Making its debut at the Guangdong Provincial Society of Medical Equipment’s 2025 Academic Annual Conference, ZhiShu Technology engaged in high-level dialogues with industry associations and top-tier Grade‑III hospitals.

Over the past year or two, driven by policy support, technological innovation, and growing market demand, China’s medical device industry has demonstrated robust overall growth, with a sharp increase in the number of products available. In particular, this year has seen vigorous progress in regional centralized procurement of domestically produced medical imaging equipment, further accelerating the localization of imaging systems in the first and second quarters. At the heart of this domestic substitution lies clinical acceptance within hospitals. The “Seminar on Integrated Innovation in Domestic Medical CT X‑ray Tube Technology” brought together Director Yang Xufeng from the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Director Lin Zhichao from the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Director Hu Huijun from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, and Director Ye Jianjun from the Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital of Southern Medical University. During the seminar, these experts shared their institutions’ perspectives on the localization and replacement of CT X‑ray tubes.

- Service life: When assessing whether a CT tube is of original or domestic origin, hospitals place greater emphasis on verifiable lifetime data. At present, this is limited to the manufacturer‑provided specification linking the number of scans to the hospital’s patient volume; additional considerations include various performance metrics and overall system compatibility.

- Original factory concept: The term “original manufacturer” is well‑known in the medical‑equipment sector; however, whether an equipment’s original manufacturer is a foreign import or a Sino‑foreign joint venture warrants closer examination—avoid blindly chasing the “original‑manufacturer” label. — Breaking the foreign‑technology monopoly: After a hospital completes the tender process, it must pay at least 70% of the installation fee for the original‑manufacturer CT tube in advance before the vendor can proceed with on‑site installation, creating an imbalance between the parties and clearly reinforcing a monopolistic dynamic.

- High cost: Original‑equipment manufacturer pricing is relatively high, and maintenance contracts are often adopted passively, leading to offerings such as “full coverage” and “extended warranties of 3–5 years.” From a hospital’s cost‑saving perspective, the longer the warranty, the better—because any downtime results in financial losses. Localized repair services are therefore particularly critical.

- X-ray tube replacement guarantee: When replacing and servicing X-ray tubes, the hospital places greater emphasis on the engineers’ repair expertise and the quality assurance of the tubes, and holds high expectations for domestically produced CT tubes.

“Reliability is the bottom line, and value for money is paramount.” — A consensus reached by multiple clinical directors.

Compliance Breakthrough: Fortifying the Lifeline of Domestic Substitution
Market competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and there are even unethical practices—such as substituting inferior products for superior ones and falsely inflating specifications—that undermine the reputation of domestic alternatives. As the localization of medical equipment and core components like X-ray tubes accelerates, industry associations, hospitals, and Zhishu have jointly called for:

- Establish a dual-track certification system
Implement a dual-endorsement mechanism comprising “whole-device manufacturer compatibility certification” and “third-party clinical efficacy evaluation.”

- Establish judicial and administrative mechanisms to safeguard the availability of alternative medical devices.
Clarify the judicial protection of the right to use domestically produced medical devices; improve the mechanism for handling complaints and reports.

- Call on government authorities to strengthen market regulation and uphold a fair competitive environment.
Preventing unreasonable measures from blocking the entry of domestically produced X-ray tubes into the market; antitrust law and the proper application of intellectual property rights.

Addressing the industry’s key pain points, Hu YinFu, General Manager of Zhisu Technology, highlighted the robust technical capabilities of domestically produced CT X-ray tubes during the seminar. He then provided an in-depth overview of the performance of Zhisu’s self-developed 7M high‑thermal‑capacity CT tube, drawing widespread attention. “Zhisu has successfully overcome numerous critical R&D challenges, including advanced design and simulation technologies, femtosecond laser machining for bearings, ultra‑hard wear‑resistant coating technology, and liquid‑metal spill‑prevention technology,” Hu YinFu revealed.

- The liquid-metal bearing CT tube developed by ZhiShu has already exceeded 1.5 million seconds of continuous exposure in commercial applications.

- The 7MHU liquid-metal‑bearing CT tube has been successfully installed in dozens of compliant systems, with zero quality‑related returns to date.

- All products in the ZhiShu series have obtained registration certificates and complete‑system compatibility test reports, ensuring better fulfillment of customer needs.