China achieved a major turnaround in medical tourism by providing affordable high-precision magnetic resonance imaging scans to foreign visitors. This dramatic change stems directly from domestic breakthroughs in manufacturing the superconducting magnet, the core component of imaging systems. Previously, a long-standing Western monopoly forced Chinese hospitals to rely completely on extremely expensive imported scanning equipment. Academician Wang Qiuliang and his dedicated research team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully broke this bottleneck. They designed an innovative open system that balanced massive electromagnetic forces while utilizing far less liquid helium resources.
Consequently, domestic companies successfully replaced major foreign brands across the competitive Chinese healthcare market between 2015 and 2017. Local factories now mass-produce a full equipment lineup covering various field strengths for both domestic and international markets. Starting in 2018, China began exporting these advanced medical imaging systems to over ten countries worldwide successfully. Furthermore, the rapid rise of local technology forced international medical corporations to lower their equipment pricing significantly. The team also mastered ultra-high-field whole-body systems, which will soon assist doctors with early Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis.
To secure future supply chains, the researchers pioneered advanced liquid-helium-free technology to eliminate reliance on volatile international helium markets. These newly developed helium-free systems reduce annual maintenance costs drastically from millions of yuan to twenty thousand yuan. Currently, the innovative 1.5-tesla helium-free systems have already entered large-scale clinical application across numerous regional medical centers. Meanwhile, engineers successfully developed a 3-tesla helium-free prototype that is poised for immediate industrialization across the manufacturing sector. This achievement establishes China as the second global power to master this specific environmentally friendly technology.
Government officials recently integrated these advanced superconducting magnet projects into the official 15th Five-Year Plan for strategic development. Over the next decade, these helium-free medical devices will undergo systematic upgrades to serve grassroots healthcare centers. These highly mobile scanners can also support field military hospitals, emergency medical vehicles, and remote maritime vessels. Beyond healthcare, the strategic material will find extensive engineering applications across high-speed maglev transit and clean energy networks. Ultimately, these ongoing technological advancements ensure affordable, high-quality medical diagnostic services remain accessible to patients globally.
