"One generation of devices, one generation of equipment", device innovation is the basis for realizing equipment transformation. For domestic large-scale imaging equipment to achieve true localization, the localization of core components is a fortress that must be conquered.
As the "heart" of CT equipment, the performance of CT tube directly affects the image quality and service life of CT, and determines the upper limit of CT performance. It is not only the signal source carrier of CT equipment, but also the only high-value consumable of CT equipment. Its price ranges from hundreds of thousands to millions, accounting for about 10-20% of the BOM cost of CT equipment. It is a key component that uses "small" to make "big". In the three consecutive "Five-Year Plans" of "12th Five-Year Plan", "13th Five-Year Plan" and "14th Five-Year Plan", the country has emphasized the need to vigorously break through and develop domestic CT tubes.
CT tubes involve multiple technical fields such as beam optics, mechanical mechanics, electromagnetics, vacuum technology, special materials, kinematics, heat exchange, etc., and have strict requirements on processes, basic supporting facilities, and process equipment. The barriers to design and production are extremely high, requiring long-term accumulation and precipitation. Its production and manufacturing process is long, complex and precise, the process conditions are harsh, and the processes are closely linked, with a low degree of automation. Any imperfection in the process will affect the final performance and quality of the product. Therefore, whether it is a CT machine manufacturer or an independent CT tube manufacturer, there are only a handful of companies in the world that can produce CT tubes, and almost all of them are foreign manufacturers.
Under the monopoly, domestic CT tube manufacturers have burst out with powerful independent innovation power. Wuxi Guochen Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Guochen Medical") is one of them.
The veteran CT tube entrepreneur returns to the "battlefield" and advances rapidly relying on the team's resource endowment and Jiangsu's industrial advantages
Founded in 2023, Guochen Medical focuses on the full-link independent research and development and production of core parts for imaging equipment such as CT, X-ray, and DR, aiming to achieve independent control of core parts for domestic large-scale imaging equipment such as CT tubes and DR tubes. Its business covers third-party tube replacement, whole machine OEM, and high-end customized development.
Although Guochen Medical was established less than a year ago and is a "new" company in the field of domestic imaging core parts, the company's team, especially the technical, production and marketing teams, are all senior veterans who have been tempered for many years in domestic and foreign head CT tube companies such as GPS or the medical imaging industry.
Founder Ren Guotao is a serial entrepreneur who has been deeply involved in CT tubes for many years. He participated in the self-development and production of domestic CT tubes and launched the first domestic liquid metal bearing tube product. Co-founder Wang Xiaoxing has been rooted in the field of vacuum electron tubes for 15 years. He is proficient in the entire process of X-ray tube research and development and production and manufacturing. He has 4 invention patents and 14 utility model patents. He was responsible for completing major science and technology projects in Shandong Province and participated in the completion of national science and technology support projects.
Relying on the appeal of the founding team in the industry, Guochen Medical quickly assembled a team of multidisciplinary talents in materials science, vacuum, mechanical electronics, electronic engineering, electrical automation, etc. Not only has it accumulated deep technical reserves in liquid metal bearings, flat filaments, and heat dissipation technology, but it also has abundant market sales channels, allowing Guochen Medical to have collaborative combat capabilities in supply chain, industrial chain, market channels, etc.
"Relying on the team's technical accumulation and resource advantages, we can quickly get on the road in terms of people, machines, materials, methods, and environment, and take fewer detours. Especially in engineering and industrial manufacturing, we have a deep accumulation." Ren Guotao introduced.
At present, Guochen Medical has built a complete CT tube design and development system, and built a 2,600-square-meter production base in Wuxi, Jiangsu, with independent R&D, production, testing and office plants. The base is equipped with a professional 10,000-level clean room for tube core assembly, and has established a complete production and service system, with 2 CT production lines and 1 DR production line, with a designed annual production capacity of more than 5,000 units.
In addition, Guochen Medical's production base is equipped with more than ten independent test lead rooms, which can meet the daily testing needs of many mainstream CT models.
Guochen Medical Factory, picture from the company's official website
According to Ren Guotao, there are currently about 10 domestic CT tube manufacturers in China, of which 6 are located in Jiangsu. Jiangsu has strong supply chain support and excellent industrial cluster effect in the field of CT tubes. In addition, the local business environment is excellent, and the government has also introduced a series of entrepreneurial policies to support entrepreneurs. Relying on the policy support of the Economic Development Zone Management Committee, Guochen Medical is expected to further expand the domestic market.
