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Exclusive interview with Yuanhua Intelligent Meng Qinghu:Explore every stone in the field of robotics!

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Published on 2024年3月17日 17:45

2023 year7Southern Medical University Shenzhen Hospital in the month,A group of people are nervously watching a surgery。The chief surgeon is Chai Wei, the director of the Joint Surgery Department at the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army of China,here,He is operating a robotic arm through the control console,For one person83Robot assisted left total knee arthroplasty in elderly patients。

On site onlookers,It comes from Beijing Jishuitan Hospital、Shanghai Oriental Hospital、Hong Kong University Shenzhen Hospital and other nearby facilities50A senior orthopedic doctor from a home hospital。Everyone's line of sight,Never left this robotic arm loaded with surgical instruments。With Director Chai Wei's proficient operation,The robotic arm accurately completes knee joint osteotomy、A series of actions such as implant placement。The surgery was successfully completed,On site bursts of applause。

This is a pre conference presentation for the 9th Asian Society of Artificial Arthrology Annual Conference,It is also the first national hip and knee all-in-one orthopedic surgical robot system produced by Yuanhua Intelligence, which has just been launched, and the first live broadcast of hip and knee surgery in Shenzhen。

2023year4month16day,Kunwu, fully independently developed by Yuanhua Intelligence®The official release of orthopedic surgical robots,With a unique navigation solution、Software systems and core components,Realized that only one device can assist in completing two indications for hip and knee surgery。7At the beginning of the month,Professor Zhang Yuan and his team from the Army Medical University brought equipment into the Tibetan area,At average altitude4000Shigatse, which is over meters tall, has completed multiple surgeries,Created the world's highest record for robot assisted joint replacement surgery at an altitude,It also fully demonstrates the good operational stability of this surgical robot and its enormous role in areas with relatively scarce medical resources。

As the original developer of this leading device,Yuanhua Intelligence is actually just a young company that has been established for less than five years。

2021year3month,Sequoia China leads the investment in Yuanhua IntelligenceARound financing,And in the subsequentBContinuous support in round financing,One of the earliest investors in the company。In the view of Xu Qiang, the Managing Director of Sequoia China,Yuanhua Intelligence is the first in the industry to complete surgical robotic arms、Independent research and development of navigation system and all software,Realize localization of core components,Showcasing its advanced level in the field of orthopedic surgical robots in China。

recently,Sequoia China visited this surgical robot company located in Shenzhen,And had in-depth exchanges with Meng Qinghu, the chief scientist of Yuanhua Intelligence。In the interview,Meng Qinghu shared his insights on science and entrepreneurship throughout his journey。In his opinion,Adequate preparation,Add“Not urgent”The mindset of,Perhaps these are two essential elements on the path of entrepreneurship。


No revolutionary progress,Can only belong to following and running,And as someone like me, I don't like to run with others。

Meng Qinghu | Chief Scientist of Meta Intelligence

Flipping through every stone of the surgical robot

Meng Qinghu is a member of the Canadian Academy of Engineering、Academician of the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers,Currently serving as the Director of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Southern University of Science and Technology、Chair Professor。In the field of robotics,He is a globally renowned scholar。And metaintelligence is actually his third entrepreneurship:Dedicated to creating the world's best specialized medical surgical robots。

Deciding to make a surgical robot,Originating from a conversation between Meng Qinghu and Professor Liang Guosui, a renowned orthopedic doctor in Hong Kong。

2001year,Meng Qinghu, who has been working in Canada for nearly ten years, has decided to return to China,Professor of Electronic Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong。At that time,Liang Guosui, who has established the Orthopedics and Traumatology Continuing Education Training Center at the Prince of Wales Hospital of the Chinese University of Hong Kong,I heard that Meng Qinghu is an expert in the field of robotics,He warmly invited him to come and see the orthopedic surgical robot he was using at the time。

just,A robot that has assisted Dr. Liang Guosui in completing multiple surgeries,In Meng Qinghu's view, it is just a static positioning device。The two hit it off at once:Since this is not,Why not make a real orthopedic surgical robot together?

