Tell us about your organisation and its journey to date.

United Imaging Healthcare (UIH) is dedicated to developing, producing, and providing high-performance advanced medical imaging, radiotherapy equipment, and life science instruments, and offering intelligent digital solutions to domestic and global customers. Through deep collaboration with world-leading universities, hospitals, research institutions and industrial partners, UIH continuously explores precision diagnosis and treatment, and continues to improve the accessibility of high-end medical equipment and services worldwide.

UIH is a young and innovative healthcare technology company established in 2011 and headquartered in Shanghai, China. It has developed subsidiaries and R&D centres across China, the US, Malaysia, Japan, UAE, Poland, and other parts of the world. In the past few years, over 20,000 UIH products have been installed in more than 10,000 medical and research institutions in over 50 countries across the world. 

Since we set foot in the Middle East region in 2018, we have been hoping to set Dubai as a hub to promote our innovative technology across the region. At that time, we were like a small spark full of passion, ready to light up more places with differentiated innovations. Looking back now, we have been making meaningful changes in many clinicians' and patients’ lives across the world. In the face of scarce medical resources and huge healthcare demands, we have continuously brought changes with innovative technologies and clinical solutions, and aimed to provide equal healthcare for all, which is fully aligned with our mission. 

How has the organisation evolved to address the challenges of an ever-changing healthcare sector? Please list some accomplishments.

Healthcare is a very competitive and rapidly evolving industry that requires constant innovations to confront rising challenges. With the vision of “Leading Healthcare Innovation”, UIH never stops its research and exploration of technology and clinical innovations. Below are some of our achievements:

1. We have developed the world’s first 5T MRI - uMR Jupiter, which is the first and the only ultra-high field clinical MRI that can perform whole-body scanning. With this breakthrough, we can see details in all anatomies, achieving very high image quality in a much shorter time than clinical MRI scanners. 
2. With the commercialisation of the world’s first total-body PET/CT, uEXPLORER in 2019, we were the first one in the industry to commercialise the “Total-body PET” concept. This disruptive technology enables a whole-body scan to be completed at a one-bed position in 30 seconds with significantly improved system sensitivity and an ultra-low patient dose. For the first time in history, the whole process of injection, uptake, and distribution of drugs in the entire human body can be visible and measured, whereafter accurate parametric imaging can be performed with a wide choice of pharmacokinetic models. 
3. We invented the world’s first CT fully integrated Linac, uRT506c, which enables clinicians to monitor and evaluate the tumor progression throughout the treatment course. With high-definition diagnostic image quality, customised intelligent adaptive radiotherapy and an all-in-one workflow, one-stop radiotherapy has become a reality from theory.
4. uMR Omega with 75cm bore size is another significant innovation we have proudly brought into the market. It is the world’s biggest bore 3T MR featured with the uAIFI platform containing state-of-art hardware and software. The extra spacing allows more flexible body positioning, bringing high-level comfort to the patients. 
5. We empower our equipment with advanced technologies, such as mobile internet, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), etc. Now the entire workflow for imaging, screening, follow-up, diagnosis, therapy, and assessment of multiple diseases can be processed with innovative technological assistance, which enhances efficiency and reduces dependence on manual work, thus largely alleviating doctor’s workload.
6. We integrated the AI technology in the uRT-linac 506c that demonstrates superior segmentation accuracy (with an average Dice coefficient of 0.95) and near real-time segmentation (with average time < 2 s). These results might reshape the traditional time-consuming manual radiotherapy planning process, published on Nature Communications.
7. We were selected to Academy of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research’s Council of Distinguished Investigators’ Class of 2022. In addition, our Chief Technology Officer Dr. Hongdi Li was recognised at a ceremony and reception during RSNA. This is the first time that this year’s cohort of Distinguished Investigators included researchers from both Academy member imaging societies as well as partners in industry.

Give us an insight into your portfolio and solutions targeted at the Middle East region.

The Middle East region is very dynamic and diversified, with an understanding of the application of new and advanced technologies and an eagerness to acquire advanced technologies and high-end products. 

Based on our experiences and knowledge during the past four years in the region, the preferred and popular product portfolio and solution is molecular imaging products. It is worth mentioning that we have installed two high-end cardiac PET/CT uMI780 in UAE and Jordan, meanwhile, two more will be installed in Egypt and Iraq in early 2023. Moreover, we have also received a good number of requests in the MRI product line as superconductive MRI is the trend in the region. No doubt, we can say that these two sub-product lines are the major targeted portfolio in the region.

Tell us about your recent and upcoming investments and partnerships in this field.

The Middle East stands for high significance in our global development blueprint. We have set up regional headquarters in UAE and carried out in-depth strategic cooperation with American Hospital Dubai (AHD), one of the top private hospital groups in the ME region which introduced our uMI 780 serves as our clinical application demonstration base here. 

Last year, we rolled out our full line of high-end medical imaging equipment at Arab Health, launched our brand in this region. On the spot, we announced our cooperation with King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC), the largest comprehensive cancer treatment centre in the Middle East and surrounding regions, which introduced uMI 780. Under this agreement, we will carry out in-depth cooperation in product research and development, clinical application, academic exchange, talent training, etc.

What will you be showcasing at Arab Health 2023?

This time, we are bringing state-of-the-art high-end medical imaging equipment and cutting-edge AI-powered clinical application technologies to Arab Health, including HD TOF PET/MR uPMR 790, the world’s fastest cardiac CT, the 16cm detector/640 slices uCT960+, Ultra-Fast High Resolution Digital PET/CT uMI780, a uAIFI 1.5T Wide Bore System with ‘3.0T-Like' Performance uMR680, and the most compact mobile DR system uDR 380i Pro.

With the above portfolio, we are determined to help clinicians to better serve their patients and thus to further fulfill our mission of “bringing equal healthcare for all”.

In addition to the above, what opportunities are you looking forward to at the upcoming event?

The Arab Health has a special meaning for UIH. In 2020, we debuted in Arab Health, symbolling that the UIH is officially entering the global arena. In 2023, we are back with a portfolio equipped with our most advanced technology and innovation, demonstrating that we are thriving in the global market. This time, with the attendance of Dr. Xue Min, the Chairman of United Imaging Group, we look forward to reuniting with old friends and partners, and we look forward to making connections with competent and well-connected new channel partners in the Middle East region, Africa, APAC, and Europe.

Please tell us about your plans for the year 2023.

As a global innovator in advanced medical imaging, we embrace the trends of the global medical imaging industry and will continue to work on advanced core techniques and foundational technologies and extend the exploration further into uncharted territories. We will accelerate research and application of technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, cloud computing, and new materials into our next-generation devices. Our search for new scenarios and applications for metaverse technologies in healthcare will lead to disruptive innovations and raise the technology bar for the industry.

Besides, we will strengthen the industry, academia, and clinical research collaboration. It means we will work with the best doctors and scholars over the world on multi-disciplinary innovations, and develop new technologies, new scenarios, and new clinical applications to unlock some of the common traits shared in the human being. Lastly, United Imaging Healthcare is inclusive. We will embrace the global community which means we will invest more heavily to promote our brand and build trust on a global scale. With the globally oriented resource and capability strategy, we aim to build a more diverse and international team to bring the benefits of technologies to a wider population globally.

We look forward to welcoming all attendees to visit us at S2.A10.