In July 2026, a delegation of leading experts from the Bioelectrical Engineering Professional Committee of the China Electrotechnical Society (CES) and the Bioelectromagnetics Branch of the Chinese Society of Biomedical Engineering (CSBME) visited Hangzhou Winonco Medical Technology Co., Ltd. for an inspection and guidance. During the visit, they engaged in in-depth exchanges on the frontiers of bioelectromagnetics and the translational development of minimally invasive tumor ablation technologies.
Leading bioelectromagnetics experts gathered to witness a journey of persistence and collaboration in technology development.
At the academic exchange symposium, Professor Yao Chenguo, co-founder and Chief Scientist of Winonco and professor at Chongqing University, first introduced the visiting experts to the attending team. The distinguished guests included: Professor Shang Peng from Northwestern Polytechnical University; Professor Song Tao from the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Professor Chen Guangdi from Zhejiang University; Professor Lu Mai from Lanzhou Jiaotong University; Professor Fu Feng from Air Force Medical University; Professor Liu Guoqiang from the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Professor Liu Dingxin from Xi'an Jiaotong University; Professor Cao Quanliang from Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Professor Chen Zhitong from Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Professor Zhang Xiaotong from Zhejiang University; Professor Xu Zheng from Chongqing University; and Professor Zhao Yajun from Nanjing Tech University. Their expertise spans the full spectrum of bioelectromagnetics, including static magnetic fields, pulsed high magnetic fields, pulsed electric fields, electrical impedance tomography, and plasma medicine.
Professor Yao Chenguo sincerely thanked the experts for their longstanding support and assistance to the team. He noted that the journey of pulsed electric field tumor ablation technology — from its initial proposal, through technology translation and clinical implementation, to the ongoing innovation today — has not been smooth. It is precisely thanks to the meticulous guidance of the experts in the field and the long-term support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China that the team has been able to advance step by step to where it stands today.
An integrated “Engineering + Medicine + Clinical” model – a unique path to innovation.
The Chairman of Winonco extended a warm welcome to the visiting experts and shared the company‘s founding vision and core philosophy: “Winonco was established to translate Professor Yao Chenguo’s technology into clinical reality. We are a uniquely integrated innovation team — combining engineering, biomedical science, and clinical medicine in deep synergy. It is this distinctive model that allows us to develop product concepts and technical solutions that stand apart from others in the industry. We remain deeply focused on oncology, applying engineering approaches to solve critical clinical bottlenecks, and are committed to creating solutions that offer long term benefits to patients — serving both Chinese clinicians and patients, while also bringing Chinese technology to the world, and offering solutions that contribute globally.”
Single - Needle Local Anesthesia and the 0 to 1 Breakthrough in Lung Cancer – The Technological Leap of Wknife.
Following that, Dr. Liu Hongmei, Chief Innovation Officer of Winonco, provided a detailed presentation and live demonstration of the technology evolution of the core product, Wknife. Conventional irreversible electroporation (IRE) requires general anesthesia, muscle relaxants, and multi needle placement, which imposes a high operational threshold. The next generation S IRE technology, however, enables ablation under local anesthesia with a single needle – fundamentally transforming the traditional NanoKnife procedure, significantly lowering the technical barrier, and offering a novel, accessible alternative for more patients, while also accelerating the broader adoption of IRE technology. In parallel, the team is actively advancing clinical research on non thermal selective ablation for lung cancer, aiming to achieve a 0 to 1 breakthrough in this niche area. Through the team's collaborative efforts, Winner Knife has achieved remarkable milestones: it has obtained Class III medical device registration certificates for liver cancer and pancreatic cancer; it has been twice selected for the NMPA Innovative Medical Device Green Channel; it has filed over 200 domestic and international patent applications, with core principle level patents granted in China, the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and other regions; and its clinical application cases continue to accumulate.
Expert Panel: Non Thermal Selectivity, Combination Therapy, and Clinical Prospects.
The attending experts highly commended the achievements of Winonco and engaged in in depth discussions on technical principles, underlying mechanisms, clinical indication exploration, and clinical solutions.
The expert panel noted that Winonco represents an outstanding example of translating bioelectromagnetic technology into clinical practice. It not only possesses core proprietary technology but has also established a distinctive innovation driven operational model integrating biology, medicine, and engineering — forming a unique company culture and core mission that remains consistently focused on advancing the field of oncology.
The experts exchanged views on the non thermal selective properties of pulsed electric fields — a feature that targets cells while preserving critical structures such as vessels and nerves, offering significant advantages in anatomically sensitive regions, including the prostate, where it can spare the urethra and neurological function. They expressed the hope that the team would accelerate the development of additional indications to bring clinical benefits to patients sooner.
The experts also highly praised the bipolar needle design and the role of pulsed electric fields in modulating the tumor microenvironment to enhance combination therapy outcomes. In addition, several experts provided important guidance on signal monitoring and treatment response assessment, as well as valuable recommendations on electric field regulation and spatial distribution under pulsed electric field application. They further explored the translational potential and clinical prospects of plasma based technologies.
Site Visit: Witnessing Frontline R&D, Manufacturing, and the Spirit of “Benevolent Aspiration.”
After the academic exchange, the experts visited Winonco's electronic laboratory, electronic production workshop, and sterile production workshop, where they observed the operation of irreversible electroporation-related equipment in real time. The expert team highly commended Wknife's innovative breakthroughs in "single-needle local anesthesia" and non-thermal ablation, and were deeply impressed by the company's innovation philosophy and culture – "Benevolent Aspiration, Persistent Effort, Reaching New Heights" – always focused on "minimally invasive tumor solutions," staying true to the original mission of integrating engineering with medicine to benefit patients.
About Winonco
Hangzhou Winonco Medical Technology Co., Ltd. is a national high-tech enterprise focused on the field of minimally invasive tumor ablation. Driven by clinical needs, the company is committed to advancing innovative medical technology R&D. At its core is a proprietary high voltage pulsed electric field irreversible electroporation (IRE) technology, integrated into a multi physics, multi modal platform to develop internationally leading minimally invasive tumor ablation solutions.
Founded by overseas returnees from Europe and the United States and nationally recognized scientists, the company boasts a high level interdisciplinary R&D team spanning electrical engineering, biology, medicine, and clinical disciplines. With its world leading pulsed field ablation platform and clinically oriented system solutions, the company has been awarded key projects from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), as well as multiple national key R&D programs and NSFC grants. Winonco holds full independent intellectual property rights in IRE technology, with over 200 domestic and international patent applications filed (including 18 PCT patents), and has twice been designated as an Innovative Medical Device. The company continues to drive technological innovation and clinical translation, delivering safer, more minimally invasive, and more accessible Chinese solutions for patients worldwide.