United Imaging Announces Multi-Year Research Collaboration With Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will use the uMR 570, enhanced with artificial intelligence, to advance the field of cardiovascular MR

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United Imaging Healthcare Co., Ltd.

Sep 17, 2019, 08:00 ET

HOUSTON, Sept. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- United Imaging, a global leader in advanced medical imaging and radiotherapy equipment, today announced a multi-year strategic research relationship with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. One of the top medical schools in the nation, Washington University will work with United Imaging in multiple phases over four to five years and leverage its uMR 570 system to advance research in cardiovascular MR, with the goal of improving patient outcomes.

"Our agreement with Washington University's medical school will allow us to further revolutionize cardiovascular technology," said Lingzhi Lance Hu, Ph.D., Director of Global Scientific Collaboration, United Imaging. "We can't emphasize enough the importance of academic collaborators like Washington University who share our vision of focusing research efforts on clinical topics relevant to a broad population."

As part of the collaboration, the Washington University researchers will evaluate whether cardiac MR can detect pathological changes in heart tissue before heart function is compromised, which would give doctors a chance to intervene before a patient's health is severely affected.

"For example, some chemotherapy drugs can cause heart damage, but such problems typically aren't detected until patients develop symptoms," said cardiologist Gregory M. Lanza, M.D., Ph.D., FACC, distinguished professor of medicine, biomedical engineering, and biology and biomedical sciences at Washington University School of Medicine. "We want to learn whether non-invasive cardiac MR can identify changes in heart tissue that would predict serious heart problems. Such a technology would provide highly detailed information about the heart to physicians and opportunities to modify treatment to improve health outcomes, which is the ultimate goal."

"United Imaging's imaging technology platform and commitment to R&D is critical to the collaboration," added Jie Zheng, Ph.D., associate professor of radiology and biomedical engineering at Washington University School of Medicine. "With the enhancement of artificial intelligence, our aim is to apply fast cardiovascular MR imaging to patients with potentially severe heart problems, enabling a higher degree of precision that could influence treatment options."

"As an important tool for clinical and scientific research, uMR has an open hardware platform, sequence platform, and image reconstruction platform, which all provide a foundation for collaboration," commented Dr. Steve Tan, Co-CEO, Imaging Diagnostic & Treatment Group, United Imaging. "We believe that our combined efforts with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will have a significant impact on the use of MR in cardiac research."

ABOUT UNITED IMAGING

United Imaging Healthcare Technology Group Co., Ltd. develops and produces a full portfolio of advanced medical imaging and radiotherapy equipment and offers medical IT and intelligent solutions. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Shanghai, the company has subsidiaries and R&D centers across China, US, and other parts of the world. UIH's vision is to lead healthcare innovation and contribute to equal access to healthcare for all people worldwide.

To learn more, visit united-imaging.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @UnitedImagingHC.

SOURCE United Imaging Healthcare Co., Ltd.