Chapter 209 AI Intelligent Diagnosis Function!

Color Doppler ultrasound machines can be divided according to application classification: abdominal probes, vaginal ultrasound probes, superficial probes, cardiac probes and volume probes for four-dimensional color Doppler ultrasound.

If careful patients go to the hospital for a color ultrasound examination, they will find that the color ultrasound doctor will select unused probes on the color ultrasound machine according to the different parts of the examination.

For example, abdominal probes are used to examine the liver, gallbladder, spleen, stomach, kidneys, and prostate.

A transvaginal ultrasound probe is used to examine gynecological diseases and endometrial polyps.

Superficial probes are used in relatively shallow areas such as orthopedics and thyroid.

certainly,

Although each probe has a different purpose, its working principle is the same. It emits ultrasonic waves into human tissue through the "piezoelectric crystal" on the probe, then receives the reflected signal and finally forms an image through "signal processing".

At present, the world's top "single crystal probes" all come from companies in the United States, Germany and Neon, among which the American "GE (General Electric)" and the German "Siemens" are the best.

but.

Both "GE" and "Siemens" have their own "color ultrasound machine" business, and naturally they will not sell their own "single crystal probes" to external parties.

so,

Domestic manufacturers either purchase "single crystal probes" from other brands on the market, but with inferior performance and parameters, or develop their own probes.

As a result, the performance of the probe is not as good as others, and the imaging effect of domestic color ultrasound machines naturally forms a certain gap with foreign first-line brands.

After listening to this, Mo Ran also agreed with Zhou Hai's idea.

As the most important equipment on the color Doppler ultrasound machine, he naturally has to master the core technology himself. Countless experiences and lessons have told him that without his own core technology on key equipment, the product will never be competitive!

"We can really start setting up a research and development team for this matter. Since we have decided to enter the 'color ultrasound machine industry', we should also find ways to catch up with the core equipment."

"You are relatively familiar with this area. How difficult is it to develop it?"

Zhou Hai's face was filled with joy. He didn't expect Mo Ran to agree so quickly and hurriedly replied:

"The development of a 'single crystal probe' is difficult."

"The 'single crystal probe' relies on the 'piezoelectric crystal' on the probe to release electrical signals, and the 'piezoelectric crystal' will be evenly cut into small parts. Each part can independently transmit and receive ultrasonic waves. This small Some are called array elements, and the more array elements there are, the more signals are received, the better the image quality, and the more diagnostic information provided to doctors."

“In addition to this, the ‘single crystal probe’ must also have ‘sound-absorbing material’, whose main function is to absorb additional interference signal waves caused by multiple reflections of the ‘piezoelectric crystal’, thereby improving resolution.”

"It sounds more professional, but in summary it's mainly a matter of materials."

"Currently, the best-performing and most suitable single-crystal probe 'piezoelectric crystal' in the world is 'piezoelectric ceramic composite material'. As long as we can develop high-performance and stable 'piezoelectric ceramic composite material', we will It should be able to catch up with the international first-line level very soon.”

Piezoelectric ceramics conforming materials?

Mo Ran silently remembered this word in his heart.

China has always lagged far behind foreign countries in the field of top materials, but this is not a big problem for him.

If that doesn't work, you can check in the system mall to see if there is any production technology for "piezoelectric ceramic composite materials".

Mo Ran was thinking, and at this moment, Zhou Hai continued:

"However, the development of 'piezoelectric ceramic materials' will definitely not be fruitful in a short period of time, so our first 'color ultrasound machine' will definitely have to purchase probes from suppliers and use traditional solutions."

"When our 'single crystal probe' has research results in the future, it will not be too late to replace it with our probe."

"Um."

Mo Ran nodded. He agreed with Zhou Hai. The most important thing at the moment was to launch the first "color ultrasound machine" and get the "color ultrasound machine business department" up and running.

After a moment, he asked:

"Has our supplier been finalized? Are there any problems with the plan?"

“Once it’s confirmed, it’s relatively smooth.”

Zhou Hai replied:

"The probe purchased is the '2T single crystal probe' from the American Rosenberg Company. Although there is a gap compared with probes from top manufacturers such as 'GE', 'Siemens' and 'Philips', it is what we can buy. The best plan.”

