"Mr. Wei, this is the first prototype we assembled."
"It mainly consists of five parts, namely capsule endoscope, capsule remote control, capsule positioner, control equipment and supporting software."
The magnetically controlled capsule gastroscope is relatively large and is not a portable device, so Wei Kang came to the device laboratory to inspect it himself.
He picked up a white plastic capsule and looked at it carefully.
The capsule is 3cm long and about 1.2cm in diameter. The upper half of the capsule is transparent, with a tiny camera lens vaguely visible inside.
Weighing only 5g, it feels as light as nothing in your hand. The overall look is very delicate and exquisite, and it is definitely a high-precision industrial crystallization.
Lu Tingfeng picked up the different components of the equipment and explained them one by one.
"This thing that looks like a small host is a control device. It mainly receives, processes, and stores the image information sent by the capsule endoscope. The supporting system software can control the entire device."
"There are two things connected to the host computer. One is a capsule locator, which can be placed next to the patient. It contains permanent magnets that can generate a magnetic field. Together with another handle-like remote control, it can accurately control the capsule endoscope entering the human body. , achieving autonomous control and real-time shooting.”
"The function of capsule endoscopy is very powerful. It can control the shooting from all angles in the intestines and stomach without missing any possible lesions. In addition, it also has an extremely powerful function, that is, there is a micro-clamp hidden inside, which can The diseased area is biopsied and the diseased tissue is stored in the capsule and taken out.”
Lu Tingfeng's tone became excited: "Based on this, I can say that our product absolutely beats all competing products on the market, even Olympus."
"In addition, the biggest advantage is that this magnetic capsule gastroscope can be recycled."
"This is due to its polymer material shell, which can be gently peeled off like a real capsule. The camera module, micro magnetic pole, biopsy storage module, and battery light module inside are protected by the shell. It is in good condition and will not be damaged, just put it back into a new capsule shell and it can be used again.”
"The magnetic control function of the capsule is very strong. As long as there is no intestinal blockage, it can be completely controlled to be discharged from the body and recycled again."
"In this way, the cost of our capsule gastroscopy will be greatly reduced and we will definitely be invincible."
"Actually, capsule gastroscopy has been available for several years. There are also some competing products on the market for use in hospitals, but they all have a fatal flaw, which is that they can only be used once, which leads to high costs. Domestic capsule gastroscopy takes three to four times to be used at a time. It costs 1,000 yuan, while the imported one costs 7,000 yuan, and it cannot be reimbursed by medical insurance.”
"You know, an ordinary painless gastroscopy only costs four to five hundred yuan, and a capsule gastroscopy is ten times more expensive, so ordinary people can't afford it."
"The price is expensive mainly because the equipment inside can only be used once. If it can be recycled and reused many times, then the price will definitely be reduced to a few hundred yuan. It is not much different from ordinary gastroscopy, but the experience will be better. It must be really popular among the people.”
"In order to control costs, the equipment in disposable capsules cannot be very good, and the functions are not that strong. But this problem does not exist for us. We can completely use high-definition cameras and add more functions. Making capsule gastroscopy closer to flexible gastroscopy."
Wei Kang nodded, turned on the device, picked up the remote control, and carefully manipulated the handle.
I saw the small capsule suddenly slowly flying into the air, and then, as if drunk, it began to circle around crazily, flying up and down.
He couldn't help but grinned happily, like a child playing with a remote control airplane.
Lu Tingfeng couldn't help but smile. He knew it was very satisfying, because he had played like this just half an hour ago.
Wei Kang played with it for several minutes before reluctantly controlling the capsule to fly to the table and then put down the remote control.
"It feels quite fun." He said with an afterthought on his face: "I bet every doctor who gets this thing will have to play with it for a few minutes to enjoy it."
Lu Tingfeng smiled and said: "Who doesn't have the dream of being a pilot? In fact, when we first saw the prototype, we all played with it."
Wei Kang nodded: "Not bad, the control is sensitive and the experience is silky smooth. I like it very much."
Lu Tingfeng suddenly twitched the corner of his mouth and said to himself, who wouldn't like it if it was used as an airplane, but whether the patient likes it or not remains to be seen in clinical trials.
Wei Kang picked up the capsule, rubbed it in his palms for a while, and said, "It's okay. The shell is relatively tough and not easy to break or fall off."
After saying this, his expression darkened and he became serious.
"However, in making this product, the enemy we have to face is also extremely powerful. Are you ready?"
Lu Tingfeng chuckled: "Although the high-end color ultrasound field is monopolized by foreign companies, it is at least a tripartite and it is not difficult to deal with it. But in the field of endoscopy, Olympus is the dominant one, occupying 70% of the market share. It’s quite difficult to compete with them.”
