Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Second Affiliated Hospital Synchronized Clock System

Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Second Affiliated Hospital, also known as Hunan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, is a national key traditional Chinese medicine hospital. Its predecessor was the Xiang Province National Hospital, founded in 1934.  With a long history, it is a comprehensive provincial-level tertiary A-grade hospital with complete functions, prominent specialties, and distinctive traditional Chinese medicine characteristics, renowned as the "birthplace of Hunan traditional Chinese medicine" and the "site of the medical sage's practice."

The hospital currently operates under a "one hospital, three campuses" development model. The old campus is located on Cai'e North Road in Kaifu District, covering 14 mu (approximately 0.93 hectares). It is the former site of the temple where the medical sage Zhang Zhongjing was worshipped for generations, and also the location of the former Changsha Prefecture government office, where Zhang Zhongjing practiced medicine. The "Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Second Affiliated Hospital Outpatient Department at the Hunan Provincial Public Security Department" was inaugurated and opened on November 28, 2024. The new high-speed rail west city campus is located in Xiangjiang New Area, covering 143 mu (approximately 9.5 hectares). The main structure of the first phase of the project, the National Traditional Chinese Medicine Epidemic Prevention and Control Base, was topped out on April 18, 2025, and is expected to be officially put into use before March 2026.

Changsha Tianqiong Electronics assists the Second Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in upgrading its smart healthcare system, unifying time standards for operating rooms, traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies, and remote consultations.

The Second Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (hereinafter referred to as "Changsha TCM Second Affiliated Hospital"), as a Grade A tertiary traditional Chinese medicine hospital in Hunan Province, undertakes the daily diagnosis and treatment of 46 clinical departments and 9 medical technology departments, as well as the research and development of traditional Chinese medicine preparations. With the advancement of smart hospital construction, the hospital faces three core pain points:

1. Time synchronization discrepancies in operating rooms: Anesthesia machines, monitors, and surgical timers have second-level discrepancies, affecting the alignment of the medical operation timeline required by the JCI International Accreditation, and posing a risk of medical disputes.

2. Blind spots in the traceability of traditional Chinese medicine preparation processes: The 18 intelligent decoction machines in the traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy are not synchronized, resulting in a 3-5 minute discrepancy between preparation batch records and the HIS system, making it difficult to meet the requirements of the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for process traceability.

3. Inefficient cross-campus collaboration: The clock systems in the Zhongjing Building and the Comprehensive Building operate independently, resulting in a delay of more than 200ms between remote consultation video streams and vital signs data, affecting joint diagnosis and treatment decisions for critically ill patients.

SHUTAI synchronized clock system for hospitals, encompassing three core products:

Single-Sided Digital Slave Clock (DH2248)

- Features: Uses LED digital display, supports Beidou/GPS dual-mode satellite timing with nanosecond accuracy, automatically eliminates timing errors, and achieves "second-level synchronization."

- Application Scenarios: Deployed in critical departments such as operating rooms and ICUs, providing a unified time base for anesthesia records, surgical timing, and other processes, ensuring the alignment of medical operation timelines.

- Technical Highlights: Built-in power-off memory function, supports PoE power supply, preventing time reset due to power outages and ensuring continuity.

Double-Sided Wall Clock (DB2248)

- Features: Supports multiple time synchronization methods including Beidou/GPS, NTP network, and WIFI, with synchronization accuracy ≤10ms; displays year/month/day, hour/minute/second, temperature (-9℃~50℃), humidity (5%~95%RH), and supports lunar calendar display.

- Application Scenarios: Installed in public areas such as traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies and outpatient halls, providing high-precision time reference for decoction process monitoring and patient waiting, simultaneously resolving time discrepancies between preparation batch records and the HIS system.

- Technical Highlights: Connects to the hospital's internal network through an NTP server, achieving millisecond-level synchronization of all clocks throughout the hospital, avoiding manual time calibration errors.

NTP Time Management Server

- Features: As the core of the hospital-wide clock system, it supports Beidou/GPS satellite signal reception, 4G wireless backup, and NTP network timing, providing redundant time source assurance.

- Application Scenarios: Deployed in the hospital's computer room, providing a unified time base for the HIS system, telemedicine platforms, vital signs monitoring equipment, etc., ensuring data synchronization across different hospital campuses.

- Technical Highlights: Adopts a dual-machine hot standby architecture, with automatic switching between primary and backup servers, achieving system availability of 99.99%.

 Results

1. Precise Alignment of Operating Room Timelines

After system deployment, the time error of operating room equipment was reduced from seconds to ≤50ms, meeting the requirements of JCI International Accreditation. Statistics from Q3 2024 show a 92% reduction in medical procedure disputes caused by time discrepancies.

2. Improved Traceability of Traditional Chinese Medicine Preparations

The time synchronization accuracy of 18 decoction machines in the Traditional Chinese Medicine pharmacy with the HIS system reached ±1 second, and the preparation batch records perfectly matched the system data. In the 2024 inspection by the Hunan Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the hospital's preparation process traceability compliance was rated "Excellent".

3. Significantly Improved Cross-Campus Collaboration Efficiency

The delay in remote consultation video streams and vital signs data was reduced from 200ms to ≤30ms, shortening the joint diagnosis and treatment decision time for critically ill patients by 40%. In 2024, the hospital's Chest Pain Center's D-to-B (door-to-balloon) time was shortened by an average of 8 minutes, and the success rate of treatment increased by 15%.

Customer Testimonial

“The Shutai synchronized clock system has solved our long-standing time synchronization problems, especially the precise timing needs of the operating room and the Traditional Chinese Medicine pharmacy. The system is highly stable, and the after-sales service is prompt, providing a solid time base guarantee for the hospital's intelligent construction.”

Changsha Tianqiong Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. Specializing in the field of time and frequency for 14 years, we have a technical team led by a Ph.D. from the National University of Defense Technology and possess more than ten invention patents. Our products cover industries such as healthcare, education, transportation, and government, providing high-precision time synchronization solutions for over a thousand institutions.