According to the China Government Procurement Network, Cyber Blue Instruments has found that from October 21st to October 28th, more than 150 hospitals across the country have purchased or completed the procurement of ultrasound diagnostic equipment.
For example, the 11th batch of government procurement projects for Yunnan Cancer Hospital in 2020, with a budget of 7.63 million yuan, includes 2 color ultrasound diagnostic devices and 1 electric stimulation device+ultrasound combination therapy device, etc;
Yangqu County Medical Group has a budget of 400000 yuan to purchase a domestically produced portable color Doppler ultrasound diagnostic system;
The Peifeng Town Health Center in Yongding District, Longyan City has a budget of 160000 yuan to purchase a domestically produced portable color Doppler ultrasound diagnostic system.
According to data from the China Industry Information Network, after years of rapid development, the market penetration rate of ultrasound in China has rapidly increased, and it is expected that the number of ultrasound machines in the domestic market will exceed 140000.
However, with the intensification of aging and the increasing demand for health, the demand for ultrasound in various diagnosis and treatment departments has not been met. It is estimated that by 2019, there is still a demand for more than 230000 ultrasound machines in domestic hospitals, corresponding to a market space of over 50 billion yuan.
In addition, considering the 5-7 year replacement of ultrasound equipment, based on the current stock market estimate, the annual demand for equipment updates is about 28000 units.
In terms of sales, domestic equipment is gradually seizing the import market share with its cost-effectiveness advantage. Its sales in the mid to low end color ultrasound market have surpassed those of imported products, and it has also begun to show obvious advantages in the field of color ultrasound.
Core technology: Ultrasonic probe
It is understood that for ultrasound diagnostic equipment, ultrasound probe technology is one of the core technologies that determine its system performance. According to the medical department of Cyber Blue Instruments, probes are mainly divided into four categories based on beam control: convex array, linear array, phased array, and matrix probes.
Convex array: The probe array has an arc-shaped structure and is mainly used for abdominal and obstetric applications.
Linear array: The probe array is a planar one-dimensional linear structure, mainly used for diagnosis of superficial, small organ, vascular and other parts.
Phased array: The probe array is a planar one-dimensional linear structure, and scanning is achieved by phase deviation during system transmission. It is mainly used for diagnosis of the heart and brain.
Matrix: The probe array has a planar multidimensional linear structure and is currently mainly used for cardiac applications.
In addition, there is a type of volume probe derived from convex or linear array probes, also known as 4D probes, mainly used in obstetrics and gynecology applications.
At present, domestic equipment companies have made significant progress in ultrasound probe technology. For example, in the field of single crystal probe technology in ultrasound, Kaikai Medical has expressed to Saibai Blue Instrument that the main technical difficulties of single crystal probes lie in acoustic design, manufacturing process, and probe debugging technology in the entire system.
In terms of acoustic design, piezoelectric single crystal materials are different from traditional piezoelectric ceramic materials, and their special preparation methods and material properties determine that conventional probe acoustic design cannot be used.
Based on the acoustic theory of single crystal probes and computer simulation, a unique multi-layer acoustic matching has been developed for medical applications. This not only broadens the working frequency band of the probe, but also significantly improves its sensitivity, surpassing the acoustic performance of piezoelectric ceramic probes.
It is understood that there are currently three development trends in the field of ultrasound probes, namely ultra-high frequency probes (>20MHz), matrix probes, and microelectromechanical machining probes (cMUT/pmUT). There are many technical difficulties in these three directions, such as the production process, heat dissipation, and overall integration method of matrix probes, which need to be studied in detail.
If you have equipment requirements or would like to know more details and quotations, please feel free to contact Shanghai Oberson Medical Equipment Co., Ltd. for consultation.