"As for 'signal processing technology' and 'image algorithm reconstruction technology', we have also negotiated cooperation with the Japanese 'Fuji Electronics Co., Ltd.' and purchased their solutions; in terms of 'analog signal imaging technology', the technology of Japanese companies is still relatively reliable. of."

Having said this, Zhou Hai raised his head and glanced at Mo Ran, then paused and changed the subject.

"but……"

"Although the current solution of the Japanese 'Fuji Electronics' is not bad, if possible, I still hope that the company can invest some R&D funds in it and reserve some of our own 'signal processing technology' and 'image algorithm reconstruction technology'. After all, This can also be regarded as the core technology of the 'color ultrasound machine' business."

"And as you know, the core of 'signal processing technology' is to execute the 'image algorithm' through the chip, and finally turn the signal into an image and display it on the display."

"We at 'Yellow River Storage' already have a chip business. If we can develop an 'image processing chip' specifically for our 'color ultrasound machine' in the future, coupled with our own developed 'image processing algorithm', the image effects may be better." better."

“And this is an advantage that other manufacturers don’t have!”

Um?

"Yellow River Storage" specializes in developing image processing chips for "color ultrasound machines"?

Mo Ran was slightly startled. He had not thought of these things before.

However, it does seem to work!

Not only chips, in fact the "Nietzsche TV Team" has already had a dedicated team studying "signal processing technology" a long time ago. If it doesn't work, there is still a system that can help.

Suddenly, Mo Ran's mind was racing, and he was suddenly reminded of the future business development ideas of "Color Doppler Ultrasound Machine".

His mood suddenly became good, he looked at Zhou Hai and said:

"You are right, we can indeed integrate internal resources."

"Now that we've talked about it today, do you have any other suggestions? It would be an eye-opener for me to tell them all at once."

Zhou Hai was a little flattered, but he quickly adjusted and said:

"Mr. Mo, this can't be said to be an eye-opener for me. It's just that I have been in the medical device industry for a long time and have a better understanding of the entire industry."

"If you have any other suggestions..."

"Now, top color ultrasound companies like 'GE (General Electric)', 'Philips', and 'Siemens' are developing towards '5G intelligent color ultrasound machines' and 'AI intelligent diagnostic color ultrasound machines'. I also think that 'color ultrasound intelligentization' It will be the future direction of the industry.

From a long-term perspective, we should also plan in this direction. "

5G?

2018 is a hot year for 5G. Mo Ran has heard some reports on the Internet and TV about "5G remote collaborative surgery" and "5G remote consultation".

He suddenly felt a little interested, nodded and said:

"You continue to talk."

"Um!"

Zhou Hai said seriously:

"Mr. Mo, actually, I value 'AI intelligent diagnosis' more than 5G intelligence."

“5G is said to allow higher-level imaging doctors to see patients’ films through real-time high-speed network transmission, but have you ever thought about how low-level hospitals, such as rural hospitals, can find so many excellent doctors to cooperate with? remote diagnosis?"

"It's hard for a really good imaging doctor to get an account in this hospital, and he can't even look at it. How much energy does he have to watch films from other grassroots hospitals?"

"Of course, I'm not saying that 5G remote collaborative medical care is not good, but the coverage in actual applications is too narrow, and few ordinary patients can enjoy such benefits."

"So, I still pay more attention to the future prospects of the 'AI intelligent diagnostic color ultrasound machine'. Think about it, if we can 'train' a top-level 'AI diagnostic assistant' on the color ultrasound machine in the future, how many 5Gs will it outperform?" Telemedicine…”

AI intelligent diagnosis...

Mo Ran frowned slightly, already realizing what Zhou Hai wanted to say.

Zhou Hai continued:

“AI has an absolute sensitivity higher than humans in pattern image recognition, and it will be easier to detect some subtle lesions on imaging than humans;

Especially for imaging doctors who lack a lot of experience in grassroots hospitals and rural hospitals, such tiny lesions are often easily overlooked. "

"Once we develop an excellent 'AI intelligent diagnostic color ultrasound machine', we can use AI artificial intelligence to perform AI diagnosis on imaging, thus giving prompts to imaging doctors so that they can notice some easily overlooked lesions, thus maximizing the This guarantees that no diagnosis or diagnosis will be missed.”

“This is why I value the ‘AI intelligent diagnostic color ultrasound machine’.”

