Medical equipment under spotlight at CIFTIS

The recently concluded 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services, or CIFTIS, offered great new opportunities for China's high-end medical device makers, boosting the sector's development, industry experts said.

At a booth during the fair, a pair of curious instruments shaped like syringes attracted many visitors. The instruments can accurately collect tiny amounts of liquid from the eye, and penetrate the sclera to a depth of only about 1 millimeter for precise injection into a specific area of the choroid－the layer between the retina and sclera.

The medical device is the latest achievement of Beijing-based medical technology company Sightnovo in cooperation with Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH). It allows for micronprecise positioning during surgeries in the suprachoroidal space, providing a safer option for precise drug delivery and minimally invasive interventional therapy. "With these devices, we can derive a whole new diagnosis and treatment system for eye diseases," said Xia Chaoran, founder of Sightnovo.

Suprachoroidal space injection precisely delivers drugs to specific layers of the eye, and avoids side effects caused by normal drug delivery methods. But the method is still underused, as the thickness of the sclera is only around 1 mm, and accurately piercing through the thin layer of dense tissue without damaging the choroid and retina layers underneath, which are only a few tenths of 1 mm thick, is a long-standing problem. The medical devices presented at the fair are seen as key to removing the industry bottleneck.

"CIFTIS creates new business opportunities for global trade in services, and offers a platform for the accomplishment of scientific and technological achievements. The fair deepens our communication with industry peers, and widens possibilities of product integration and innovation," Xia said.

"It provides a deeper understanding of the Chinese healthcare industry's innovation demands, and has anchored the high-quality development of the domestic medical system through scientific and technological innovation," he added.