IITPL NEW DAWN IN ADVANCED CATH LABS

GAURAV AGARWAL

Managing Director

IITPL - Innovation Imaging Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Director - Innvolution Healthcare

IITPL, in its short but impactful journey so far, has made long strides in Cath Lab manufacturing and innovation. Within four years of commercial operations, IITPL is now the number 2 Cath Lab Manufacturing company in India in terms of unit sales.

During the same period, IITPL has launched five different variants, that cater to different segments. Cath Lab is a very sophisticated, niche, and costly piece of equipment that requires excellent design and quality. Awards such as Good Design, Red Dot, and India Medical Device Company of the year 2020 are a testament to these attributes.

With every variant, IITPL has tried to solve a unique problem Indian heart care industry is facing. One of the biggest problems is the economic viability of high quality Cath Lab in Tier 2 - Tier 3 cities. We are proud to say that IITPL has installed Cath Lab in 20 cities, where there was no Cath Lab earlier.

IITPL has also been a trailblazer in launching various first-time features in its Cath Lab. Whether it is using a 55' single screen for single window view or using a touch screen panel as the UI and controller for the entire machine, IITPL has always been pushing the pedal on innovation and is the only company in the world to provide an onsite upgrade option from the base model to the top model of Pinnacle range of Cath Lab.

With its latest offering - Premier, IITPL has created a product loaded with some of the most advanced features in the industry, enabling faster and more accurate clinical decision-making. Premier as an IITPL'S next-gen Cath Lab platform, provides unmatched flexibility of operating Space and deepest angles on a floor-mounted Cath Lab coupled with the latest diagnostic options such as IVUS and OCT co

registration, integrated Virtual FFR and Live Digital Stent Enhancement.

Some Key features of Premier:

• Floor Mounted Single Plane Lab, For Cardiovascular, Peripheral Vascular and Neuro Vascular Diagnostic and Interventional Procedures.

• +120 Gantry movement provides unmatched Space Optimization enabling wide range of Cardiac, Neuro and Peripheral Vascular procedures.

• Non -Touch Based Anticollision Sensors for Detector & L - Arm • Table pivot Movement of +/- 90 Deg, Provides Greater flexibility to do Vascular Hybrid cases & greater access to the patient for resuscitation during emergencies. • Better ROI with Versatile capabilities such as Cardiac, EP, Pacemakers, Vascular & Neuro procedures.

• Real-time verification of the stent positioning

• A unique combination of Technology and Design to deliver high-quality images at a low dose. IITPL has now presence in 19 states and 115 cities across India and is on a mission to install an IITPL Cath Lab in all 770+ districts of India by 2030.

Latest Innovation & Trends in Cath Lab Technology 600- 1000 words.

It is a propitious time for the medical device industry. The Indian medical device market is at $11 bn currently and, is expected to grow at 35% to become a $50 Billion Market by 2025, making India one of the fastest-growing Medical Devices markets in the world. Over the past few years, cardiac catheterization procedures have rapidly evolved and expanded multifold in scope.

The big tech trends that we are extremely excited about are,

AR/VR

AR/VR is the new technology that is going to aid procedural navigation in the Cath lab. This will enable doctors to see true 3-D images of anatomy and make well-informed decisions more accurately.

Robotics

Another major technology trend is the use of remote-controlled robots for advanced coronary interventions. With the control module, a cardiologist can operate the Cath lab remotely with high precision. The real-life applications are clinically significant.

AI/ML

Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and cloud technologies are finding applications in the cardiac care space. AI, ML, and cloud technologies can be used to develop predictive analytics solutions for improved screening and monitoring of cardiac patients.

Interoperability

We are living in an ever expanding era of technological innovations specially in the diagnostic imaging space. Cath Labs need to evolve into suites where all diagnostic equipment can seamlessly communicate with each other for better clinical outcomes. This is now being achieved using a combination of hardware and software solutions to create a truly integrated diagnostic and therapeutic environment in the Cath Lab suite.

Gaurav Sir's Interview Lets us take through your journey in the Medical Device Industry?

With over two and half decades of experience, Mr. Gaurav Agarwal is a distinguished name in the Indian Medical Device Industry.

Mr. Gaurav Agarwal completed his B. Tech degree in Biomedical Engineering from the first ever batch at Manipal Institute of Technology in 1996 and later, an executive MBA from IIM Kozhikode. In his illustrious career, he has worked with some of the biggest names such as Dornier, 3M, Boston Scientific and Abbott Vascular, and Meril Life Sciences. In 2010, when he was a successful CEO at India's only Medtech Unicorn Meril life science, he made the risky decision of embarking on his entrepreneurial journey by establishing Innvolution Healthcare Private Limited, along with three cofounders. Since its inception, Group Innvolution has been providing the latest and best-in-class products to advance healthcare solutions.

