Tell us about yourself. What are you showcasing at Arab Health 2022?

I’m Toshio Takiguchi, CEO and President of Canon Medical Systems Corporation. It’s a great honour to be joining you at Arab Health 2022. This year, we will be showcasing a variety of newly developed medical imaging solutions that we have been working on in the last decade which are designed and made for our customers in the Middle East region. Our full range of solutions and technology have been continuously evolving for the last 107 years, and today we have reached the next level that we had never imagined, that is Artificial Intelligence. Having opinions from the medical professions in the Middle East region was important in our development phase of the solution and we are glad to have it introduced to the market at Arab Health 2022.

A key theme this year is healthcare transformation. What does healthcare transformation mean to you?

Healthcare transformation means doing things differently, smarter and even faster. It means delivering more healthcare services remotely, with AI playing a significant role. And most importantly for us it means “Outcome Driven Innovation”, where we focus our efforts on what drives better outcomes for our customers and patients. We will be showcasing newly invented CT, MRI and Ultrasound as the first launch in the region to emphasise the value of our newly designed equipment to maximise your productivity and profitability.

To what extent will emerging health technologies such as AI, IoT and big data influence your business priorities?

Emerging health technologies are greatly influencing our business priorities. They represent a key growth area for every level of our business, and we are doing everything we can to push their development. They play a major role in helping us deliver the very best health and business outcomes in line with our ‘Made for Life’ philosophy.

As the world continues to pull out of the pandemic, are there any challenges still faced by your business, and how are you addressing these?

We still face the challenge of obtaining information that can only be communicated through face-to-face interaction. To compensate, we are transforming our webinars into occasions that not only provide the latest clinical information, but also nurture communication with customers to strengthen our partnerships.

What will your business be prioritising in ‘post-pandemic’ times?

As ever, our vision is to build a future where everyone receives the diagnosis and treatment they need. We will continue to help customers deliver informed healthcare with efficient workflows, and we will do it with the power of AI. We will also prioritise staying agile so we can pivot when required and think outside the box in preparation for whatever the future has in store.

How important is the resumption of international travel to your business?

It’s very important. We support medical facilities in countries all over the world and see it as vital for our engineers and product specialists to visit medical facilities in each region. During the pandemic, we have been remotely providing technical support, but we look forward to visiting customers in each region in person and speaking with them intimately to properly understand their issues and provide the best response.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Yes. We will continue to invest in the GCC area and the Middle East, as it is a strategically key region for our global business. We have already built a range of important partnerships in the region and there are lots of plans in the works to localise our service delivery and collaborate in various healthcare settings. I hope we can work together to deliver class-leading solutions to every corner of the region. 

I would also like to add that Canon Medical has proudly become a leader in AI-powered diagnostic imaging solutions. Our proprietary AI technology clearly improves image interpretation and clinical decision making, while accelerating workflows and increasing patient safety.

We wish everyone attending all the very best for this year’s Arab Health. It really is a remarkable event, and I look forward to connecting with many of you in due course.