Speaking of this, Zhou Hai's tone suddenly softened.

"Mr. Mo, you may not know that in fact, our missed diagnosis rate on B-ultrasound and color ultrasound is about 15% every year. If we can increase the missed diagnosis rate, countless patients can detect their conditions in advance and receive better treatment."

“I think this is the most meaningful thing for us ‘medical device people’.”

Mo Ran was silent.

He didn't have any feelings about "medical device people", but from a business perspective, he did immediately see huge business opportunities...

Or maybe it’s a selling point.

really.

For color Doppler ultrasound machines, is the probe important?

important.

Is "signal processing technology" important?

Also important.

but!

If it is possible to develop an excellent "AI intelligent diagnostic assistant" on the "color ultrasound machine" as Zhou Hai described, it will undoubtedly be a more important thing!

To know,

For the "Tertiary A hospitals" in the city, they may not care much about whether they have so-called "AI diagnostic assistants". After all, they have the best medical equipment and the best imaging doctors in the city!

but.

For non-top medical institutions such as township hospitals, community hospitals, and county hospitals, they do not have such good medical equipment, nor do they have so many experienced doctors. Once the "AI intelligent diagnostic assistant" technology matures, what will happen to them? It definitely has a strong appeal.

Mo Ran suddenly felt that there were some problems with his previous market strategy. His long-term goal was to hope that Nietzsche's "color ultrasound machine" could enter the "Top 3A hospitals", but now it seems that after the "AI intelligent diagnostic assistant" is truly developed, it is very likely that Great breakthroughs have been made in township hospitals and community hospitals.

Is it difficult to develop an "AI intelligent diagnostic assistant"?

Mo Ran's mind is racing rapidly,

It is difficult for other companies, definitely difficult, as difficult as reaching the sky.

For example, when Nietzsche entered the "laptop" industry a few months ago, he found that it was just an "AI voice assistant" on a laptop.

Even the world's top 500 companies such as "Lenovo" and "Dell" have a difficult time because they cannot set up an "AI R&D team" specifically for a "voice assistant" and spend a lot of money to train their own AI models. , to optimize the algorithm.

same.

In the "color ultrasound machine" industry, is "GE (General Group)" strong?

powerful!

Is Siemens strong?

powerful!

But in the "artificial intelligence field" and in the development of "AI intelligent diagnostic assistant" functions, will it be better than Nietzsche?

uncertain!

No,

To be precise, it is impossible to be better than Nietzsche!

joke,

Are traditional equipment manufacturers and "Internet technology" companies competing for "AI image recognition technology"?

As his thoughts flowed, at this moment, Mo Ran suddenly realized the powerful advantages of Nietzsche, and suddenly understood why companies like Huaji and Xiaomi were invincible in almost any field in the previous world.

Because in terms of accumulation of various intelligent technologies, traditional manufacturers are no match at all!

Thinking of this, Mo Ran suddenly raised his head.

If previously he only positioned the "CR-1 smart color ultrasound machine" as a domestically produced color ultrasound machine with good quality, then he plans to add a new function on this basis - "AI intelligent diagnostic assistant".

That's right,

He decided to make magical changes based on the original.

Whether it’s a “single crystal probe” or an “image processing chip,” Nietzsche is unlikely to come up with better hardware than what he has now in a short period of time.

But the "AI Intelligent Diagnostic Assistant" can!

There are still about two months left before the official launch planned at the "Modu International Medical Equipment Exhibition". Mo Ran is confident that the initial version of the "AI Intelligent Diagnostic Assistant" function can be completed and launched within two months.

"Ok, deal!"

Mo Ran made up his mind, but he was not in a hurry to express his position.

After the two chatted for another ten minutes, he returned to the office and called Jiang Lan and Hao Technology. He planned to recruit "AI team members" from the "TV Business Department" and "Mobile Phone Business Department" to form an "AI Intelligent R&D Team." , specializing in the development of "AI intelligent diagnostic assistant".

Jiang Lan and Hao Jiji naturally did not dare to say anything. With Mo Ran's strong intervention, the "AI Intelligent Diagnostic Assistant" research and development team was quickly established and immediately started "AI model training"!

for the rest of the time,

Mo Ran spent another 500,000 points from the system to purchase what Zhou Hai called "piezoelectric ceramic composite material" production technology, and then asked Wang Fugui to contact domestic companies to see if there were any problems with the production process and whether it could be produced.

