(Yicai) Aug. 25 -- Siemens Healthineers’ Chinese research, development, and production base has launched its new magnetic resonance imaging platform, marking a significant milestone for the German healthcare equipment giant’s open innovation strategy in China.

The new platform, released by Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance on Aug. 22, integrates cutting-edge MRI application technologies, a research sequence library, and a comprehensive software development environment, which enable seamless integration of third-party artificial intelligence algorithms.

It offers five core value functions: incubation of innovative technologies, joint creation through industry-academia-research-clinical collaboration, clinical research services, technical training for clinical development, and services for industry partners.

The first institutions interested in collaborating with Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance on the platforms include Peking University Shenzhen Hospital and Southern University of Science and Technology.

The platform will focus on advancing frontier technologies in MRI and clinical treatment, accelerating innovation in high-end medical equipment, facilitating the transformation of medical engineering research, driving intelligent development, and establishing a collaborative innovation ecosystem across industry, academia, research, and medicine.

The next step of innovation in China cannot follow a closed-door approach, Ma Tianshi, general manager at Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance, told Yicai. Instead, it must be open, which requires a strong focus on fostering a robust R&D ecosystem, he explained.

Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance was established in Shenzhen in 2002 as Siemens Healthineers’ first R&D and production hub in China. On Aug. 22, it also announced it had delivered its 10,000th medical device.

In recent years, Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance has steadily increased its investment in China, accelerating the optimization of its supply chain layout. In January, it broke ground at its new high-end medical equipment R&D and manufacturing base in Shenzhen, with a total investment of over CNY1 billion (USD140 million), which is expected to be completed and put into operation by 2027.

Editor: Futura Costaglione