Top Mumbai hopitals get Canadian equipment

TORONTO - Canada’s Imaging Dynamics Company (IDC), which has just sold its high-end digital radiography (DR) systems to three hospitals in Mumbai, said Tuesday it was making a big push into the expanding Indian medical market. The digital radiography (DR) systems replace the age-old film-based X-rays systems that are still used in most Indian hospitals.

Only top-notch hospitals like Apollo have made a transition to the new X-ray systems.

“We sold our equipment to King Edward Memorial Hospital, Lokmanya Tilak Muncipal General Hospital and BYL Nair Charitable Hospital, all based in Mumbai. Their installation is being completed,” Swapan Kakumanu, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Calgary-based Imaging Dynamics Company told IANS.

He said his group is eyeing the big Indian market as most medical institutions there have yet to make a transition to the new X-ray technology.

“We already have some presence in India as we have supplied this equipment to Apollo hospitals and the Uttarakhand government. India is way behind China which is our major clients. So there is a big market opening up in India,” he said.

Jesse Malhotra, IDC vice president who looks after Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South Asia markets, said: “We are delighted to be awarded these contracts as it is the culmination of much work at the institutional level and with many key opinion leaders in India.

“With this contract we have achieved the leadership position as a DR provider for the Indian market.”

The DR systems eliminate the need for films for X-rays. “Our system is just like digital cameras where you don’t need films. You can take as many X-ray photos as you wish, pick up the best and delete the rest as you delete bad pictures on your digital camera,” said Kakumanu.

Among the three hospitals getting state-of-the-art-equipment, the King Edward Memorial Hospital is one of India’s foremost teaching and medical facilities. The 1,800-bed hospital treats 1.8 million out-patients and 68,000 in-patients each year.

Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital is known for its trauma and intensive care departments. The BYL Nair Charitable Hospital caters mostly to the poor urban people.

(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at gurmukh.s@ians.in)