China Starts National Medical Image Database to Promote Smart Healthcare
Qian Tongxin
DATE:  Sep 21 2020
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
China Starts National Medical Image Database to Promote Smart Healthcare China Starts National Medical Image Database to Promote Smart Healthcare

(Yicai Global) Sept. 21 -- China has started to compile its first national radiological image database to facilitate the sharing of patient information and to set industry standards in order to promote smart medical care.

The medical image database project, which has been approved by the National Health Commission, got underway at the Second Congress of China Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging held in Shanghai on Sept. 19.

The industry has reached a consensus that data sharing is the future direction of the development of the medical industry despite the challenges, Zhu Tongyu, deputy director of the Development Center of Shanghai Shenkang Hospital, told Yicai Global.

Between 350 and 400 hospitals will take part in the project, which will be built by the Chinese Society of Radiology.

"Hospitals will play a major role in forming the database because most of the data comes from hospitals," Liu Shiyuan, director of the Department of Imaging and Nuclear Medicine of Shanghai Changzheng Hospital and soon-to-be chairman of the Radiology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, told Yicai Global.

"The standardized use and collection of data is most important, followed by the need to regulate how the data leaves the hospital and how to ensure the security of this data," said Li Ming, deputy director of the Department of Radiology and deputy head of the AI group at the East China Hospital affiliated to Fudan University.

Each of these steps requires effective government supervision, he added.

Patients' private data can be transformed into mobile shared public data after desensitization, which will break the barriers of hospital boundaries to data flow, said Zhu Tongyu, deputy director of the Development Center of Shanghai Shenkang Hospital.

"On this database, a platform for AI software testing and training will be built. It’s an incredibly good start," Li added.

"The standardization of scan data from patients can guide clinics and help primary medical institutions and patients save a lot of time," said Zhang Yihao, president and chief executive of US healthcare firm GE Healthcare's China division.

Smart medical care will be more than just a matter for hospitals. The Chinese Medical Association welcomes firms to join in the construction of the radiological image database, Liu added.

Foreign medical imaging giants including the GE Healthcare, Germany's Siemens Healthineers and the Netherlands' Philips, as well as China's United Imaging Healthcare, are also actively developing AI digital medical platforms.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor

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Keywords:   National Database,Radioactive Imagine,AI Diagnosis,AI Treatment