The West has had a monopoly on NMR for 40 years, so a lowest-end MRI device costs as much as 35 million.
Such a high price is not counted, if the helium used in the equipment is not left, it will take 600,000 to re-inflat.
Of course, the cost of 600,000 yuan is not counted, and the most annoying thing is that once the equipment fails, not only the maintenance cost, but also the labor cost of 230,000 yuan.
And the labor fee of 230,000 yuan needs to be paid regardless of the result of the repair, which means that even if the repair is not good, the money must be paid.
There is no way, who wants China not to do it? Not to mention 230,000 yuan, the sky-high asking price has to be given.
Therefore, during the long 40-year monopoly period, when people ask for a price, there is basically no room for counter-offer, so they have to give, otherwise it will be useless.
Now the MRI will also be manufactured in China, and the price will be reduced by 92%.
Speaking of which, many people will have a question, is the moisture so big?
Let's talk about NMR today.
Principles of NMR
It's not that complicated.
In the field of scientific research, there is a very peculiar phenomenon, if the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom is an even number, the magnetic moment will return to zero.
What is Magnetic Moment?
It is a physical quantity that describes the magnitude of the magnetic force in the current-carrying coil and microscopic particles.
The current-carrying coil is easy to understand, there is electricity and magnetism, so how can microscopic particles also have magnetism?
Atoms contain electrons, and electrons are negatively charged, so electrons themselves have a magnetic moment, and it is called a spin magnetic moment.
Electrons run in orbit and also carry orbital magnetic moments.
Then inside the nucleus there are also protons, which have a positive point and of course also have a magnetic moment.
Even uncharged neutrons carry anomalous magnetic moments.
This behavior of these particles shows that the internal structure of the particles is unusually complex.
So in the nucleus of an atom with an even number of protons and neutrons, the magnetic moment is zeroed is a very interesting phenomenon.
On the other hand, if there is an odd number of particles in the nucleus, it has a magnetic distance, and at the same time, it has the ability to produce magnetic resonance phenomena.
Therefore, the magnetic resonance equipment is aimed at the situation where the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus is an odd number.
So what does this set of equipment have to do with medical treatment?
It is important to know that the highest content in the human body is water, and a water molecule includes hydrogen atoms, and hydrogen atoms carry a proton.
Then the hydrogen atom can produce the phenomenon of magnetic resonance.
Speaking of which, a question arises, since 70% of the human body is water, that is to say, there are many hydrogen atoms, which does not mean that the human body has a strong magnetic force, why can't it be felt?
Quite simply, in general, these hydrogen atoms are arranged in a haphazard manner into the body, and the result is that there are many hydrogen atoms around each hydrogen atom, and the magnetic force exhibited by each other cancels each other out.
Therefore, the human body has no magnetic force in its external performance in normal times.
At this time, if there is an external magnetic force to interfere with the human body, it will be found through technical means that the hydrogen atoms will soon be arranged neatly, just like a magnet affects iron filings, not only neat but also orderly.
At this time, let these hydrogen atoms be arranged in an orderly manner, and then let them be disorganized, in the process, collect some electromagnetic signals, and then interpret the electromagnetic signals, and an image composed of hydrogen atoms will come out.
Then, these images, after computer processing, appeared a set of multi-faceted and multi-layered human body structure diagrams, as well as some lesion diagrams.
This is also the reason why it is not allowed to bring metal into the MRI itself, which is a huge magnet.
For example, you can understand the dangers of bringing metal into an MRI machine.
Many people know that when the magnet is close to the iron, the iron will be attracted to collide with the magnet before it touches it.
So if you carry a coin into the MRI equipment, once the equipment is activated, the coin will fly out, which is very fast, and the speed is comparable to that of a bullet that is discharged.
Think about what such a coin would be like if it hit the human body.
What would it be like if a metal device was installed in the body?
Therefore, in the MRI machine room, iron cars, stretchers, oxygen cylinders, and even electronic devices are strictly forbidden to be brought in.
Okay, move on.
It sounds very simple, just a giant magnet.
But in fact, it's another thing to turn a principle into a device.
First of all, if you want to present the picture clearly, you need equipment with high resolution, and the high resolution of NMR is not to make the camera high-definition, but to improve the strength of the magnetic field, as well as the uniformity of the magnetic field.
The minimum requirement for an NMR is to reach a magnetic field of 1.5T before it can be used.
In the eyes of many people, the data of 1.5T does not feel anything, and it is clear by making a comparison.
The magnetic field shown by this data is 50,000 times that of the earth, right?
It is said that the most advanced NMR has now reached 3.0T, which has doubled.
