This month experts from China visited UConn Health seeking opportunities to collaborate on perinatal research with the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and for the continuing education of physicians in China.
The Chinese delegation met with UConn Health’s leadership team and toured the campus. The visitors included: Shan Li Cheng, general manager of Ultrasound BU for Neusoft Medical Systems; and Professor Yu Xing, vice president of the Ultrasound Systems Team for China’s Medical Device Committee.
The visit was organized by Dr. Guoyang Luo of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology who joined UConn Health this fall as associated professor and director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
“The goal of the international visit from China was to identify new collaborations, support for innovative research, and ways to partner for continuing medical education,” said Luo.
“Clinical research is a critical component to advancing health care here in the U.S. and in China,” said Bruce T. Liang, dean of UConn School of Medicine. “Through international team science we can accomplish even more.”
“It was a fantastic experience meeting the talented visitors from China interested in learning more about the exciting initiatives here at UConn Health,” said Anne Diamond, CEO, UConn John Dempsey Hospital.
“We look forward to finding new and innovative ways to help each other’s countries advance patient care and learning to improve future medicine,” said Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, CEO and executive vice president, UConn Health.
The first collaboration to be explored by UConn Health and China is the promising research of Dr. Wenling Song, associate professor of prenatal diagnosis from Jilin University in China and a visiting scholar at UConn Health.
She has developed a new software program used with standard pregnancy ultrasound that may be a game changer for the field of maternal-fetal medicine, and especially high-risk pregnancies.
Song’s software can measure the hemodynamics of a fetus in the womb. This measurement can allow doctors to assess a fetus’ well-being and to potentially pinpoint the best time to deliver the baby safely. Song’s technology is already patented in China and she is planning for more clinical research to further validate her software program over the next two years at UConn Health.
In China there are nearly 17 million babies born each year and close to 4 million in the U.S.
Song reports she has spent eight-years studying and testing the technology in China, which showed significant benefits in managing high-risk pregnancies. “In my former hospital in China there are many high-risk pregnancies,” said Song. “This technology helped doctors to decide when to deliver the high-risk babies. Our technology has saved a lot of babies’ lives at our institution.”
“It is very important to have good collaborations, and transfer good technology from industry to clinical care. The technology, if proven to be successful in clinical research, can be used in managing any high-risk pregnant woman in the world,” Cheng said. “We look forward to working together on this maternal-fetal medicine technology with UConn Health, and exploring new opportunities for future collaborations.”
“This is my first visit to UConn Health and I am very impressed with the institution as a very serious place with strong leaders and the very important combination of clinical care, research, and medical education,” said Prof. Yu, leading expert for decades in ultrasound technology in China who also serves as a member of the National Technology Department in China and the Chinese Association of Medical Equipment.
Luo said: “We have a strong mission for continuing medical education between UConn Health and China to help Chinese physicians also offer world-class standard of care in perinatal medicine and beyond. Prof. Yu has the same strong mission to promote this in China.”
“The ‘Neusoft’ company name stands for ‘Northeast University’ which is situated in the Northeast region of our country,” said Cheng. “So we are extra excited to be collaborating with an institution in the Northeast of the United States.”
Neusoft Medical Systems, a leading manufacturer of medical equipment and service from China, is a subsidiary of Neusoft Corporation. It provides a wide portfolio of medical equipment including CT, MRI, X-ray, Ultrasound, PET/CT, Linear Accelerator, and IVD (In Vitro Diagnostic products).
