BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- On a spring morning, outside the window of the cardiovascular imaging laboratory in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London, the warm sunshine bathed the leaves of the trees. Through the large windows of the laboratory, one could clearly see the cardiac magnetic resonance images on the computer screen on a table. David Firmin, co-director of the Advanced Technology Research Institute of Imperial College London and professor of medicine at Imperial College London, was carefully examining the latest imaging data.
The data was reconstructed and calculated using the cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) intelligent analysis system from the Shanghai-based United Imaging Intelligence. The system uses the latest AI technology to assess cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease, heart valve disease and other heart diseases through a single imaging session, significantly improving the efficiency and accuracy of doctors' diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases.
The improvement in diagnostic efficiency was attributed to a major project jointly undertaken by Professor Firmin, Xu Lei, director of the medical imaging department at Beijing Anzhen Hospital, and United Imaging Intelligence: the research on a multimodal imaging diagnosis system for cardiovascular diseases based on AI technology.
The photo shows an overview of United Imaging Intelligence's CMR intelligent analysis system. (Provided by United Imaging Intelligence)
Breaking Through Technological Barriers Together
Recalling the initial connection with Beijing Anzhen Hospital and United Imaging Intelligence, Professor Firmin was deeply impressed by the importance and urgency of cooperation between the two countries. The demand for diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases is huge in both China and the UK. Magnetic resonance imaging plays an increasingly pivotal role in the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis evaluation of cardiovascular diseases. However, both countries face technological bottlenecks in intelligent CMR post-processing and multimodal image-based intelligent auxiliary diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. It is imperative to work together to use AI to deeply analyze MR data.
As one of the core technological developers and product providers of the project, United Imaging Intelligence has sufficient expertise in imaging and AI technologies. However, in the early stages of the project, they still faced many challenges, the most prominent of which was the precise quantitative analysis of CMR. Fortunately, the technological team at Imperial College London had rich experience in this field. Experts from both countries regularly exchanged online, learned from each other's strengths and jointly promoted the smooth progress of the project.
Great doctors embody both mastery and compassion, extending their benevolence to all. The ultimate purpose of medical technological progress is to serve patients. Xu Lei said: "We not only need to achieve breakthroughs in technology, but also through cooperation, explore the construction of a more complete cardiovascular multimodal image-based intelligent diagnosis and treatment system to bring more benefits to global patients."
In June 2024, Xu Lei, director of the medical imaging department at Beijing Anzhen Hospital, demonstrates the cooperation outcomes of the project. (Provided by United Imaging Intelligence)
The results of the project have now been successfully implemented. They have helped address China's technological weaknesses in CMR, and have also been applied to the clinical research of many hospitals in the UK, the US and other countries. The advanced technologies from China have greatly improved the efficiency and accuracy of Imperial College London's research on cardiac imaging, and promoted the further development of cardiovascular diseases in the UK.
The photo shows the 75 cm 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging with ultra-large aperture of United Imaging Intelligence. (Provided by Xinhua News Agency)
The success of the project has not only had a positive influence in China and the UK, but also brought new hope to the global medical and health industry. The project teams of both countries have nurtured many doctoral students, providing a sufficient reserve of human resources for the future development of global biomedical engineering. In 2023, Professor Yang Guang, a core member of Professor Firmin's team, led a delegation to Beijing to hold technological exchanges such as seminars with Xu Lei and his team of doctoral students. Under the joint guidance of Chinese and British mentors, several doctoral students have made breakthroughs in the field of AI and multimodal image-based diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. In recent years, the team published many top-level academic articles in internationally renowned academic journals to share the research findings from the project with the world.
The photo shows some of the doctoral students from China and the UK who have been trained under the project. (Provided by project team)
Ushering in a New Era of Medical AI
The close full-chain cooperation from technology research and development and functional integration to clinical application between Beijing Anzhen Hospital, United Imaging Intelligence and Imperial College London effectively combines medical AI technological innovation with clinical needs. Not only has it bridged the technological gap in CMR, but it has also deepened the mutual trust and cooperation between China and the UK in the field of health and medical care, and jointly promoted the progress of the global medical and health industry.
In the future, with the continuous advancement of AI technology, cardiac imaging technology will witness more innovations and applications. The project teams will continue to deepen cooperation, overcome more technological difficulties, and provide more advanced technological support for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases worldwide.
Zhou Xiang, co-CEO of United Imaging Intelligence, said: "Our ideal is to bring medical AI to every citizen and achieve the popularization of AI. We hope to use the power of AI to achieve health management throughout the full life cycle. This will open up vast frontiers for the future development of AI."
"Science knows no borders, and collaboration empowers us. We hope our endeavors will bring renewed hope to cardiovascular patients worldwide," said Firmin. (Dong Xiaohan)
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