On December 1, 2020, the China-innovative Chongqing Haifu’s Focused Ultrasound Tumor Therapeutic Systems were exported for the first time from Chongqing to Mexico and Nigeria, bringing the world-leading noninvasive High-intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) ablation technology to the local communities.

Prof. Wang Zhibiao, Director of the National Engineering Research Center of Ultrasound Medicine and co-inventor of Chongqing Haifu’s Focused Ultrasound Tumor Therapeutic System, stated that the China-innovative HIFU ablation technology would likely also take 25 to 30 years to gain wide market recognition. The first ultrasound scanner, CT, and MRI was produced in 1961, 1971, and 1973. Their road to wide commercial dissemination all took a long time. The first China-invented HIFU system with complete intellectual property rights was developed in 1997 and was commercialized in 1999 by Chongqing Haifu Medical Company. After 21 years of clinical and market development, it is gaining increasing recognition from home and abroad. 

“I believe this moment will be written into the medical history of Mexico, ” said Dr. Diaz, President of Gerardo Diaz Bautista Hospital, on the ceremony through video communication from distant Mexico. As a doctor, he hopes to cure the disease of the patients and improve their life quality. With the introduction of Chongqing Haifu’s HIFU system in Mexico, Mexican women with benign uterine diseases will be treated in an incision-less, no-bleeding, and noninvasive manner, and their uteri and fertility will be preserved. He said to the press that he chose Chongqing Haifu’s system, among others, because Chongqing Haifu Medical is the clear leader in the field of focused ultrasound therapy. He further noted that the global Covid-19 pandemic had impelled the medical community to seek new surgical treatment solutions. Thus he is confident that HIFU technology will gain more recognition in the post-Covid19 era.

Dr. Ajayi Abayomi Bolaji, Chairman of Nordica Fertility Center of Nigeria, said to the press that the incidence of uterine fibroids and adenomyosis in African women was very high, with the incidence rate of 25 % among the women of 25 years old and 80% among the women of 50 years old, resulting in the infertility of many women. At present, open surgery still prevails in Africa, which may cause injuries and side effects more serious than the disease itself. The introduction of Chongqing Haifu’s HIFU System will provide African women a noninvasive therapy for benign uterine diseases, e.g., uterine fibroids and adenomyosis, etc. The elective surgical procedures in Nordical Fertility Center have incurred cancellations due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr. Ajayi commented that HIFU ablation could spare the hospital's core supporting system and does not require close contact between patients and doctors and, therefore, would be less affected by the pandemic. Dr. Ajayi told the reporter that it took him seven years of investigation to conclude that Chongqing Haifu’s HIFU System is the most advanced for focused ultrasound therapy. Recognizing the unique advantages of this technology, he made the business decision despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Introducing focused ultrasound surgery in Nigeria signifies the leap of surgery from the invasive era to the noninvasive. 

Since the year 2002, when Haifu HIFU System was first exported to the University of Oxford of the UK, this technology and medical service have been exported to 28 countries and regions globally, having treated over 150 000 cases of benign and malignant tumors. Prof. Wang expressed his confidence in the acceleration of this technology's global deployment, both clinically and market-wise, in the 2 to 3 years.