The dawn of photon-counting CT and its clinical revolution in China
In a clear signal of a major shift in the global medical device landscape, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) granted market approval to a domestically engineered photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) system in August 2025. The approval for United Imaging Healthcare’s uCT Ultima, a flagship project backed by national funding, marks a pivotal moment for the nation’s high-end diagnostic equipment sector.1 This milestone ends the market exclusivity previously held by the Siemens Healthineers NAEOTOM Alpha, which, since its NMPA approval in late 2023, was the only PCCT system commercially available in China.
Authors
- Yuchuan Du (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8497-3402)
- Xu Ji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7901-5253)
- Guotao Quan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1079-0718)
- Wenhui Qin
- Xiaochun Lai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7010-2358)
- Fuhua Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5910-1506)
- Yang Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5660-6349)
- Mengsu Zeng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6054-0824)
- Wenjie Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3959-5043)
Institutions
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Fudan University (CN)
- Ruijin Hospital (CN)
- ShanghaiTech University (CN)
- Zhongshan Hospital (CN)
- The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- United Imaging Healthcare (China) (CN)
- Shanghai Clinical Research Center (CN)
- Southeast University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Innovation
- Published
- 2025-11-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2025.101193
- Primary Topic
- Advanced X-ray and CT Imaging
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00