Efficiency increased by more than 50 times! AI Wei Technology ends the history of manual inspection and realizes the automation of medical microscope inspection

Publication Time:

2022-11-29 00:00

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Aiwei Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Aiwei Technology"), located in Hunan Xiangjiang New Area, was established in 2000. It pioneered the application of "artificial intelligence machine vision technology" to medical microscopy testing internationally, replacing manual operation with intelligent control technology, human eyes with machine vision technology, and human brain with image recognition technology based on deep neural networks. This has automated medical microscopy testing, ending the history of complete reliance on manual operation for microscopy testing. As of June 2022, Aiwei Technology has cumulatively applied for 314 domestic and international patents and obtained 215 patents. Its product sales network covers 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government in China, as well as more than 40 countries and regions worldwide.

"Aiwei focuses solely on automating microscopy testing," "making modern medical services accessible to all," and "making self-health checks as routine as brushing teeth"—these were the three strategic visions Aiwei Technology set forth upon its founding. For over two decades, Aiwei Technology has relentlessly pursued innovation, steadily transforming its ambitious vision into reality.
Two Lenses Working Together to Lock Onto the Target

Fully Automated Microscopy Testing
With its unique single-tube transport design, two dry chemistry analyzers and four microscopy analyzers work simultaneously, shortening specimen turnaround time and significantly improving testing efficiency. At Aiwei Technology's production workshop, the reporter saw this "hardcore" new product—the AVE-7 modular urine analysis production line.
Ten test tubes containing samples underwent dry chemistry testing and microscopy testing in sequence. The two microscopic lenses of the microscope analyzer continuously scanned and identified, while data was transmitted to a nearby computer in real-time.
“These two lenses are low-power and high-power lenses. The low-power lens performs comprehensive scanning and identification, while the high-power lens magnifies and identifies the ‘targets’ found during scanning. The two lenses work together, not only automatically collecting images under the microscope, but also automatically identifying and counting red blood cells and white blood cells,” explained Zhou Fengliang, Vice General Manager of Aiwei Technology. “The 2+4 combination can achieve a speed of 540 tests per hour. The acquired images are automatically transmitted to a computer, where they can be viewed anytime. This is helpful for traceability and facilitates remote consultations by experts.”}, {
Microscopy testing is one of the three routine clinical tests, but for a long time it has relied on manual operation. An experienced physician could only test a maximum of 10 samples per hour. This method is not only cumbersome and inefficient, prone to contamination, but also results rely on experience, leading to difficulties in traceability and standardization.
To address this pain point, Aiwei Technology pioneered the application of "artificial intelligence" and "machine vision" technologies to urine formed element testing internationally. It uses an intelligent control system to replace manual operation, machine vision technology to replace the human eye, and artificial intelligence image recognition technology to replace the human brain, simulating the classic manual microscopy testing process to achieve full automation from sample submission, analysis to report output.
To date, Aiwei Technology's core patents have been successfully applied to the company's related products, such as urine formed element analyzers, fully automatic urine dry chemistry analyzers, fully automatic stool analyzers, fully automatic reproductive tract secretion analyzers, fully automatic blood cell morphology analyzers, and fully automatic body fluid analyzers, among other high-performance innovative medical devices. A cumulative total of more than 14,000 units have been installed in hospitals nationwide, covering more than 5,000 graded hospital users.

Leading Industry Innovation
Future: Medical Checkups from Home
Now that automated microscopy technology has become the industry mainstream, Aiwei Technology has set its sights on its other two visions—"making modern medical services accessible to all" and "making self-health checks as routine as brushing teeth."
“Currently, medical checkups require appointments, queuing, gatherings, and waiting. Some people even have to travel back and forth. Early screening and diagnosis delays can lead to missed opportunities for optimal treatment and cure. However, in the near future, people will be able to conduct medical checkups at home,” Lin Changqing, Vice General Manager of Aiwei Technology, described a scenario of "home-use medical testing"—toilets will automatically collect urine and stool samples and complete sample submission, while other tests will be as convenient and easy to operate as brushing teeth. All self-test results will be uploaded to a health management system, with "reminders" sent if any abnormalities are detected, ensuring early detection, diagnosis, and treatment.”}, {
“Based on our key core technologies in automated microscopy testing, we are innovating and expanding into multiple fields such as biochemistry, immunology, chemiluminescence, molecular diagnostics, and POCT. We are extending our services from large and medium-sized professional hospital testing markets to primary medical institutions, households, and civilian medical markets,” said Lin Changqing.
Aiwei Technology has over 130 technical personnel, including mechanical design and manufacturing teams, electronic technology R&D teams, software technology R&D teams, image recognition algorithm R&D teams, in-vitro diagnostic reagents and consumables R&D teams, and clinical medical testing technology R&D teams. They are dedicated to the R&D of new projects, technologies, and products in biochemistry, immunology, molecular diagnostics, POCT testing, and smart healthcare. Currently, more than 100 products are under development and have initiated medical device registration procedures, creating a rich product system covering the needs of four market segments: large and medium-sized hospitals, primary medical and healthcare institutions, community clinics and village clinics, and home-use medical testing.
Today, Aiwei Technology's investment in R&D for smart healthcare projects encompasses five major functions: "equipment smart interconnection platform," "medical consortium platform," "business logistics platform," "online consultation and communication services," and "health management services." This means that high-end medical resources will be deployed to serve the grassroots level in the future, forming an integrated medical and health service system combining hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, communities, and homes for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, care, and health preservation. This aims to achieve "minor illnesses not leaving the village, major illnesses not leaving the county," implementing primary care, two-way referral, separation of urgent and non-urgent cases, and vertical and horizontal linkage in medical stratification. This truly realizes the vision of "making modern medical services accessible to all."