At this time, surgical robots were still in an extremely early stage of the market。The famous da Vinci surgical robot in the future just received it the year beforeFDACertification of,It was not until six years later that it was first introduced into China,And there are no mature products in China,Not to mention orthopedic specific robots。And another requirement from Liang Guosui,It was even more unexpected for Meng Qinghu。Dr. Liang Guosui hopes to,If you want to do it,We need to create a product10Orthopedic surgical auxiliary robots within 10000 yuan,So even if it's a county-level hospital,Can also afford it。

You should know,At that time, a mainstream surgical robot needed to be equipped with a navigation device50HKD 10000。hence,The path of purchasing parts from outside, assembling machines, and then debugging and improving them has been declared impossible,All independently developed from scratch,Becoming Meng Qinghu's only choice。

generally speaking,A surgical robot consists of at least three core components:Main console,Responsible for data processing and algorithm execution;Navigator,Responsible for information acquisition and navigation tracking;Mechanical arm,It is a positioning tool,Responsible for specific operations such as osteotomy。Meng Qinghu chooses to tackle the key difficulties first,It's a navigator。

In the development process of the navigator,It fully reflects Meng Qinghu's body“Not urgent”Characteristics of。

from2002Year until2012year,Meng Qinghu has carried out four major projects around the surgical robot navigation system,From basic research theory to experiments and then to samples,“I have explored various fields of navigation equipment”,We only did it before and after the prototype7、8species,Even centered around this field in the middle,Also trained three doctoral students。

During this process,Industrialization and commercialization have never been Meng Qinghu's main goals。“Actually, I never thought about saving something today,Sell in the market tomorrow,I still want to work diligently on the science inside。”Meng Qinghu's requirements are actually very clear:While reducing costs,All technical parameters need to surpass the mainstream products in the industry。

For navigators,accuracy、Refresh rate、Number of markers、Accurate positioning range,All are key technical indicators。And through10Exploration of the Year,At present, the optical navigator independently developed by Yuanhua Intelligence Institute has surpassed similar foreign products。

Taking refresh rate as an example。To understand in layman's terms,The refresh rate means the number of movements that the navigator can track per second,Regardless of the movement changes of surgical instruments,Or is it the patient's leg shaking。The higher the refresh rate, the more,It means that the stronger the tracking ability of the navigation system。At present, the refresh rate of mainstream products in the market is generally20、30、60Hz,And self-developed navigation products with metaintelligence can achieve335Hz。

The second issue to be addressed,It's a robotic arm。

Surgical robots are typically equipped with one or more high degree of freedom robotic arms,Processing through computer algorithms,The robotic arm replicates the movements of the surgeon's hands into corresponding instrument movements within the human body,This enables surgeons to move surgical instruments smoothly and accurately within a smaller surgical space,Therefore, the importance of robotic arms is beyond doubt。

The commonly used methods in the industry at present,It is a universal industrial robotic arm,The same goes for early stage metaintelligence。But with the increasing demands from orthopedic experts from well-known hospitals in clinical trials,Meng Qinghu gradually realized,The limit is here。

“It's not our limit,But it's the limit of the robotic arm coming,For example, insufficient stiffness,For example, slow reaction speed,For example, zero gravity compensation。”therefore,Self developed orthopedic specialized surgical robotic arm,It has become a difficult problem that Meng Qinghu must overcome once again。

“It can be said that,We need to explore every stone in the field of surgical robots。”


Unwilling to be a follower

The reason for shouting“Flip through every stone”Our slogan,Originating from Meng Qinghu's persistence in science。

As a scientist,Meng Qinghu himself has already made many achievements in the academic field。After obtaining a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Victoria in Canada,Meng Qinghu started teaching in Canada as an assistant professor,I used it again8I have been a lifelong full professor in just one year,Later elected as a member of the Canadian Academy of Engineering。

Meng Qinghu's academic career has always been closely related to robots。1988year,Meng Qinghu graduated with a master's degree from Beijing Institute of Technology,The title of the paper is“Robot Vision and Vision Based Robot Control System”。1992year,American scholarsRus TaylorDeveloped the first truly orthopedic surgical robotROBODOC,And that year, Dr. Meng Qinghu graduated,The paper is“Force and position adaptive control of robotic arms”。

