On May 30, 2023, which was the seventh National Science and Technology Workers Day, the ceremony with the theme of " The Most Admirable scientists and technological workers " was held in Guangzhou, organized by the Guangzhou Association for Science and Technology, the Publicity Department of Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee and the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau. Professor Jin Yuan, Deputy Director of Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, was awarded the title of “The Most Admirable scientists and technological workers of Guangzhou in 2023”.
The award words to Professor Jin Yuan were “Striving to utilize the scientific research achievements to serve patients, closely meet patients’ needs, alleviate patients’ suffering and reduce medical costs.
Putting people's life, their physical and mental health in the first place is the mission of every doctor. At the storytelling session, Professor Jin Yuan, the "Messenger of Light", shared his story with his mentor, Professor Jiaqi Chen, which is a renowned Chinese ophthalmologist and a leading figure in corneal transplantation surgeries. During the years when he followed Prof. Chen, Prof. Chen has taught his students to practice medicine with integrity and all his skills in diagnosis and surgery. But Prof. Chen often sighed that the lack of ideal diagnostic equipment precluded earlier detection of lesion characteristics, and many corneal blindness patients had to wait in the dark due to the insufficiency of cornea donors.
How to crack the dilemma?
When Prof. Yuan served as a visiting scholar at Bascom Palmer Eye Hospital, one of the best ophthalmic centers in the U.S., he witnesses the intense medical-industrial integration, through which close collaboration between clinicians, research and technology teams led to develop novel equipment, materials and technologies with clinical applicability.
It is not easy for domestic doctors to follow the path of medical-industrial integration. First, they have to break through the limitations of their specialties and learn the knowledge and advances in science and technology related to their specialties. Second, they have to build up a medical-industrial team that is adept at innovation and collaboration.
In recent years, Prof. Yuan has led his team to complete the development of several original ophthalmic high-performance devices and intelligent analysis of images.
During more than 20 years of medical practice, he has completed nearly 5,000 difficult surgeries to help patients regain their sight. "Early detection and early diagnosis are the keys to the treatment of eye disease." Prof. Yuan introduced that diagnostic equipment plays a crucial role, but currently in the field of ophthalmology, 90% of the clinical high-tech diagnostic equipment is imported.
To solve this problem, at the end of 2016, with the support of Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Prof. Yuan established the Guangdong Provincial Ophthalmic Diagnosis and Treatment Innovation Engineering Technology Research Center. It has set the goal of medical-industrial integration and innovation, focusing on clinical needs, developing high-performance optical diagnostic equipment for ophthalmology and new diagnostic technologies based on AI and VR, promoting the clinical application of new biological corneas, and pushing ophthalmic treatment into the era of intelligent medicine and precision medicine.
Xiao Peng, a "post-90s" post-doc in France, is an interdisciplinary talent discovered by Prof.Yuan at an international academic conference. Because he likes the direction of medical-industrial integration and is optimistic about the new trend emerging in the domestic medical industry, he chose to return to China to join the team.
"Matching needs and optimizing solutions, from clinical practice to laboratory and back to clinical practice, our team members from different backgrounds have a lot of discussions and communications and continuously probe methods for the development of new technologies and new equipment for ophthalmic treatment." Xiao said.
After the establishment of the team, in just a few years, Prof. Yuan as the chief scientist has undertaken two National Key R&D plans, one key program of National Natural Science Foundation of China and one Guangdong key R&D plan. His team innovated first ophthalmic multimodal imaging diagnostic device, developed the leading FFOCT imaging technology, established the strategy of clinical applications of new biological cornea, developed a system for eye diseases diagnosis based on intelligent algorithm, and formulated the first VR visual health standard in China, which was awarded as an "excellent case of medical-industrial integration" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. A series of original achievements have been transformed into clinical practice, and his team, from following to overtaking and finally opening a new track, is very productive and innovative on the path of medical-industrial integration. Prof. Yuan introduced that, the center took 3 years to develop the ultra-high resolution OCT, whose design plan was eventually decided after 17 versions of modification and polishing, and tests of image detection are too many to count. Finally, its imaging accuracy could reach 3 microns, achieving a double accuracy compared with major equipment aboard. "We will also work on innovation and devote ourselves to the effective connection of the innovation chain, talent chain and industry chain." Prof. Yuan said.
Serving the vast number of eye diseases patients in China is the pursuit of all ophthalmologists of Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center. Focusing on the urgent needs and long-term demands of people's eye health, Prof. Yuan said that he is determined to take up the role of a national strategic scientific and technological force to dedicate to the cause of ophthalmology in China.