"However, there is always someone who has to confront them and fight their way through the endoscope. If that's the case, why can't it be us?"
Wei Kang glanced at him approvingly: "Yes, you are becoming more and more confident."
Lu Tingfeng immediately lowered his head humbly: "It's mainly because it's easy to enjoy the shade against the big tree of the company. Besides, our products have obvious advantages. If we still can't win, I might as well go home and set up a street stall."
Wei Kang waved his hand: "Haha, it doesn't have to be like this. Olympus's strength and quality have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. If you want to defeat them in this field and successfully enter the hospital, it will be more difficult than portable monitors and color ultrasound. .”
"So I did not start with a product like a hard scope, but chose a soft scope that is more technically difficult. I directly conquered the most cutting-edge magnetically controlled capsule gastroscopy technology, formed an overwhelming technical advantage, and then kept the price down to become a It’s a cost-effective choice, so it’s hard not to succeed.”
"Although the function of capsule gastroscopy is not powerful enough and can only occupy a part of the market, when the nanotechnology under development makes a new breakthrough and can perform surgery directly in the gastrointestinal tract, it will be able to completely replace it and occupy the entire soft lens market. ”
Lu Tingfeng nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "Mr. Wei is absolutely right. I will test it again this week. If there is no problem, I will send it to the hospital for trial use. We will improve the product as soon as possible. When the Class III product registration certificate is issued, we can officially launch our efforts. "
Wei Kang smiled slightly: "Don't worry, we have a price advantage this time, absolutely no problem. Let Xiaori know that Huaxia Price is not only a price butcher, but also a price terminator."
"It's necessary. I've been waiting to seize the Olympus market for a long time." Lu Tingfeng said with excitement, his face flushed.
A set of Olympus products can easily cost hundreds of thousands or millions. They also have capsule gastroscopy, but it is not their flagship product and is very expensive, costing about one to two million.
The cost of such expensive equipment is quite high evenly spread over each operation and examination.
The price of gastroscopy has always been high. The cheapest one costs 200 yuan, and painless gastroscopy costs 400 to 500 yuan. As for capsule gastroscopy, the experience is the best, but the price is the highest.
There is no way, the profits brought by monopoly are so high.
What Sanqing wants to do is to break this price so that patients can enjoy a painless, sensationless and comfortable gastroscopy experience at a cheaper price.
When many people think of having a gastroscopy, the same picture comes to mind.
A thick tube was inserted into his esophagus by the doctor. Nausea, vomiting, and the feeling of a foreign body came over him quickly. Just thinking about it made people shudder and run away.
This also leads to everyone being disgusted with having a gastroscopy. Even if they feel uncomfortable with their stomach, they keep putting it off and don't want to go to the hospital for a gastroscopy.
The early symptoms of gastric cancer are actually similar to those of gastritis. If it can be detected as early as possible, it will not develop into a serious condition.
If capsule gastroscopy can be popularized, more people will be willing to go for gastroscopy, so that gastrointestinal diseases in the body can be detected early.
When Sanqing seizes Olympus's soft lens market with capsule gastroscopy, it will then consider entering the hard lens field.
Endoscopes are divided into two types: hard endoscopes and soft endoscopes. The full names are rigid endoscopes and flexible endoscopes.
Flexible endoscopes are mainly used for examination, and have unique effects in detecting gastric cancer and intestinal cancer.
It is the long, soft tube that people use when going to the hospital for colonoscopy and gastroscopy. It is usually inserted through the anus or mouth to check the internal conditions.
The hard scope is used to assist surgery. The front end is a stainless steel tube that is inserted into the body through the surgical incision. The doctor can see the internal conditions of the human body through it.
If you perform minimally invasive surgery, you generally need to make three small holes in the body. One is used to insert the rigid scope, one is used to remove surgical instruments, and the other is used to insert the intubation machine.
The function of the pneumoperitoneum machine is to inflate. Since the internal organs of the human body are drooped together, air must be inflated inside to make the abdomen swell and allow room for the doctor to operate.
In short, endoscopes are already high-end medical devices, and the high-end market is currently occupied by Japanese companies.
In the domestic soft lens market share, Olympus, Pentax, and Fujifilm, the top three companies in Sakura Country, account for 95%. In the hard lens market, Olympus still occupies a monopoly, with domestic companies’ market share only 10%. The road ahead can be described as long and arduous.
There is another field of endoscopy, which is industrial endoscopy. In this regard, domestic companies are in a much better situation.
The reason why Sakura Country dominates the endoscope market is simple. The core component of an endoscope is the imaging chip. The endoscope is only as powerful as Sakura Country's imaging chip.
