Among them, the independent research and development of core technologies, the emphasis on innovation and continuous iteration, and the service for global cancer patients are the common characteristics of the above three major radiotherapy equipment manufacturers.
It is helpful to improve the 5-year survival rate of tumor patients.
At present, around the world, about 70% of cancer patients need different degrees of radiotherapy. According to the official data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), 45% of malignant tumors can be cured, of which 22% can be cured by surgery, 65,438+08% by radiotherapy and only 5% by chemotherapy.
At the same time, the more developed the economy, the higher the proportion of patients who use radiotherapy, including 63% in the United States, more than 40% in developed countries such as Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands and Australia, and less than 20% in China, Russia, India and Vietnam.
According to the data of one radiotherapy equipment per million people, the WTO standard is 2-4 sets, the United States is 12 sets, Japan is 7 sets, European countries are 7-8 sets, and China is currently 1.52 sets. There is still huge room for catching up.
"China ranks first in the world in terms of cancer incidence and number of people. At present, the cure rate (5-year survival rate) of cancer patients in developed countries is 60% to 70%, and the cure rate of cancer patients in China is only about 40%. " Jianbing Liu, senior vice president of China District of Medical University, told reporters at the scene, "We believe that the 5-year survival rate of cancer patients in China is expected to increase to 46.6% by 2030."
In the past, radiotherapy equipment required the approval of the national health department, and generally landed in university hospitals and hospitals in charge of the Ministry of Health. But in recent years, China has gradually liberalized the policy management of large-scale radiotherapy equipment. At the end of 20 18, the configuration certificate of the radiotherapy equipment has been gradually handed over to the provincial health and health commission.
According to the data, there are more than 200 sets of gamma knives in the domestic market. The Notice of the National Health Planning Commission on Adjusting the Configuration Plan of Large Medical Equipment from 20 18 to 2020 shows that at the end of 2020, China will add 188 gamma knife and 145 1 linear accelerator.
Then, how to allocate the resources of radiotherapy equipment in China? "This means that better radiotherapy resources should be allocated closer to the people." Jianbing Liu further suggested, "Overall, on the one hand, we should further sink radiotherapy resources to county-level hospitals (the allocation rate of radiotherapy equipment in county-level hospitals is 7%). On the other hand, we are actively deploying radiotherapy equipment to six regional medical centers being promoted by the country. "
What radiotherapy equipment will be equipped in the above regional medical centers? Jianbing Liu revealed that "gamma knives, linear accelerators and other equipment will be stationed in regional medical centers; We also judge that the future direction of the tumor field is the combination of magnetic vibration and linear accelerator. "
The reporter noted that MEDA launched Elekta Unity, the world's first high-field magnetic vibration radiotherapy system, on the first day of China International Import Expo (CIIE). "It took us 10 years to solve the problem of combining magnetic vibration with accelerator. The advantage of magnetic vibration is that it is almost harmless to human body and can see early tumors clearly; Combined with radiotherapy linear accelerator, radiotherapy can be performed accurately and efficiency can be improved. " Jianbing Liu said.
"Chinese goods" catch up, Proton appears.
At the scene of China International Import Expo (CIIE), a "domestic product" with 23 years of research and development background of tumor radiotherapy technology-Masp Gamma Knife under Yingkang Life Insurance also attracted strong attention from professional audiences and the media.
"In the existing stock of more than 200 radiotherapy equipment in China, Masip Gamma Knives under Yingkang Life account for more than 80 sets, and the global installed capacity exceeds 100 sets." The relevant person in charge of Yingkang Life Insurance Masip told the reporter.
The reporter learned that Masip has 6 domestic patents, 3 American patents and 37 software copyrights. Now it has the qualification to enter many major markets around the world, and has taken the lead in realizing the independent export of large-scale radiotherapy equipment.
"The similarities of the existing radiotherapy products in Masip are all self-developed dynamic rotary focusing." The person in charge of technology research and development in Masip told the reporter, "Dynamic rotating focusing makes the beam pass through a wider area; That is to say, during the radiotherapy process, while the patient's hair tumor volume receives continuous high-dose gamma-ray irradiation, the radiation received by the surrounding normal tissues is more dispersed and the safety is greatly improved. "
This is the core technology of tumor radiotherapy? The person in charge said, "Gamma knife equipment has multiple protection functions (switch, collimator and screen door), so that during radiotherapy, gamma rays can accurately focus on the patient's tumor volume through the pre-collimated and opened channel valve hole and collimator, reducing unnecessary radiation and damage to normal tissues."
The person in charge of the technology further stated, "Under the condition of ensuring performance, we reduced the number of cobalt -60 radioactive sources to 30, which made the product price, maintenance and source replacement price have obvious advantages in the market."
It is reported that the price of the second generation gamma knife in Masip is 60% of that of similar imported products.
"Our gamma knife equipment is distributed in Vietnam, Turkey, the United States, El Salvador, Morocco and other countries. With the increasing demand for cancer patients around the world, partners in Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Latin America and other regions have expressed strong cooperation intentions. " The person in charge revealed.
Different from the above two radiotherapy equipment vendors, the more subdivided field of "proton therapy" has become Varian's strategic goal, and its first product in the Asia-Pacific region is "ProBeam 360 single-room compact proton therapy system".
"Our proton therapy accuracy has reached the sub-millimeter level." Zhang Xiao, senior vice president of Varian Medical and president of Greater China, told reporters at the scene, "That is to say, through proton flash therapy, the treatment time of tumor patients can be shortened from 25 times per course to 1~3 times per course."
What kind of patients is this proton therapy model suitable for? Zhou Chuan, sales director of proton solutions of Varian Medical Company, told reporters that for some special people, such as children or patients with head and neck tumors, the advantages of proton therapy are obvious.