In the past two years, “mobile medical care" has become the focus of countless entrepreneurs and investors, who have flocked to this new field. Kilo Liang is one of them in this entrepreneurial wave. After he graduated from Tongji Medical University and studied computer science in a German “Diplom” program in University of Munich, Germany, he worked at Mindray for since 2004 for years. In 2013, he and co-founder Dongdong Zheng gathered a group of doctors and engineers to establish Shenzhen Warp United Technology Co., Ltd, a company that is committed to the development and marketing of the next generation of medical devices.
“The core of our company lies in system integration, and our future strategic development is focusing on system-level R&D. For non-core technology, we will adopt the model of collaborative development with individuals or companies." Kilo introduced the features of Warp United as such. They have now completed the prototype development of a Medical Tricorder system with an integrated cloud service. He also said that the concept of Medical Tricorder actually comes from Star Trek, whose core idea is a non-invasive rapid diagnostic portable device.
Medical Tricorder is a tablet computer integrated with a variety of separate checking modules for the purpose of computing and communication. Now what have developed are the vital sign module and the ultrasound module.
Kilo believes that every doctor should have a Medical Tricorder because the device is equivalent to a basic tool that can be seen as an extension and evolution of the stethoscope. At the core of Medical Tricorder is a Tablet Computer, which receives information from the vital sign module and ultrasound module. The physiological data acquired by the vital sign module and the ultrasound module is obtained by specialized professional medical personnel using professional ultrasonic sensor modules. The physiological data collected will be sent back to the Tablet Computer via wireless communication, and then automatically recorded or uploaded to the cloud, forming a complete electronic medical record. The whole process completely eliminates the need for additional operation by medical personnel. This not only ensures the accuracy and authenticity of the data, but can also help reduce the workload of medical personnel.
Speaking of the difference between Medical Tricorder and ordinary medical instruments, Kilo Liang said that there are three main points: First, Medical Tricorder is designed in compliance with IEC60601-1-1 standard, with higher electrical security; Second, EMC is designed according to IEC60601-1-2 standard; What’s more, the outer material of the Tricorder must be a biocompatible, non-cytotoxic material and the entire housing can be sterilized.
Volans 3 multi-parameter vital sign module currently supports detection and acquisition of ECG, blood pressure, blood oxygen, temperature and other vital parameters. This module enables dual-channel ECG testing, single-channel temperature monitoring, gold-standard non-invasive blood pressure and oxygen monitoring. “The so-called ' gold standard ' refers to the most reliable, accurate and best diagnostic method for diagnosis as acknowledged by the current clinical community." Dongdong Zheng explained.
The current detecting head of the vital sign module is the same as the traditional medical testing equipment, only integrated and miniaturized in the subsequent processing circuits. But Luo Cheng, CTO of Warp United, maintains that in the future more integrated and miniaturized detecting heads will be developed and some processing circuits might even be integrated into the cable.
Urxa 3, a fully digital, compact ultrasound module with ADI 8-channel Micro-chip, equipped with transducer module and wireless transmission module, can achieve full digital signal processing. This pocket-sized ultrasound module is smaller than the size of human palm, but its performance is no less than that of the current mainstream hospital ultrasound equipment. In this regard, Kilo explained that in the traditional design, the ultrasound image quality depends on the number of array elements and channels in the hardware, thus in theory, the larger the number of array elements and channels, the better the image quality. But the new generation of products can synthesize aperture through software algorithms so that the image quality is no less than that of the existing mainstream devices.
Another highlight of the Urxa 3 full digital compact ultrasound module is the use of wireless transmission. This leads to greatly improved operability and reliability of equipment, because the cable is among the most easily damaged parts of ultrasound equipment.
Kilo said that in addition to providing multi-parameter vital sign and on-site ultrasound scan, Medical Tricorder also provides intelligent medical cloud service. He believes that the current electronic medical record system has major disadvantages because it is actually a document processing system where many steps need human intervention, so it is not electronic storage in the true sense. In addition to native storage of all medical data, the Medical Tricorder can also synchronize data to the bank-level security WarpCloud cloud server through the internet, achieving global real-time online consultation and data sharing. Patients can view their medical records anytime, and doctors, under the authorization of the patient, may access the patient's electronic medical record.
“The current main target group of Medical Tricorder is actually all doctors. We hope to bring greater convenience to doctors." Kilo summarized.
[English translation from Chinese report. Original page: http://m.eet-cn.com/ART_8800707418_480501_NT_97745039.HTM]