The Japanese imaging and healthcare solutions company, Fujifilm Corp, will set up a medical centre focusing on cancer screening in Bengaluru on February 4 as the first project of its health examination business in emerging economies.
The facility, called NURA, will cater to the local demand for the early detection of cancers, including breast and oral cancers, as well as for early signs of pulmonary disease and heart attacks.
NURA centres will use the company’s medical equipment and artificial intelligence-based diagnosis technology.
Fujifilm plans to open 100 similar facilities in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and other regions.
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The medical screening centre will be run by Fujifilm DKH LLP, a joint venture of Fujifilm and Dr Kutty's Healthcare (DKH), which operates hospitals and screening centres in India and the Middle East.
Fujifilm selected India as the first emerging economy to host its medical screening business because the company sees a high demand due to the country's large population and an increasing number of cancer patients
Fujifilm said NURA centres will perform many of the same screenings as those done in comprehensive physical examinations.
The service will analyze images from CT scans or use mammography and technologies to help with diagnosis.
The company has plans to unveil mobile clinics that will offer screenings at factories and in suburbs.
Inputs from India to help Fuji to make medical equipment
NURA assists doctors in medical screening with the use of Fujifilm technologies including the IT system, unveiled in Japan in June 2020, that automatically detects lung nodule candidates from CT scans, the endoscope that uses high contrast technology to enhance the visibility of observation images, and the mammography system that provides high-definition diagnostic images, the company said in a press release.
At the screening centre, a coordinator is assigned to each visitor to provide advance information about screening and takes them to testing rooms, the press release added.
Fujifilm manufactures and sells X-ray imaging devices and endoscopes. But this is its first screening facility, and the company does not intend to operate one in Japan at this point.
The company hopes to take inputs from the performance of the Bengaluru centre to develop newer medical equipment.
Fujifilm also sells digital cameras through its local venture in India, Fujifilm India Pvt Ltd.
