Medical Imaging Expert Group 51DuPian Raises the Bar: Why We Built a Specialist Network for Diagnostic Imaging
In mid-June this year, a consortium of medical imaging specialists was officially unveiled to the public. This platform is 51 Dupian Wang (51 Reading Scans Network). The medical imaging experts on 51 Dupian Wang do not participate in clinical diagnosis and treatment; instead, their primary service is to provide diagnostic-level expert opinions on medical images. The consortium brings together authoritative experts in radiological diagnosis from across China, particularly from Shanghai, including many department chairs and academic leaders from the radiology departments of top-tier (Grade A tertiary) hospitals in Shanghai.
The original intention behind the founding of the Medical Imaging Expert Group by its founder and CEO was to transform patients’ healthcare experiences related to image interpretation, review, and diagnosis. Xu Xiaofeng graduated from Shanghai Second Medical University. Prior to this venture, he spent 15 years engaged in clinical practice and medical informatics. Leveraging his solid clinical experience and background in informatization, Xu Xiaofeng believes that “the characteristics of medical imaging make it particularly well-suited for internet-based transformation.”
First, medical imaging plays a critically important, and even decisive, role throughout the diagnostic process. Particularly in the context of trauma management, findings from medical imaging serve as essential indications. Whether for disease assessment, characterization of lesions, formulation of surgical plans, or evaluation of post-treatment outcomes, medical imaging findings play a pivotal role.
Secondly, radiology is a discipline that can deliver diagnostic conclusions based on imaging studies and relevant clinical data without requiring face-to-face interaction with patients. This service model aligns well with the characteristics of the Internet.
Third, digital imaging equipment has been basically popularized in China’s Class II A hospitals and above, and the data generated by imaging equipment on the market all follow a unified standard format. This means that the images output by imaging equipment have achieved digitization under a unified standard, thereby breaking down the barriers to internet transmission.
However, whether radiologists' diagnoses are accepted by users is another issue facing the medical imaging expert group.
Xu Xiaofeng told VCBeat that modern medicine relies on the collection and interpretation of specific data. As a critical component, imaging conclusions significantly influence clinicians’ formulation of treatment strategies and plans. Medical imaging, as an important disciplinary branch, involves in-depth research and discussion on the acquisition, evaluation, analysis, and interpretation of various imaging modalities. Radiologists play an irreplaceable role in determining the nature of suspected severe diseases and assessing prognosis.
Medical Imaging Expert Group Image Interpretation Process
From B2B to B2C
Currently, the primary clientele of the Medical Imaging Expert Group consists of healthcare institutions, with consumer-facing (B2C) services not yet officially launched.
Most similar service platforms currently on the market allow users to upload medical images via smartphone photography or electronic film copies. However, these methods fail to reproduce the complete and authentic state of the original imaging data, rendering them of little value for clinical assessment.
Raw imaging data refers to the data generated directly during the acquisition process by the equipment, without any correction or compression. Each image is an important and valuable component of the entire imaging examination dataset. However, the CT films provided to patients have been adjusted and filtered, and thus do not fully display the imaging information. In some hospitals, patients can obtain the complete dataset on a CD or USB flash drive upon request.
Currently, the team of the Medical Imaging Expert Group is accelerating its marketing efforts targeting institutions and channels, while expanding its network of authoritative experts beyond Shanghai to Beijing, Guangzhou, and overseas regions.
In Xu Xiaofeng’s view, the internet represents a formal revolution in healthcare—a restructuring rather than a disruption. “The core of healthcare remains patient safety and medical quality. Any emerging innovation may either become a pioneer or fall by the wayside, all the more so when it comes to participating in the restructuring of a new ecosystem.”
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