Forerunner Medical lead domestic high-value RF devices and build a first-class medical device platform in depth

With the iterative upgrading of medical device technology, minimally invasive surgery with the advantages of small wound, high safety and fast recovery is widely used in clinic. According to relevant statistics, about 90% of the operations in China have been minimally invasive.

Ablation is a major type of minimally invasive treatment, including microwave ablation, radiofrequency ablation, cryoablation, plasma ablation and other technical forms. It can be widely used in cardiovascular, otolaryngology, orthopedics, tumor and other major clinical application directions.

Forerunner Medical is the leader of high-value RF devices in China. Since its establishment, the company has successively completed round a financing from Sequoia Capital China, Yucheng capital and round a + financing from Medtronic.

Forerunner Medical has a senior management and technology R & D team. Its founder Qin Jay has been engaged in R & D, production and operation management of the medical device industry for nearly 30 years. He once held important engineering and management positions in multinational medical device companies such as Braun and Medtronic, and served as the chairman of kinetic, a leading enterprise of spinal minimally invasive devices in China for six years.

Forerunner Medical has two core technology platforms: plasma ablation and RF ablation.

Plasma ablation technology is a new ablation technology in recent years. Using this technology, various operations such as vaporization, ablation, shrinkage and hemostasis of soft tissue can be completed in a minimally invasive manner within the temperature range of 40-70 ℃, which can reduce the damage caused by other ablation to the energy conduction of surrounding normal tissues. It is suitable for temperature sensitive tissues, orthopedics Otolaryngology is the main application direction of plasma ablation technology at this stage.The ability of radiofrequency ablation to restore the normal function of the spine and joints, especially in the form of surgical ablation, will be poor, which will lead to the recovery of normal blood vessels in the traditional surgical treatment.Plasma ablation technology can reduce such problems. Therefore, in some developed countries, plasma ablation has become the first choice for arthroscopic treatment.Its plasma ablation equipment can identify tissue impedance and intelligently adjust output power. Its software system can also monitor the operation of the equipment, monitor hardware faults, and ensure the operation status and safety of the equipment. Compared with traditional surgery, radiofrequency ablation technology can eliminate lesions more accurately and retain healthy tissue function as much as possible. It is suitable for lesions that cannot be removed by traditional surgery and patients with poor physical tolerance. It shows high value in minimally invasive treatment of tumors.

The main products of MedSphere Medical, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Forerunner Medical, are radiofrequency therapeutic instrument and its supporting radiofrequency ablation electrode needle, which are used for tumor ablation treatment of various organs and tissues such as liver, lung, thyroid and breast. At present, it has obtained CFDA certification, more than 10 national patents and ISO 13485 quality system certification, It has undertaken a number of key science and technology projects of the Ministry of science and technology of the people's Republic of China and Shanghai Science and Technology Commission.

Based on the in-depth layout of the two major technology platforms, Forerunner Medical has formed a complete technical solution and sales platform in the fields of sports medicine, spine, ear, nose and throat, tumor and so on. Its diversified product line has exceeded the level of medical device R & D companies at the same stage. These products are self-developed, and the technology has reached the international top level. At present, the products have gradually entered the stage of commercialization. In the future, Forerunner Medical also plans to enrich the product application direction horizontally and further broaden the enterprise boundary.

The research and development of medical devices is inseparable from the combination with clinical. Compared with the foreign market, China's medical industry has some particularity. Qin Jay proposed that the landing of medical devices in China needs to be combined with China's local treatment habits, Foreign devices are not necessarily suitable for the Chinese market: "for example, in terms of tumors, domestic tumors are found relatively late, and the masses are relatively large compared with foreign countries. Therefore, for the domestic market, the devices should be designed in special sizes, but the research and development of foreign products are not combined with China's national conditions, and the ablation needle is relatively small.". In the process of R & D of Forerunner Medical products, we worked closely with doctors of domestic top hospitals to make targeted improvements according to local medical characteristics, which is more suitable for domestic clinical practice.

As an emerging market, China has both popularization and upgrading needs of medical device products. With the promotion of the graded diagnosis and treatment policy and the Medical Association policy, the demand for high-end medical devices in China's second-class and below hospitals has increased rapidly, showing a considerable market prospect. The multinational medical device giants have long been dominated by top hospitals and class III hospitals. The entry into the primary medical market is relatively limited and the service network coverage is limited.

At the same time, although hospitals of grade II and below have great demand for new technologies and equipment, their ability to pay is relatively weak. The price of foreign high-end medical equipment is high. In addition to high quality and low price, domestic devices will also be supported by national policies and subsidies, which is more conducive to their landing in the domestic primary medical market. Fangrun medical's service network is also spread all over small and medium-sized cities in China. At the same time, through cooperation with doctors in top hospitals, enterprises use head experts to radiate to grass-roots medical care, so as to achieve the purpose of market education and sinking the market.

"Domestic medical device technology is constantly improving. We see that domestic doctors' recognition of domestic products is increasing, and domestic medical devices have ushered in a golden stage of development." Qin Jay said, "we are very pleased that we have a richer product line than other companies at the same stage, which has brought higher development potential to our company. We also hope that Fangrun medical can build a first-class medical device platform based on ablation equipment."

The article is changed from the official account: IT orange.

Original link: Forerunner Medical：lead domestic high-value RF devices and build a first-class medical device platform in depth