One-On-One

'India is One Of The Fastest Growing Markets For Diagnostic Imaging'

SonoSite, one of the leading and specialist companies in hand-carried ultrasound, is the recognised innovator in the rapidly growing, global portable ultrasound market. SonoSite offers a family of products to suit a wide range of clinical applications and settings solely focussing on hand-carried ultrasound. Pavan Behl, Country Manager, SonoSite India Private Limited, discusses his India plans. Excerpts:

Pavan Behl Country Manager SonoSite India Private Limited

When and how did you make an entry in the Indian radiology market?

SonoSite entered the Indian radiology market in 2003. This was followed by establishment of the liaison office in October 2005 and thereafter by a wholly-owned subsidiary in 2007.

In which segments of radiology does your company focus on?

The major segments in Radiology that SonoSite is focussing on are Vascular Sonography, Musculoskeletal ultrasound, Trans cranial Colour Doppler, Neonatology and interventional radiological procedures.

What is the uniqueness of the technology used for these products? What is the USP of your company?

Our Hand-Carried Ultrasound (HCU) systems offer significant advantages over other portable ultrasound systems. Our sophisticated ASIC technology allows us to build systems that weigh under four kg, which makes them far lighter and easier to hand-carry than products offered by some other companies.

Our systems use Vx Works operating system and not the traditional Windows OS. Due to the proven stability and reliability Vx Works is the chosen operating system for many 'mission critical' uses in areas like military, airline and the space industry. The rapid 15 second boot-up time of SonoSite products, make them ideal for point-of-care clinical settings where seconds count when assessing and treating sometimes critically ill or injured patients.

SonoSite systems are designed with the user in mind. They are very easy-to-use, very reliable and durable. The importance of a battery backup time of up to four hours has a major advantage in many cities in India where supply of stable power supply is limited. To enable our products to meet reliability and durability expectations, the quality control and product testing requires that our transducers and systems are able to survive a one metre drop onto a hard surface. The keyboards of our systems can be easily sanitised which is a major advantage for interventional procedures.

Our products have such a strong history of reliability that our MicroMaxx and the latest models M-Turbo and S series carry an unprecedented five-year warranty thereby significantly reducing the maintenance costs, which is a major financial benefit to the customer.

What market opportunities and trends do you witness in Indian radiology market? How do you plan to tap it?

India is one of the fastest growing markets for diagnostic imaging. The technology that makes healthcare highly portable and cost effective has been gaining very quick acceptance in our country. The Indian radiology segment has been quite enthusiastic in their adoption of SonoSite's hand-carried technology and appreciative of its benefits of improved patient care and clinical productivity.

Hence, we feel that the need for more ultrasound units particularly HCUs will increase rapidly.

The company's strategic intent is to enable clinicians to use ultrasound in a variety of clinical settings by developing each potential market based on three fundamental tenets:

• The design of high performance system hardware, software and transducers with application-specific settings and capabilities,
• The provision of educational training that ensures appropriate use of the equipment in the clinical setting and
• The support of professional institutions and ultrasound thought leaders in the completion of use protocols and clinical research that accelerates the adoption of HCU to improve patient outcomes.

In how many countries are you present and what is the company's strength in India?

Headquartered in the US, SonoSite is represented by 10 subsidiaries and a global distribution network in over 100 countries.

How many sales office and employees do you have in India?

Our India Office is located in Gurgaon. This is complemented by a direct team of highly skilled and experienced sales, applications and service support personnel spread across the country that are supported by a team of regional distributors in all States.

How has the company grown over the years in India and worldwide in the radiology segment?

The recent years has witnessed an impressive sales growth for SonoSite's India operations and worldwide in the Radiology segment.

What are your expansion plans? What strategies you plan to adopt for expansion?

Our expansion plans in India are focussed on increasing our sales, marketing, education and customer support throughout the length and breadth of India in line with international standards for which SonoSite is well-known throughout the world.

SonoSite's strength worldwide has been in technology innovation and our focus on education and training. We collaborate with leading teaching and other hospitals worldwide, to impart training, both onsite as well as online.

We work with education providers across the world to offer medical professionals training on the latest clinical applications of ultrasound. We offer both standardised and customised modules to support the specific training needs. These programmes have been very successful looking at the large number of medical professionals who have attended and appreciated the programme. In India as well, we are supporting various CME programmes and workshops to educate clinicians in the new applications of ultrasound.