After graduation,Meng Qinghu will soon arriveRus TaylorI volunteered in front of you。At that timeRus TaylorHe is the editor in chief of the most authoritative journal in the field of robotics,After helping to complete multiple paper reviews,Meng Qinghu won the bid with his outstanding academic abilities and sincere work attitudeRus TaylorAnd appreciation from several international masters in the field of robotics,And recommended as a member of the editorial board of multiple top international journals and the organizing committee of international conferences,I have also become unforgettable friends with many international masters in the field of robotics。

This gives Meng Qinghu the most authoritative network resources and cutting-edge technological information in the field of robotics,It also made Meng Qinghu unwilling to be a follower in technology。

Choosing the application field of surgical robots in orthopedics at the beginning of entrepreneurship is also for the same reason。at that time,The da Vinci surgical machine has already targeted the general surgery department,And Meng Qinghu believes that,In this field, one can at most be similar to Leonardo da Vinci,All we can do is make slight improvements,“No revolutionary progress,Can only belong to following and running,And as someone like me, I don't like to run with others。”So Meng Qinghu chose the field of orthopedic joint replacement, which was not yet approved in China at that time。

And at the same time,Meng Qinghu has always been thinking,How to seek truly substantial breakthroughs in technology。One of the technologies is2023At the beginning of the year, it was finally developed and completed,And it is considered by Meng Qinghu to be the most representative since entrepreneurship、have“revolutionary advances”Technology:Photoacoustic imaging soft tissue navigation

The so-called photoacoustic imaging,It refers to identifying and locating the target to be scanned through light and sound,It is a purely physical method,Thus, traditional methods such as imaging or preoperative radiation can be used for identification during surgery。From the perspective of technical principles themselves,Not a very cutting-edge theory,Most people can understand,andThe true core element lies in the unique algorithm behind it。Only by studying the algorithm thoroughly,Only then can we truly make the product。The benefits that this technology can bring are obvious。

Taking common tumor resection as an example。Traditional cancer surgery often requires preoperative interventionMRIorCTEqual imaging methods,Help doctors confirm the boundaries of cancer cells。But due to the characteristics of soft tissue,Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners can only judge the approximate location and size of tumors based on memory and vision during actual surgery。For safety reasons,Often more cuts are made to ensure clean removal。And using photoacoustic imaging soft tissue navigation technology,This can largely avoid the problem——Firstly, the accuracy of photoacoustic imaging is higher,Secondly, it has strong penetrability,Combined with self-developed algorithms,It can clearly identify the differences in cells。“As long as it is different from normal cells,We can all identify it。”This also avoids the additional trauma that multiple tissue resections can cause to patients。


A tacit entrepreneurial partner

In fact, it is precisely this attitude of unwillingness to be behind others in science,Enable meta intelligent products to have unique competitiveness in the market。
Talking about the development of meta intelligence in recent years,Meng Qinghu commented that:“First of all, we caught the wind,And when the wind blows,I was already prepared。And more importantly,Investors and partners who are willing to accompany us to soar together。”

Meng Qinghu's first perfect entrepreneurial partner in his eyes,It's his wife, Li Aili。

In a two-hour interview,Meng Qinghu has repeatedly talked about the importance of his wife to the company。“She is someone who can handle things independently,Very strong execution ability。If we talk about military merit medals,I think she deserves much more than half。”

The two have known each other since their teenage years,Li Aili accompanied Meng Qinghu through three entrepreneurial experiences。

The first experience was in the last century80years。At that time,Meng Qinghu is a graduate student at Beijing Institute of Technology,Still the head of the school's English club。Li Aili works at a scientific instrument and equipment company in Beijing。A chance encounter,Beizhan called Meng Qinghu and asked him to help translate for a technology exhibition organization,Because there are too many industry terms related to technology,So students from professional foreign language colleges are not competent for this job。The remuneration for this job is considerable,It also allowed Meng Qinghu to experience up close what the business world was like for the first time。So soon Meng Qinghu relied on his understanding of science and industry,We started our foreign trade business in technology instruments and equipment,Started the first entrepreneurial career。