After handling these matters, Mo Ran relaxed physically and mentally, and paid special attention to the matter about 64-layer "3D-NAND" at "Yellow River Storage".

After the 64-layer "3D-NAND" flash memory particles were exposed, Mo Ran took a look at the stock prices of Samsung and Micron. Samsung's stock price plummeted 7% that day, and Micron, SanDisk and others fell by 10%.

In the following days, several companies continued to fall. Obviously, the capital market was not optimistic about the future of "Yellow River Memory" after it launched 64-layer "3D-NAND" particles.

Mo Ran looked at the falling stocks and knew that "Blackstone Capital" must have made a lot of money this time, but he was not envious. The only thing that worried him was...

This time, companies such as Samsung and Micron were hit hard in the stock market, but they did not seem to have made any changes in the domestic market.

Except for "Samsung" which launched 64-layer "3D-NAND" flash memory particles, other companies have made no other moves. The price of 128GB of flash memory particles still remains at a low level of 110 yuan, and there is no attempt to increase the capital market through price increases. Confidence.

In fact, this is not what Mo Ran wants to see.

Although "Yellow River Storage" received 5 billion investment funds from the "Chip Fund", which relieved the temporary financial pressure, this money will have to be repaid in two years.

In order to develop "3D-NAND" flash memory particles, the salary of the leader Zheng Qian alone reached 100 million in three years, and other additional R&D funds, consumables, etc. were spent countless amounts.

Now, the top technology can only obtain less than 15% of the profit, and if you want to continue to maintain your advantage, you must continue to invest in more advanced processes such as 64-layer, 128-layer, 148-layer, and 200-layer.

Without high profits, it is obviously impossible to support continued R&D investment.

Mo Ran began to worry about the continued low prices of "flash memory particles", but it was not without good news.

The "3D-NAND" flash memory particles produced by "Yellow River Storage" have begun to be used in various models of Nietzsche's mobile phones, and have successfully passed the certification of "Huaji". They will also appear in Huaji's laptops and mobile phones.

Although the profit is not high, the production capacity is at least fully booked.

And just when Mo Ran took some time to deal with Nietzsche and other business of "Yellow River Storage", on September 5, half a month after talking to Zhou Hai, an unexpected news came.

Nietzsche's first "CR-1 full-function color ultrasound machine" engineering prototype was successfully produced, and its preliminary testing performance met the standard.

On the afternoon of September 5, Mo Ran appeared at the "Wanglong Electrical Appliance Factory".

"Lao Li, Zhou Hai, why is the production progress so fast?"

Mo Ran was a little surprised when he looked at the "CR-1 intelligent color ultrasound machine" in front of him.

In order to ensure quality, Mo Ran did not outsource the production business. Instead, he asked Lao Li Wanglong to set up a production team specifically responsible for the production of "color ultrasound machines."

"Thanks to the production drawings you provided, we purchased the production equipment. After opening the mold, we encountered few modifications and successfully completed the production and assembly of the prototype."

As he spoke, Li Wanglong looked at the "CR-1 intelligent color ultrasound machine" in front of him and smiled.

"The internal structure of this thing is simple, which is much easier than a mobile phone with more than 10,000 parts."

"So even if we had no production experience before, we transferred a few production experts and quickly completed the production tasks."

Mo Ran could hear the pride in Lao Li's words.

really,

For a OEM manufacturer like Wanglong Electrical Appliance Factory, which has long been serving precision products, a color Doppler ultrasound machine is really a piece of cake.

Not only Mo Ran, but also Zhou Hai's eyes flashed with surprise and excitement.

He really didn't expect that "Wanglong Electrical Appliance Factory" was so efficient and could complete the hardware procurement and engineering prototype production he requested in just half a month.

He couldn't hide his excitement in his eyes. He looked at the color Doppler ultrasound machine, then at Mo Ran, and said:

"Mr. Mo, would you like to give your color Doppler ultrasound machine a name first?

…

PS: Let’s set the stage, it will be fun to write tomorrow!

I originally planned to make up for it today, this one is 5.2K, which is a bit more than the previous 4K. Although I haven’t made up for yesterday’s, it is still more than 1K words more. I will continue to write more tomorrow and strive to make it 8K!