Shanghai, China - On October 9, 2022, the “2022 Annual Meeting of Urology Branch of China Association of Medical Equipment”, organized by the China Association of Medical Equipment and hosted by the Urology Branch of the China Association of Medical Equipment, was held in Shanghai both online and offline. The “Shanghai Minimally Invasive Surgical Robot Training Center”, established by Shanghai MicroPort MedBot (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “MicroPort^® MedBot^®”) in response to the call of the China Association of Medical Equipment, held the inauguration ceremony successfully at the opening ceremony of the meeting. Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot (hereinafter referred to as “Toumai^®”) of MicroPort^® MedBot^® was the first to be presented in the special session of the conference to showcase outstanding domestic robots. As a user representative, Prof. Dahong Zhang, Vice President of Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital and leader of the urology department, introduced Toumai® as the first domestic four-arm lumpectomy robot developed by a Chinese company and approved for marketing to continuously challenge difficult surgical procedures and assist clinical experts to achieve multiple “firsts” for many domestic surgical robots, demonstrating excellent performance in clinical projects in terms of safety, effectiveness, and stability.

The annual meeting was chaired by President Shujie Xia, academic leader of the Urology Clinical Medical Center of the Shanghai General Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and director of the Urology Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Since its inception eight years ago, the Urology Branch of the China Association of Medical Equipment has developed into a comprehensive platform integrating industry, universities, research institutes, and medical establishments in the field of urology. The 2022 Annual Meeting of Urology Branch of China Association of Medical Equipment was held under the theme of “Medical-Engineering Collaboration to Create a Better Future”, summarizing and sharing the experience and techniques of routine urological surgeries via live lectures and online discussions, and the application of new technologies and equipment in urological clinical surgeries were also explored.

In his speech at the conference, President Shujie Xia said, “Urology is a discipline highly dependent on equipment and devices. Therefore, the development of urology is inextricably linked to the progress of medical equipment. With the continuous development of science and technology and the accelerated iteration of urological instruments and equipment, the diagnosis and treatment of diseases will be more accurate and minimally invasive.”

Yan Hou, Chairman of the China Association of Medical Equipment and Chairman of the Medical Equipment Intellectual Property Rights Alliance, said, “The development of urology is closely related to technological innovation in equipment. Based on ‘Urology Empowered by Science and Technology’, the branch highlights the transformation of science and technology as well as equipment applications, focusing on advanced technology and equipment in the service of primary levels and thus conforming to the direction of national and health development. In the future, we will step up medical-engineering synergy by making breakthroughs in key technologies and core components and overcoming weaknesses, so as to achieve independence and controllability of high-end medical equipment.”

In July this year, MicroPort^® MedBot^® responded to the call of the China Association of Medical Equipment to set up a medical robotics practical training base, and the education and training department of the Association organized experts to carefully review the submitted materials and successfully passed the field review and acceptance. The project of establishing the “medical equipment practice training base” aims to enhance the competency of staff in medical equipment application, management and engineering technology and strengthen the relevant personnel’s hands-on operational ability.

The Urology Branch of the China Association of Medical Equipment and MicroPort^® MedBot^® joined hands to build the Shanghai Minimally Invasive Surgery Robot Training Center, and successfully held the inauguration ceremony at the opening ceremony of the meeting. The training center will combine the comprehensive and professional training system of MicroPort^® MedBot^® with the abundant expert resources of the China Association of Medical Equipment to create a high-level medical robotics academic exchange platform for urological medical personnel. In the future, MicroPort^® MedBot^® will continue to work closely with various sections and branches to expand the training centers for minimally invasive surgical robots in departments such as general surgery, gynecology, and thoracic surgery, in an effort to comprehensively promote the service of the medical surgical robot industry for the benefit of more people.

At present, MicroPort^® MedBot^® has established nearly 30 clinical application and training centers nationwide, including the medical robot practical training base of the China Association of Medical Equipment, and carried out a series of clinical training and technical guidance for surgical robots through innovative robotic surgery teaching and demonstration models such as training centers, training bases and mobile training demonstration platforms, helping operators and trainees at all levels of hospitals across China to systematically master the core points and skills needed for operating the related products, thereby building a comprehensive medical robotics education and training system. In the first half of this year, MicroPort^® MedBot^®’s “Silk Road Light” and “Honghu - Journey to Yunnan” brought surgical robots to northwest and southwest China to provide advanced surgical robotics training to local doctors and perform robotic-assisted surgeries for local patients, which were highly acclaimed and applauded by the hospitals and patients there.

Mr. Yu Liu, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of MicroPort^® MedBot^®, said, “The inauguration ceremony of the ‘Shanghai Minimally Invasive Surgical Robot Training Center’ jointly built by the Urology Branch of the China Association of Medical Equipment and MicroPort^® MedBot^® reflects the recognition of MicroPort^® MedBot^® by the Urology Branch of the China Association of Medical Equipment, as well as the expectation of the popularization and innovation of surgical robotics equipment. As the first four-arm laparoscopic robot in China, Toumai® takes urology as a starting point to make breakthroughs. It is hoped that through the Shanghai Minimally Invasive Surgical Robot Training Center, high-end domestic equipment will be closely combined with multitude top experts and doctors through the China Association of Medical Equipment and its Urology Branch, so that the synergy of industry, universities, research institutes, and medical establishments can be achieved, and the performance of the domestic surgical robots can be further validated and updated. Furthermore, the surgical robot technology is expected to reach more prefecture- and county-level hospitals by training more surgeons in the country, thereby fulfilling the company’s founding aspiration to ‘Make Surgery Easier, Safer and Less Invasive’.”

In the special session of outstanding domestic robots, Prof. Dahong Zhang, Vice President of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital and academic leader of urology department, shared his feelings and insights as a user representative of  Toumai® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot. He pointed out that in clinical trials, which can best reflect the product and technology level of the surgical robots, Toumai® has created several Chinese-developed “firsts” in surgical procedures by continuously rising to the challenge of complicated surgeries and becoming the first to obtain the urology registration certificate.

Prof. Dahong Zhang completed the first Chinese-developed robot-assisted partial nephrectomy on December 8, 2020 and the first Chinese-developed robotic single-port surgery on December 30, 2020 with the help of Toumai^®. Prof. Dahong Zhang commented on intraoperative details such as tumor shearing, wound suturing, and operation accuracy, and highly recognized the performance advantages of  Toumai® in terms of image clarity and instrument flexibility, saying that the Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot can fully meet clinical needs of operators.

In addition to its sound performance in urology clinical projects, the Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot is also widely used in general surgery, gynecology, and thoracic surgery. As of September 30, 2022, the Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot has completed 300 robotic-assisted clinical verification surgeries in 22 hospitals spanning 13 provinces across China, including many difficult robotic-assisted surgical procedures. It also the one with multiple “Firsts” as a Chinese-developed surgical robot, marking the increasing maturity of the four-arm Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot in clinical application and showing its high stability and performance advantages, which can fully meet the clinical requirements of surgical robots and has the technical strength to complete complex operations in narrow anatomical space, thereby establishing itself as a powerful tool in the hands of clinical experts and bringing high-end and affordable medical service experience and intelligent surgical solutions to benefit more patients.