Compal Electronics, a leading contract manufacturer, is accelerating its AI healthcare initiatives. On the 21st, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, marking the beginning of a strategic collaboration. Their first project will focus on "AI-Driven Quantitative Lung Fibrosis Imaging," combining Compal's AI PCs and AI servers with Shin Kong Hospital's AI models and field validation to expedite the integration of AI into the healthcare industry.

Earlier in May, Kinpo Group, which includes Compal, signed an MOU with Taichung Veterans General Hospital. Compal Chairman Ray Chen emphasized the company's ongoing commitment to expanding smart healthcare solutions. In addition to precision medicine, Compal is actively promoting AI applications that are relevant to everyday health concerns. Successful commercial applications, such as AI-based detection of frozen shoulder risk, EEG-based stress analysis, and AI hearing assessments, have already been brought to market, with significant growth potential anticipated.

Chen also highlighted that Compal is not just focusing on AI software but is also planning to introduce more AI hardware, including AI servers and AI computers, to meet the computational needs of hospitals.

From an industry perspective, Chen believes that Taiwan's medical sector is home to some of the brightest talents and the strongest medical teams, with cutting-edge medical technology. In AI hardware, Taiwan leads the global market, from upstream semiconductors to downstream hardware industries. By combining these strengths, Taiwan is poised to take a global leadership position in AI-integrated healthcare.

The initial project between Compal and Shin Kong Hospital will address quantitative lung fibrosis imaging for advanced stages of interstitial lung disease. Using high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images to train AI models for quantitative analysis, the project aims to enhance the accuracy of fibrosis assessment while reducing the time needed for manual annotation, which is often less efficient and precise.

Compal will provide the necessary AI PCs and servers for the project, while the medical imaging systems will be equipped with an AI imaging retrieval engine. These solutions will be promoted for hospital operations through Shennona, Compal's medical distribution brand.

Shin Kong Hospital's CIO, Chung-Ho Hsieh, revealed that after field validation, the next step will be to obtain medical certification, with the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) as the next target, eventually expanding into commercial applications.

Shennona noted that the industry has not yet established a unified standard for AI application billing mechanisms. Current models include outright purchase of usage rights, leasing services, or revenue-sharing arrangements, depending on the hospital's specific needs. As Compal's medical distribution brand, Shennona has already established various billing models with numerous clients. The company looks forward to expanding the AI lung fibrosis application to more healthcare institutions.

In recent years, Compal has gradually completed its strategic layout in the healthcare sector. With the completion of the long-term care facility at Ruifang Hospital in New Taipei City scheduled for 2026, Compal is actively seeking new partnerships within the medical community to capitalize on emerging opportunities in medical technology.

Resource (mandarin): 仁寶AI醫療布局 再下一城