Anchoring three-party substitution, OEM, and high-end customization, domestic and foreign markets are driven in parallel
In terms of commercialization, Guochen Medical has locked in the three-party substitution market, the whole machine OEM market, and the high-end customized development market.
The tube needs to be replaced as a consumable. If the maintenance tube used for replacement is the product equipped when the CT leaves the factory, it is called the "original tube", otherwise it is the "replacement tube". The so-called "third-party replacement market" refers to the tube market that is not produced by the CT machine factory. At present, the tubes of domestic CT machine factories basically use third-party OEM products.
Driven by policies such as "Made in China 2025" and "Large Medical Equipment Configuration License Management Catalog (2018)", with the implementation of the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system, the proportion of domestic low-end CT equipment with less than 64 rows has steadily increased. Based on this situation, Guochen Medical has prioritized the low-end and medium-end CT market with a large domestic stock, starting from the ball bearing CT tube, and gradually achieving market penetration.
Ren Guotao emphasized that the choice of ball bearings was not because of its simple technology, but was based on the current market share. Although liquid metal bearings are becoming the mainstream trend in the industry, all manufacturers are currently in the exploratory stage and the technology is not yet mature. Guochen Medical is also actively developing key technologies such as liquid metal bearings to accumulate strength for the subsequent development and customization of high-end ball tubes.
Partial product display of Guochen Medical
The whole machine OEM market, that is, the new equipment for CT whole machine manufacturers, the main purchasers are domestic CT manufacturers, and the potential purchasers are imported brand CT manufacturers produced in China. It mainly tests the product stability, customized design capabilities, and adaptability improvement capabilities of the tube manufacturers. Guochen Medical builds a product pipeline around the mainstream tube types of domestic CT equipment, covering a variety of mainstream models at home and abroad, realizing in-situ replacement, and opening up the global OEM market through high-end customization.
"Only when our products are recognized in the rigorous testing of customer manufacturers and the performance indicators meet or even exceed the original factory standards, can we gain a firm foothold in the OEM market and high-end customization market." Ren Guotao added.
Starting with the tube replacement business is the first step in Guochen Medical's strategic layout. At the same time, the company is also negotiating cooperation with leading manufacturers to actively promote OEM business. Given that the annual new installation volume and total ownership in the overseas market far exceed those in China, Guochen Medical will also expand overseas markets, keep up with national policies, and actively promote overseas strategies.
In March this year, Guochen Medical and Haisais signed a strategic cooperation agreement, and the two parties carried out extensive cooperation in the fields of bearing supply, pipe assembly processing and precision processing. This marks that Guochen Medical has officially accelerated its start in the field of X-ray tubes.
It is reported that the company has entered the type inspection stage for several R&D sample tubes, and several X-ray products are also in the stage of obtaining evidence in full swing, and are expected to be approved by the end of this year or early next year. Subsequently, the company will gradually launch liquid metal bearings and DSA tube products to meet the diverse needs of the market.
At the same time, in order to ensure stable and reliable product quality, related products will be installed on multiple models of CT machines of domestic and foreign hospital users. Guochen Medical will also provide fast and efficient service support for the specific needs of hospital imaging diagnosis to minimize the downtime of hospital equipment.
Build a one-stop shared service center to open up the last "mile" of CT tube service
In the past, the domestic CT third-party repair market was limited by the lack of self-developed tube capabilities, and could only sell repair services by purchasing original tubes, resulting in high repair costs. Now with the rise of domestic CT tubes, medical institutions have more choices. However, according to public data, among CT products, the market share of domestic brand CT tubes is less than 5%. The reason for this is not only the popularity of foreign CT tube brands and the products themselves, but also a large part of the reason is the non-standard after-sales repair.
Ren Guotao told Artery Network that the main profit of CT comes from the after-sales market. As the only high-value consumable in CT, CT tube is the focus of the whole machine manufacturers. It has put forward extremely high requirements on the service ability, response speed and product life of tube manufacturers. However, there is currently a lack of unified norms and standards in the industry, and the service quality of various manufacturers varies.
Based on this, Guochen Medical has created a one-stop shared service center, hoping to unite the industry and empower the three-party after-sales service market. Form a standardized, normalized and systematic operation process for personnel training, equipment, technology and service, create a "4S store" for domestic imaging parts, build a high industry service benchmark, open up the last "kilometer" of CT tube service, and improve customer experience, so that everyone can not only use it, but also use it better.
With the advancement of localization of high-end medical equipment, the complete localization of core components of imaging equipment is imminent. We also look forward to the new core component R&D manufacturers of imaging equipment, represented by Guochen Medical, to achieve domestic substitution and independent control of core components of high-end medical equipment.
