CEO Insights Magazine

Starting from global industry leaders including the CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadela, former CEO of Nokia Rajeev Suri, and so on, Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) has close to 1,00,000 proud alumni who once walked through the corridors of the esteemed institution and are constantly making their mark in various spheres of life. Joining the list of these elites, Gaurav Agarwal describes his journey with MIT to be phenomenal and enduring, which ultimately helped him to evolve into an all-rounded individual. Owing to his prolific association with the medical imaging industry, especially across the interventional cardiology or cardiovascular device industry, Gaurav promptly noticed the unavailability of apt Cath labs as well as the anguish of the patients after not being able to afford the cost of an angioplasty. To address the cost factor and save precious lives by renovating the nuances of the cardio vascular device industry, in 2010 Gaurav co-founded Innvolution a medical device manufacturer focused on cardiovascular stents, balloon catheters, and all the devices related to angioplasty. Going a step further, Gaurav laid the foundation of Innovation Imaging Technologies (IITPL) in 2016, as a distinguished platform to build refined Cath labs. Bridging the huge gap that exists between the demand and supply for Cath labs and angioplasty in general, IITPL has emerged as one of the most awarded medical equipment companies in Asia.

Below is an excerpt of Gaurav’sinteraction with CEO Insights.

What is the success mantra that keeps you driving to thrive in the medical imaging domain?
The burning desire to make cardiovascular care more accessible to a larger segment of society has always enabled me to move ahead and in both my companies, that's exactly what we

do every day. Today, we are present in about 16 cities, where there were no Cath labs in the 300 Kilometre vicinity earlier and it's very gratifying that all those 16 Cath labs can save 70-80 lives each month. We make cardiovascular care affordable to a large segment of society that remains under privileged. So, the ability to touch and save lives is what keeps us going.

Define IITPL as an organization and its position in the healthcare industry
IITPL is a boutique design and engineering company, that aces in the field of X-ray imaging, image processing, mechanical engineering, electromechanical design, and so on. We are also engaged in some unique partnerships which include firms like VJ technologies a global giant and industrial X-ray is based out of New York, and Alpha x-ray a company responsible for bringing India's first indigenous Cathlab in 2004. The third organization with which we are exclusively associated is the company that I co-founded, Innvolution known for having a very large reach amongst interventional cardiologists in the country. So, we maintain and nurture our unique partner ships, and each partner brings in strengths that are complementary and unique.

The adoption of innovative technologies has enabled us to set up Cath labs that are within smaller spaces, completed in less time, user friendly, and economically apt. The Cath labs established by us consume 35% lower energy than most of the other Cath labs, and this is a significant step in transforming the medical imaging market within the country.

What are the recent technologies you are investing in and how will they impact the performance of the company in the long run?
We want to be the Tesla of the medical imaging field, and we are working towards creating such an impressive ecosystem in the medical imaging industry. We are working on a large range of soft

ware driven applications, that can be down loaded using our app store, which will reduce the procedure time, make the procedures safer and more effective, and reduce the amount of radiation to a patient and the doctor. We are also using a lot of AI and ML algorithms to develop these applications, and over the next three to four years, we will have the entire ecosystem ready with a cloud-based server.

We are also working on a lot of interoper ability principles.Today in hospitals, we have equipment that doesn't talk to each other, and it has emerged as a huge challenge for cardiologists as they have to look at an ECG, treadmill report, hemodynamic support, and so on. We are working on a completely connected environment in the Cath lab, where all the equipment talk to each other and all the outputs can be displayed on a single screen.

How do you anticipate the future of the MedTech market, especially in terms of market behavior and opportunities that may arise?
So, the market was valued at about $11 billion in 2021 and is expected to become a $50 billion industry by 2025. The market is going to experience the most explosive growth in the future, and at present, no industries are experiencing this kind of growth. So, according to me, now is the right time for budding enthusiasts to be an entrepreneur in the MedTech space.

Gaurav Agarwal, Managing Director, Innovation Imaging Technologies
completing his biomedical engineering from MIT in 1996, Gaurav went ahead to spend about 25 years in the medical device and MedTech space, a large part of which has been in the cardiovascular device industry. A highly Business Oriented and Performance Driven Management Professional, Gaurav has co-founded Innvolution Healthcare Rated among Top Ten MedTech Start-ups in India and IITPL - Winner of DoP ‘Medical Device Company of the Year’ Award, Good Design Award, CII Top 25 Innovative Companies Award, Red Dot Award and CII Industrial Design Excellence Award.