If you want to have such a high-strength magnetic field, you can't do it with ordinary materials, and you need superconducting magnets to complete it.
In fact, when they see the word superconductivity, many people will directly associate it with superconductors that exhibit no resistance at low temperatures.
As for the question of whether it is a superconductor, it can be put aside, superconducting magnets do need to operate at low temperatures, and generally need to be below minus 260 degrees to operate.
How can such a low temperature be guaranteed?
This requires a special system – a helium cooling system.
Therefore, the helium cooling system is a very critical equipment in nuclear magnetic resonance, which is also the explanation that it costs 600,000 yuan to replenish the domestic equipment once.
In addition to this cooling system, it is also necessary to consider the materials used to make this set of equipment, what kind of materials can withstand the long-term operation of minus 260 degrees.
Moreover, the parts made from these materials need to be mass-produced.
After all, many things can be made in the laboratory, but in the process of mass production, they are not at all what the laboratory shows.
So nuclear magnetic resonance, from physics, to materials science, to precision mechanical manufacturing, then automation, then computer processing, biology, etc., involves not one or two, but a dozen, and it must also be technology in the field of the preface.
This has allowed this technology to be mastered by a few countries in the West for a long time, or even just a few companies in these countries.
Therefore, although there are many MRI equipment on the market and many companies sell them, they can be traced back to Siemens, Philips, and GM's medical subsidiaries.
Therefore, MRI is known as the crown jewel of medical devices.
I have to say here that what is a pearl? It seems that it is used to break.
A breakthrough in the pearl of MRI medical equipment
In 1946, two physicists in the United States, Bloch and Purcell, discovered the phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance under joint research.
It wasn't until the early eighties of the last century that MRI became known in the medical field.
In fact, MRI has been in the medical field since the seventies.
So what can this device be used for?
It can be used to look at the lesions of the disease, like a pair of clairvoyant eyes, to observe the body, and then map out the abnormalities found.
At present, there are two types of NMR, one is 1.5T and the other is 3.0T.
Among them, 3.0T is the most advanced, and it is said that it can scan the blood vessels and even nerves of the human body.
A low-end 1.5T is priced at as much as 35 million yuan.
Then there is the post-maintenance mentioned above, if there is any failure of the equipment that needs to be repaired, the first charge is not the maintenance fee, but the labor fee of 230,000 yuan, and then talk about the maintenance.
So at present, China's number of NMRs is two million units, while the number of NMRs in western developed countries is one million people and 40 units.
In the face of this situation, the localization of nuclear magnetic resonance must be carried out.
First of all, the 1.5T nuclear magnetic resonance technology is popularized in China.
This technology was led by East China Normal University, and the Key Laboratory of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging was established first, with East China Normal University as the R&D base and enterprises as the industrialization foundation to promote nuclear magnetic resonance.
Finally, a breakthrough in 1.5T nuclear magnetic resonance technology was achieved, which can be regarded as breaking the technical blockade of the first layer.
The 3.0T nuclear magnetic resonance technology is still in the hands of a few companies in the West.
In order to break through the 3.0T nuclear magnetic resonance technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences took the lead, united with a number of scientific research units, more than 200 enterprises, and tens of thousands of engineers to challenge this equipment.
Finally, the machine was successfully developed in 2015 with 100% intellectual property rights.
It must be noted here that the world's first 3.0T nuclear magnetic resonance technology was actually developed in 2013.
And China has postponed it for two years, and this equipment can be localized.
It is said that various indicators can be compared with the world's most advanced 3.0 nuclear magnetic resonance technology.
Forty years of technological blockade are gone here.
The labor fee of 230,000 yuan, regardless of the result, is gone.
Moreover, 35 million 1.5T nuclear magnetic resonance equipment is not rare, and the price of domestic 3.0T is less than 3 million.
Think about it, less than 3 million have been earned, and the profit of 30 million for low-end products in the past was huge.
Of course, the price has come down, and it depends on the sales in the market.
At present, the results of the survey of this equipment are out, and the market for NMR in China accounts for more than 20%.
It is said that at present, a new generation of nuclear magnetic resonance has come out again, and the quality is better, not only the imaging speed is fast, but even the dynamic situation inside the human body can be seen, which can not be done by foreign nuclear magnetic resonance technology.
However, in the face of technological breakthroughs, there are still many problems.
For example, the industrial chain related to nuclear magnetic resonance is not large, only a small scale.
Therefore, although the technology is available, because of the problem of the output of parts, and some key components can not find relevant manufacturers, they can only be imported.
As long as these problems are solved, it is still possible to usher in another price reduction.