On December 4, “Conference on Major Projects Achievement in the Field of Life, Health and Brain Sciencefor China (Anhui) Pilot Free Trade Zone and Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center”was held in Hefei High-tech Zone, Anhui. Our self-developed MRI-compatible brain PET system and a new generation of intraoperative MRI system, as major achievements in this field, were officially released to the world.

Deng Xiangyang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee and Executive Vice Governor; Zhang Ximing, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Minister of the United Front Work Department; Yu Aihua, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Hefei Municipal Party Committee; Zhang Qiming, Deputy Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Provincial Party Committee; Cai Jingmin, Secretary of the Party Committee of Anhui University; Chairman of Anhui Provincial Investment Group Chen Xiang; Shen Jianlei, Second Inspector of the Major Projects Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology; Wang Wensong, Member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and Executive Deputy Mayor; Zeng Qiang, Director of the Institute of Health Management of the PLA General Hospital; Zhang Gong, Dean of the Sino-Canada Health and Engineering Institute; Yuan Ning, Deputy Director and representatives of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission; the Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology, the Provincial Department of Science and Technology, as well as the Provincial Overseas Chinese Affairs Office also attended the event; Han Tao, the Chinese Consul General in Toronto, attended the event online; About 200 people from well-known domestic,including experts and scholars in the field of brain science and representatives from major scientific research institutes, universities, hospitals, industries, investment institutions and the media participated in this event.

Picture 1: Speech by Shen Jianlei, Second Inspector of the Major Projects Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology

Picture 2: Speech by Wang Wensong, Member of the Standing Committee of the Hefei Municipal Party Committee and Executive Deputy Mayor

Picture 3: Han Tao, Consul General of the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto, addressed the conference via video

After Shen Jianlei, Wang Wensong, and Han Tao, Consul General of the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto, delivered speeches in turn, Zhang Gong introduced  two scientific research results to the guests and released them at the conference: "The world's first set of MRI-compatible brain PET" and "A new generation of intraoperative magnetic Resonance imaging (iMRI) system".

Picture 4: Zhang Gong introduces scientific research results

He said that with the care, support and strong assistant of governments at all levels, the "world's first set of MRI-compatible brain PET" and the "new generation of intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) system" prototypes can be successfully developed. This is an important development node for the R&D and manufacturing of high-end medical imaging equipment in our province. The application of late-stage equipment in scientific research and clinical practice will be of great significance to the development of early preventive and diagnosis of major brain diseases, surgical treatment technology and neurosurgery science, and will also promote domestic high-end medical imaging equipment to reach the international level in the field of brain science imaging.

Figure 5: Launching ceremony of prototype release

Deng Xiangyang, Zhang Ximing, Yu Aihua, Zhang Qiming, Cai Jingmin, Shen Jianlei, Wang Wensong, Zeng Qiang, Zhang Gong came to the stage to jointly start the device, and the "Internal MRI Compatible Brain PET System" and the "New Generation Intraoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (iMRI) System" were officially launched during release.

The press conference also received strong support from Canadian government officials and overseas experts as well as scholars that unable to visit the scene due to the virus, Hon. Ralph Eichler Lakeside, Minister of Economic Development and Training of Manitoba, and Frank Prato, Deputy Dean of the Lawson Institute of Canada , Ciprian Catana, Associate Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School, Garnette Sutherland, Professor of the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Calgary, Kim Klei, President of the Manitoba Biosciences Association, etc. delivered their congratulations in the form of video through the large screen.

Picture 6: Zhang Gong introduced the equipment to the leaders

At the press conference, Hefei High-techInvestment Group Corporation and theBrain Science Center for University of Winnipeg signed the cooperation agreement.

Picture 7: Signing Ceremony

While presenting project achievements, John Saunders, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Canada, Zhang Gong, dean of the Sino-Canada Health and engineering Research Institute, and Zhu Haoqin, chief engineer of Sino-Canada Health and engineering Research Institute, made introductions and professional reports on the development of brain PET and intraoperative nuclear magnetic technologyrespectively .

Picture 8: Zhang Gong introduced the plug-in MRI-compatible brain PET system

Picture 9: Zhu Haoqin introduces a new generation of intraoperative MRI system

By the end of the conference, the final keynote speech is presented by Zeng Qiang, Director of the Institute of Health Management of the PLA General Hospital, and Chen Xiaolei, Deputy Director of Neurosurgery, Hainan Branch of the PLA General Hospital. They brought top-level academic lectures on subject research in the industry. From theory to practice, from equipment performance to clinical applications, interpret the MRI-compatible brain PET system and the new generation of intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) systems.

Picture 10: Zeng Qiang, Director of the Institute of Health Management of the PLA General Hospital, delivered a keynote speech

Picture 11: Chen Xiaolei, deputy director of the Department of Neurosurgery of the Hainan Branch of the PLA General Hospital, delivered a keynote speech

Picture 12: Group photo of participating experts