Beijing and other regions across China, and the expansion of partnerships with downstream hospitals. All these initiatives are being advanced simultaneously.

Our team is currently based at the Dongsheng Science and Technology Park in Beijing, with a staff of over 20. We secured angel investment from Tsinghua Shuimu Yide earlier this year.

Zhang Hua and I both hold PhDs in medical imaging, with a primary focus on computer-aided diagnosis (CAD), specifically image post-processing techniques such as CT reconstruction, image-guided navigation, and intelligent analysis. I later completed my postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, where the team developed a cloud-based PACS system for big data analytics, including the processing of structured data and related content.

Our current work focuses on well-established techniques such as CT reconstruction, automatic segmentation, planning guidance, and model registration, which are applied to disease diagnosis and automated image screening. Building on this foundation, we have also developed a cloud-based PACS platform.

In addition to directly connecting doctors with hospitals, the initiative also provides consulting services. These services include outsourcing initial diagnoses to private hospitals and facilitating second-opinion diagnoses at public hospitals, with an aim to charge patients for these services.

We provide electronic imaging reports. Both patients and hospitals can easily share and access imaging data, including electronic medical records, by sharing and scanning QR codes. The backend employs a distributed imaging system incorporating encryption and distributed compression technologies, leveraging object storage services from Tianyi Cloud and Alibaba Cloud.

At that time, over 100,000 case analyses for a single disease had already been collected in the United States. If we could structure the data, simply increasing the volume of imaging data would directly improve the accuracy of AI-assisted image interpretation. Once the data reaches a certain scale, a robust knowledge base of AI experts can be established.

The intelligent expert database facilitates learning for young physicians; for instance, entering imaging search terms yields numerous images, while inputting DICOM images automatically displays related images and reports. This has long been our aspirational goal.

The team has been in operation for approximately three months and has signed contracts with over 30 top-tier experts in Beijing. Our primary focus is on developing grassroots healthcare services in North China. We are currently engaging with 20 hospitals, either through established partnerships or ongoing negotiations. The accumulated medical imaging data exceeds 100 GB, and we have handled more than 150 paid consultations for critical illnesses. These are some of our recent developments.