This is no exception in the field of mobile phones and cameras. Sony, Canon and Nikon also have a monopoly on CCD and CMOS photosensitive imaging chips.
Therefore, in any field involving imaging chips, whether it is mobile phones or medical equipment, Sakura Country is a well-deserved powerhouse.
However, thanks to the rise of domestic mobile phones, domestic CMOS sensors are also developing rapidly and will be able to catch up with Sakura Country sooner or later.
CMOS was developed as a low-cost photosensitive element technology and is generally used in low-end camera products, such as mobile phones, drones, and high-end cameras are all CCD photosensitive elements.
CCD is small in size, has low power consumption and has good imaging effect, but the problem is that CCD is very expensive.
This kind of device is used in very high-end SLR cameras or astronomical telescopes.
Needless to say, the prices of these two devices are very expensive.
Sanqing’s capsule gastroscopy does not require surgery, it is just an examination, and at most a biopsy. The requirements for the imaging chip are not particularly high, so it uses CMOS photosensitive elements, so there is no need to worry about supplier selection. .
After all, mobile phones are also used, and domestic production is also developing. The possibility of neck jamming is much smaller than that of CCD photosensitive elements.
If you enter the field of hard mirrors, the requirements for photography will be particularly high, and CCD imaging chips will be used.
If there is no domestic support at that time, if there is blood with the Olympus bayonet, it will easily get stuck.
Therefore, Weicome is also considering supporting some domestic CCD manufacturers to see if they can spend money to make high-end imaging chips, which can be considered a precautionary measure.
However, this is not urgent yet and can be discussed in the long run.
"After the prototype is ready, the next step is animal experiments. After passing it, human clinical trials can be carried out."
"By the way, Mr. Wei, next month is the Haishi International Medical Equipment Exhibition. We used to have too few products, but now we have more products. I am thinking about participating, showing off, and showing off Sanqing's muscles. So I signed up.”
After the report, Lu Tingfeng suddenly remembered something and said excitedly.
Wei Kang couldn't help but smile: "Okay, Sanqing now has seven kinds of equipment, enough to fill a booth."
"That's right. In fact, I have been thinking about the development direction of the equipment department recently, and that's when I discovered your brilliance."
"The medical device market is different from the pharmaceutical industry. It is much smaller. It is only 100 billion-level, which is not as good as the trillion-level market in the pharmaceutical industry."
"There are many types of medical devices, with 47 major categories and more than 400,000 varieties. The market capacity of each category is limited. If you want to break the ceiling of sales growth, you can only achieve it through mergers and acquisitions. This is not only true in China If so, so will the global medical device industry.”
“What’s even more frightening is that the market competition in this industry is extremely fierce. Conventional medical devices such as B-ultrasound, DR, syringes, and vacuum blood collection tubes have more than 100 product registration certificates, and more than 100 manufacturers are competing for price. Fight for relationships.”
"The brutal competition has made the profits of manufacturers and agents as thin as razors, and many manufacturers are even operating at a loss."
Lu Tingfeng couldn't help showing a hint of admiration and said: "Mr. Wei, after thinking about it again and again, I found that your R&D ideas are very smart. Since the market is so big and there are so many categories, we can only develop differentiation, specialization, and high-end ization and trying to defend the technological moat, only then can we capture more markets.”
"It is under this thinking that portable medical devices have achieved great success. They have opened up a blue ocean in places where most device manufacturers have not spent much effort, such as aviation rescue, primary hospitals, etc., reaching more than 90% of the market. Possession.”
"The magnetically controlled capsule gastroscopy represents Sanqing's march towards high-end equipment. If we can completely win over the flexible endoscope, then Sanqing's road to becoming a giant in equipment will be half the way."
"Mr. Wei, don't worry. At this international equipment exhibition, I will definitely make Sanqing's name famous. Not only will it be popular in China, but it will also be sold around the world."
Lu Tingfeng clenched his fists and said firmly.
You think too much, I just sell whatever the system gives me. Wei Kang touched his forehead and couldn't help but laugh.
However, he is still looking forward to Sanqing's first appearance at the International Equipment Exhibition.
Sanqing has never been worried about selling its new drugs, so it rarely attends drug exhibitions.
But medical equipment seems to be different. The competition in this market is more intense. It faces professionals such as medical institutions and doctors. If you want to sell goods, you must gain their approval. Naturally, you need to show your strength in places like exhibitions to attract people. Build relationships.
I hope hospitals and friendly businesses will like Sanqing’s equipment products.
He thought about it and thought it wasn't a big problem.
(End of chapter)
