We Have Already Established a Clear Market Leadership Position in CT Scanner Segment with Over 300 Installations

Focussing on clinical applications, Sanrad Medical Systems has introduced technologically advanced CT scanners. Ratish Nair, MD, Sanrad Medical Systems speaks about industry demands and their new technologies

Sanrad has been a progressive radiology company, tell us how  Sanrad is spreading its wings in the radiology market

We have been in the industry since last twenty years and we have grown to our present level by focusing on cost effective solutions and reliable after sales support. We have already established a clear market leadership position in CT scanner segment with over 300 installations and we have done remarkably well in permanent MRI market crossing 15 installations in the last two years. Presently, we are based out at Mumbai, Bangalore, Bhopal, Coimbatore, Calicut, Hyderabad, Pune, and Rajkot, within this year 2011-12 we plan to expand to our operations to Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkatta, Nagpur and Trivandrum.

Has Sanrad off lately expanding into newer markets? Tell us more about your expansion plans

We are on the verge of announcing shortly our all new 1.5T superconducting MRI system, also in the coming months we will be starting work on angiography cathlab systems along with High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU).

Tell us more about your recent product introductions. Which product categories have you expanded further?

We have installed our first 16 slice CT scanner at Megavision, Pune, this system offers everything from full field isotropic imaging, incredible precision, and high speed scanning. All contributing to the clinicians understanding of the body from physical integrity to cardiac functions.

With the industry witnessing a constant change in terms of technological advancements, how is Sanrad coping with this phenomenon?

As the industry demand is growing from single slice to higher slices and faster CT Scanner systems, we are focusing more towards the clinical applications of these high end systems which have the capability of doing, Advanced 3D, Angiography, Dental Scans, Bone Mineral Study and Cardiac function Scans.

What market opportunities do you witness in the Indian radiology market? What is the current market trend according to you?

We see Indian radiology market poised for a faster growth than ever and we find lot of demand growing for refurbished good quality equipment. Also, in the MRI segment permanent magnet systems are still the only viable option for smaller cities and rural India, however. In the major cities and metros the demand is more for Cardiac Application CT Scanners and 1.5T MRI systems.

Is the rural market important to your business? What are the peculiar radiology needs of this market?

Surely. Most of the big cities are saturated and the market is growing faster in the rural areas, we see good number of specialists investing in Diagnostic imaging equipment and hospitals in rural India. Rural markets are mostly looking for medium technology with least maintenance expenses with optimum diagnostic quality, they want to serve the masses with simple basic rugged systems which is the need of hour for them.

Radiology business in India has been price sensitive. How do you bridge the gap between price, after sales service and quality?

We always sell the latest and most popular models of a single manufacturer which are newer in technology and age, hence these systems have fewer breakdowns thereby maintenance cost to customer is very less. Similarly our overhead expenses reduces when we sell more number of a single model, thereby the inventory of parts, training costs and engineering skills sets required are shared without increasing our overheads to a great extent, thus allowing us to keep our expenses at the minimum levels and transferring the benefits to our customers.

What future do you see for company and the Indian radiology market?

India has great talent in store and it is emerging as a strong economic power in Asia, medical tourism is a great success in India and the reflection of this growth will benefit heath care providers and equipment vendors. At present this industry is growing at a approx rate of 18 per cent annually, and radiology is gearing up to tap this growing potential.