In a move to integrate research, clinical practice, and industry capabilities, a new digital weight management platform named ObeCare has been officially launched. The initiative is a collaboration between Fudan University's Zhongshan Hospital, Yidu Tech (02158), and the Chinese Endocrine and Metabolic Obesity Diagnosis and Treatment Alliance. The platform is now being rolled out for use among the alliance's member institutions.
ObeCare synthesizes the extensive clinical experience and multi-disciplinary expertise in obesity and metabolic diseases from Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital with Yidu Tech's strengths in healthcare data governance, disease knowledge modeling, and specialized large language models for the medical field. The result is a novel digital platform designed to standardize clinical management, enable intelligent patient intervention, and facilitate multi-center research translation. Its primary goal is to extend high-quality weight management capabilities from individual hospitals to a broader network of collaborating institutions.
The Pressing Need for Obesity Management and a New Model
Data from China's National Health Commission reveals an adult overweight rate of 34.3% and an obesity rate of 16.4%, meaning over half of the adult population faces weight-related health issues. Obesity is no longer merely a matter of appearance; it is a core chronic metabolic disease severely impacting public health. Clinical statistics indicate that 80% of obese individuals suffer from related conditions like fatty liver disease, hypertension, and hyperglycemia. The risks of chronic diseases, treatment costs, and overall health burden associated with obesity continue to rise.
Effective obesity management is not simple weight control but a comprehensive, specialized chronic disease treatment system. It involves tracing causes, assessing metabolic indicators and comorbidities, providing personalized nutrition and exercise interventions, administering medication, and ensuring long-term follow-up—all forming a complete management loop. Due to this complexity, general health AI products and basic weight management tools have struggled to meet the demands of specialized medical care.
On a deeper level, the domestic obesity management sector faces significant structural challenges. On the supply side, high-quality specialized resources are heavily concentrated in top-tier hospitals, while primary care institutions often lack standardized treatment pathways and systematic management systems, creating a nationwide imbalance between supply and demand. On the service delivery side, traditional models often prioritize in-hospital treatment over post-discharge care, leaving patients without ongoing professional guidance and doctors unable to conduct regular, personalized long-term follow-ups. This frequently leads to suboptimal weight loss results, weight regain, and recurring metabolic disorders.
ObeCare was developed to address these industry pain points and the limitations of existing products. It innovatively establishes a specialized intelligent service model characterized by "knowledge intelligence, path standardization, long-term management, and collaborative networking." Leveraging the real-world clinical experience of endocrinologists from Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital, Yidu Tech's proprietary R&D capabilities and integrated general model technology, and the nationwide collaborative network of the Obesity Diagnosis and Treatment Alliance, the platform builds a medical-grade, full-cycle chronic disease management system for obesity.
Overcoming Key Barriers for Comprehensive Weight Management
Regarding specialized knowledge systems, ObeCare has established a dedicated obesity management knowledge base grounded in the frontline clinical practices and national treatment guidelines from Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital's Endocrinology and Metabolism Department. It systematically incorporates obesity treatment knowledge, clinical guidelines, treatment pathways, multi-disciplinary management experience, and research findings, creating a foundational knowledge architecture that mirrors real clinical scenarios and ensures medical professionalism and clinical applicability from the outset.
In terms of intelligent transformation, Yidu Tech utilizes its long-accumulated capabilities in medical data governance, disease knowledge modeling, and specialized medical large language models to convert expert clinical experience into intelligent capabilities that machines can understand, invoke, and execute. Its self-developed "AI Medical Brain," YiduCore, has processed and analyzed nearly 9 billion authorized medical records, with its disease knowledge graph covering most known conditions. Building on YiduCore, ObeCare integrates medical knowledge bases, clinical pathways, and real-world medical data. Through intelligent reasoning and multi-turn interactions, it provides more precise, safe, and continuous weight management support for both doctors and patients, effectively bridging the gap from experience accumulation to intelligent application.
For service network coverage, the Chinese Endocrine and Metabolic Obesity Diagnosis and Treatment Alliance, established in 2023 and co-chaired by Professor Li Xiaoying of Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital and Professor Ji Linong of Peking University People's Hospital, brings together over 500 public medical institutions nationwide to promote standardized obesity diagnosis and treatment systems. Leveraging the alliance's multi-center layout and standardized operational framework, ObeCare breaks down geographical barriers to accessing quality medical resources. It helps medical institutions at all levels rapidly replicate standardized weight management services, effectively addressing capability gaps at the primary care level. Furthermore, the platform will undergo continuous iterative optimization based on compliant clinical data, gradually forming a virtuous ecosystem of "clinical service—data empowerment—research translation." This will drive the domestic obesity treatment model from a traditional experience-based approach toward one that is standardized, intelligent, and evidence-based.
Looking ahead, Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital, the Chinese Endocrine and Metabolic Obesity Diagnosis and Treatment Alliance, and Yidu Tech will continue to advance the iterative development of the ObeCare platform. They aim to explore and establish an intelligent management model for obesity where "expert experience can be accumulated, medical capabilities can be replicated, and research value can be translated." This initiative represents more than just an application of AI in weight management; it signifies a crucial exploration of medical AI evolving from a point-specific tool into an infrastructure for specialized clinical capabilities. By connecting experts, doctors, patients, and research innovation, ObeCare aims to empower more medical institutions to enhance their management of obesity and metabolic diseases, making more standardized, continuous, and scientific weight management services accessible to a broader patient population.
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