Longwood Valley

Longwood Valley (长木谷) develops AI-powered orthopedic surgical solutions combining preoperative planning software with robotic-assisted surgery systems. The company holds China’s first NMPA-approved AI-assisted orthopedic treatment Class III innovative medical device registration and FDA clearance for its AIJOINT platform.

Company Overview

Founded in 2017 by a team of Harvard Medical School, Tsinghua University, and Stanford University alumni, Longwood Valley emerged from a shared vision to advance orthopedic surgery through artificial intelligence. The company name derives from three sources: Harvard’s Longwood Medical Area, Tsinghua’s “Shuimu Qinghua” (水木清华), and Stanford’s Silicon Valley location.

Chairman Zhang Yiling, a former orthopedic surgeon with a Harvard background, leads the company alongside co-founders Liu Xingyu (Tsinghua) and Lei Ming (Stanford, one of Baidu’s founding “Seven Swordsmen”). This medical-engineering hybrid founding team has driven the company’s development philosophy of combining clinical insight with AI technology.

The company has achieved National-Level Specialized and New “Little Giant” Enterprise status and holds over 300 invention patents plus 60+ international PCT patents. Longwood Valley’s AI surgical simulation software has been deployed in more than 400 tertiary hospitals across China.

Core Products

AIJOINT® Surgical Planning Software

AIJOINT represents China’s first AI-assisted orthopedic treatment Class III innovative medical device. The software uses deep learning algorithms trained on over 100,000 patient cases and tens of millions of medical images to generate precise 3D surgical plans. Clinical trials demonstrate surgical accuracy improvement to 97% compared to traditional experience-based approaches.

The platform received NMPA innovative medical device approval in October 2023 (Registration No.: 国械注准20233211543) and FDA clearance in August 2024.

ROPA® AI Orthopedic Surgical Robot

ROPA is positioned as the world’s first orthopedic surgical robot incorporating AI deep learning technology. The system integrates AIJOINT’s preoperative planning capabilities with robotic execution, covering hip replacement, knee replacement, unicompartmental knee replacement, and revision surgery indications.

The robot transforms what surgeons describe as “closed-book examinations” into “open-book” procedures, providing real-time guidance based on AI-generated surgical plans.

DeepJoint AI Platform

Launched in March 2025 in collaboration with West China Hospital and Aikon Group, DeepJoint represents Longwood Valley’s medical large language model platform. The system integrates DeepSeek’s enhancement capabilities to support intelligent diagnosis, surgical planning, and robotic control across the orthopedic treatment lifecycle.

Technology & Innovation

Longwood Valley’s core technology platform combines three elements: AI-powered preoperative planning, 3D printing surgical guides, and robotic-assisted execution. The company’s algorithms convert expert surgical experience from leading joint surgeons into standardized procedures that AI systems can learn and replicate.

Key technical achievements include:

• 97% surgical precision rate in clinical validations
• Same-day CT scan to surgical plan turnaround (compared to 2+ weeks for imported systems)
• Training dataset of 100,000+ patient cases and millions of medical images
• National Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recognition as “internationally leading innovation”

Market Presence

Longwood Valley’s solutions have been deployed in over 400 tertiary hospitals across China, supporting thousands of joint replacement surgeries. The company’s products address a significant market opportunity: China’s joint replacement surgery volume exceeds one million procedures annually, growing at 20-25% per year.

Unlike competitors focusing solely on high-end tertiary hospitals, Longwood Valley’s modular approach—offering standalone surgical planning software separate from the full robotic system—enables penetration into secondary and lower-tier hospitals at accessible price points.

Key Milestones

• 2017: Company founded in Beijing Zhongguancun
• 2018: Founding team returns to China, begins product development
• 2021: Completed ¥660M in total funding (Pre-B + B rounds)
• 2022: AIJOINT enters NMPA innovative medical device fast-track approval
• 2023: AIJOINT receives NMPA Class III innovative device approval (first AI orthopedic treatment approval in China)
• 2024: AIJOINT receives FDA clearance; ROPA robot receives NMPA approval
• 2025: DeepJoint AI platform launched with West China Hospital

Frequently Asked Questions

What products does Longwood Valley offer?

Longwood Valley provides an integrated orthopedic surgical solution including AIJOINT AI surgical planning software, ROPA surgical robot system, and 3D printed surgical guides. Products can be purchased as a complete system or as standalone modules.

Does Longwood Valley have FDA approval?

Yes. AIJOINT surgical planning software received FDA clearance in August 2024, making Longwood Valley one of the few Chinese orthopedic AI companies with both NMPA and FDA approvals.

How does AIJOINT compare to imported systems?

AIJOINT delivers same-day surgical planning from CT scans, compared to 2+ weeks required by some imported systems. Clinical trials show 97% surgical accuracy, and the system has been trained on over 100,000 Chinese patient cases for optimized performance in the domestic market.