China's first integrated positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging system (PET/MR) developed by United Imaging Healthcare, was officially launched with permission of CFDA.
According to the information released on the official website of MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China), China's first integrated positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging system (PET/MR), developed by Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co., Ltd. (联影医疗), was officially installed and started to use in Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University on Oct 28, 2018.
PET/MR is one of the world's most advanced medical imaging diagnostic equipment, with diagnostic features both of PET and MR. It has advantages over PET/CT in terms of soft tissue resolution and non-invasive examination, and it is currently the most advanced medical imaging technology of human functional metabolic imaging which could conduct functional metabolic imaging of human body at a cellular and molecular level. Its multi-modal, multi-parameter imaging can accurately diagnose neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease and complex diseases such as liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, epilepsy, and multiple myeloma, etc.
This PET/MR imaging system from United Imaging Healthcare was named uPMR 790 (HD TOF PET/MR) and was firstly launched at the company's Inaugural United Innovation Summit (uInnovation) in Shanghai on April 11, 2018. It took around 6 months for the company to conduct clinical validation and then succeeded to get certification from CFDA (China Food and Drug Administration). Thus, United Imaging Healthcare filled the gap in this most cutting-edge field of medical equipment between China and the world class.
Founded in March 2011, United Imaging Healthcare had successfully secured CNY 3.333 billion in series A financing, the post-money valuation reached CNY 33.333 billion. In this round of financing, China Life Healthcare Investment Fund and SDIC Fund Management Company Ltd. are co-lead investors together with other investors including China Venture Capital, CICC Zhide Capital, CITICS Investment, CDB Capital FOF, and CMBI&CT Fund.
So far United Imaging Healthcare had also started its business in the USA, although the uPMR 790 system was so far not commercially available in the USA waiting for FDA’s permission, the company already had several other products available for sale in the USA.
Furthermore, this company will make its global brand debut at the 104th RSNA Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, the official meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago, on 25-30th November 2018.
- Author: ZHANG Fan; Write to ZHANG Fan at ZhangFan@EqualOcean.com