Another remarkable feat is setting up an award-winning start-up, IITPL - A Cath lab manufacturing company in the year 2016, and taking it to the number two position in just 4 years of commercialization. IITPL is now Asia's most awarded and fastest growing cath Lab Company under his able leadership. Today Innvolution serves over 1500+ hospitals with life-saving cardiovascular devices, and IITPL has 180 Cath Labs in 115 cities across India.

20 plus years of experience in nurturing, leading, and scaling up start-ups in India. Led or mentored over half a dozen startups successfully in his professional life.

With its latest offering - Premier, IITPL has created a product loaded with some of the most advanced features in the industry, enabling faster and more accurate clinical decision-making.

Part of the various advisory panels on policymaking including, panels on Atmanirbhar Bharat from ICMR, FICCI medical device committee, Aimed medical electronics committee, AMTZ panel on medical electronics and cardiovascular Devices. Also Part of the executive advisory team at IBSC international biomedical skill consortium. Mentoring several bio incubators across the country such as MUTBI (Manipal University), Sagar university bio incubator amongst others. Worked extensively with various IITS such as IIT Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur, and Chennai on projects ranging from the bioresorbable scaffold, ventilator oxygen concentrators, Ai-driven algorithms in the field of x-ray signal processing to name a few.

How do you see modern cath labs integrated with software & Latest technology?

This is indeed a very interesting time for the imaging industry as the latest software advances are giving a new dimension to Cardiac care. CVDS are evolving with time so does the related treatment. Latest technological advancements such as Virtual FFR, TAVR, seamless integration with IVUS/OCT, and other newer procedures enable the Cath Lab industry to flourish further. With a combination of advanced X-ray tubes, more sensitive detectors, and Ai-powered image reconstruction processes, the image quality is getting better at a very low radiation dose. This is critical for patients, technicians, and doctors.

Another technology that is going to be a differentiator is Analytics and Big Data. It will be critical to managing healthcare and identification of bottlenecks going forward. This will also help the early detection of the disease and new ways to conduct retrospective clinical studies.

What is the market size of the Indian Medical Device Industry & How do you see the growth?

The future looks encouraging as India is marching ahead towards the Medtech revolution. The medical device industry is expected to become a $50 Billion Market by 2025. At present, India has about 2500 Cath Labs in close to 250 cities and currently adding approx. 500+ cath labs year on year. Cardiovascular diseases are now a nationwide phenomenon as opposed to the urban disease earlier, so there is strong demand from the tier 2 and tier 3 cities for better cardiac care facilities. We see significant growth in the times to come as tertiary care has started getting due attention in India. The healthcare infrastructure is improving, and tier 2 and tier 3 cities are gearing up for better cardiac care facilities. IITPL is also doing its bit to strengthen cardiac care in India. As a mission, IITPL is committed to installing Cath Lab in all 770 + districts in India by 2030.

Prime Minister of India in his Independence Day address has listed medical device industry as one of the 25 focus sectors to drive India towards the 5 trillion dollar economy. Government of India has taken several initiatives to boost indigenous capability and capacity in medical devices industry. Some of the noteworthy initiatives are production linked incentive scheme, introduction of more than 10 medical device parks across the country, including the creation of world's largest medical device cluster and the jewel in India's Medtech story Andhra Pradesh Medtech zone or AMTZ. Some of the other noteworthy initiatives are trade margin rationalization and price capping of stents and orthopaedic implants, 100% FDI allowance in the sector. India Today is the 4th largest medical device market in Asia and among the 25 largest markets for Medtech globally. The vision for India at 2047 is to become one of the top 3 markets and suppliers of medical devices.

You are on different forums and voices of the medical device Industry. What is the immediate requirement in policy to overcome the shortage/demand & supply etc.?

• Inverted duty structure that promotes import of finished goods rather than components to make in India. Most finished goods in medical devices have lower customs duty compared to their components which incentivises companies to import rather than produce.

• Absence of a component manufacturing ecosystem. This is most visible in the area of medical electronics where the sector has to grapple with import of sensors, PCBS, LCD screen monitors, PLC, X-ray tubes, generators, collimators to name a few.

• Limited technology transfer and partnerships with academic institutions and technology incubators

• There is a 10-12 percent disability factor for manufacturers of medical devices in the country, which has been acknowledged by the Government of India. The PLI scheme offers some offset but has a very ambitious growth target for chosen companies.

• Needs to encourage consumption of domestically manufactured medical devices like the defence sector which has released no import list of equipment, where country has capacity and capability. This is driving tremendous traction in manufacturing of defence equipment and devices. Medical device sector needs a similar no import list to make India truly a sunrise sector.