The second experience was during Meng Qinghu's overseas study period。After graduation from graduate school,Meng Qinghu received a fully funded self funded scholarship for studying abroad,So I went to Victoria University in Canada to pursue a doctoral degree。Also during this period,Li Aili also went to Canada with her。After doctoral graduation,Meng Qinghu Enters Universities to Serve as a Teacher,The two of them have started their second entrepreneurship again,Mainly focused on high-end productsITequipment。

“Quickly, we achieved the location west of TorontoMost Valuable Company。”Memories of Meng Qinghu,Just like many years later,Back then, Meng Qinghu was mainly responsible for technology,And Li Aili is responsible for the company's operations。And at that time,Their business philosophy is becoming more mature。“Back thenITThe industry is also like today's robots,Belonging to the galloping of thousands of horses,It's also a wind vent,And in the future, several large companies had not yet fully formed a monopoly on the industry at that time。We only target high-end servers and workstations。Because whether it's installing a machine or not1000YuanPC,Still one10000A workstation worth yuan,Actually, the processes are all the same,All require a graphics card、CPU、Memory、Hard drives, etc,But the prices of accessories and terminals are different。So under the same profit margin,Our profit margin for choosing high-end models will be much higher。”

And many years later,The development of entrepreneurial metaintelligence in the third paragraph also demonstrates this logic。Meta intelligence is the first enterprise to fully localize the core components of surgical robots,Thus completely eliminating the hidden danger of being restricted by upstream international enterprises。

In Meng Qinghu's view,Years of high tacit understanding and clear expertise and division of labor between the two individuals,It is a very valuable advantage in the entrepreneurial process of metaintelligence。

And in theAI came into contact with Sequoia China during the round of financing and successfully completed the financing,Meng Qinghu believes that it is another crucial aspect of the company's development process。

“2020year-end,Under the recommendation of a friend, we met with the team of Sequoia for the first time。It's actually very touching after seeing it for the first time。To be honest, we didn't lack investment at the time,It has never been enabled beforeFAmechanism,But Sequoia's team excels in professionalism、Efficiency and other aspects have left a deep impression on us。”Recalling the first meeting with Sequoia,Meng Qinghu stated that。

Firstly, the level of expertise。Xu Qiang, the Managing Director of Sequoia China, who was initially connected to Yuanhua Intelligence, has many years of experience in the field of innovative medical devices and investment,For surgical robots, they have been in contact for several years now,Therefore, the technical characteristics and development direction of meta intelligence were quickly determined。In terms of efficiency,After the first meeting,Sequoia also quickly arranged a meeting internally。Sequoia China Partner Zhou Kui on a Business Trip to Shenzhen,And specifically went to the company,Originally, we only reserved one hour for the meeting,As a result, the conversation lasted for three and a half hours。from2020First contact at the end of the year2021Investment completed at the beginning of the year,Only one Spring Festival is separated in the middle。

What left a deeper impression on Meng Qinghu,Or is it Sequoia China's medical team's understanding of the market。When financing,Although the technology is already very mature,But the company has never formally put the issue of industrialization and commercialization on the agenda,So when the Redwood team mentioned some market related issues,For example, pricing of future products、Possible users,Only then did I truly realize the need to consider this matter。“This was the one that touched me the most at the time,Actually, it's like Sequoia helping us sort out the veins。Since then,Our scientific research、Product positioning, etc,We will first consider the market factors comprehensively。”Meng Qinghu said。

And after Sequoia China truly invests,The company is also gradually realizing that Sequoia China's commitment to post investment empowerment is not just talk。

When the company needs to recruit a Human Resources Director,Sequoia ChinaHRThe team quickly helped recommend a talent pool。When the company is expanding its business in Hong Kong,Sequoia China has also helped link many local foundations and medical resources in Hong Kong。

“What we feel is that,This may be the difference between professional and non professional teams。”Meng Qinghu stated that。