History

The Precision Optical Industry, Co., the predecessor of Canon Inc., delivered Japan's first X-ray indirect camera CX-35 to the Navy in 1940 and launched it in the following year. CX-35, which was designed for mass screening purpose using 35mm camera films, is a memorable product marking our entry into the medical equipment market.
The oldest of Canon's intellectual property rights related to X-ray imaging is - to the best of our knowledge - Utility Model No. 337330 (Examined Utility Model Publication No. S18-008498). Since then, Canon has been filing more than 2,500 patent applications in this field. The figure of "2,500" indicates that intellectual property activities continues to support medical equipment business activities.

In 1976, Canon launched the world's first non-mydriatic retinal camera CR-45NM. With the non-mydriatic technique, we can observe the retina with near-infrared light and can capture its color image with a visible flash light through a pupil naturally dilated in a dark room. Thanks to this technique with no drug, the pupil contracts immediately by the flash light as a natural reaction, so non-mydriatic cameras are now commonly used for early detection of hypertension and diabetes in a general health check-up. Focusing and alignment technologies with near-infrared light invented by Canon are fundamental ones that have been passed down to the majority of non-mydriatic cameras currently on the market.

Canon launched the CXDI-11, the world's first digital X-ray imaging system equipped with Canon's proprietary large-screen flat sensor. The CXDI-11 attracted a great deal of attention as a revolutionary X-ray digital imaging device that not only displays an image on the monitor approximately 3 seconds after the image is taken, but also enables data communication of examination orders and images in conjunction with a hospital network. Canon has issued more than 100 patents centering on its strength in sensor technology and has vigorously promoted product protection. One of its basic technologies, patent No. 3066944 on refresh drive technology of MIS (Metal Insulator Semiconductor) type sensors, was awarded the Imperial Invention Prize (onshi hatsumei shou in Japanese), the highest prize of the National Invention Award, in 2005 (the second time in Canon's history that we received this honor), in recognition of its significant contribution to a popularization of digital X-ray photography. It also received the Good Design Award and the Machine Promotion Association Award in 1999.

A non-contact tonometer is a device to measure intra-ocular pressure by detecting a cornea deformation caused by an air puff toward the eye. As the name suggests, the device never comes into contact with a patient's eye to reduce an infection risk and measurements can be done without anesthetics. On the other hand, first-time patients and children may become nervous during the examination since the air puff gives a slight impact which is not experienced in normal life.
In order to solve this problem, Canon's designer utilized novel elements of shape and color to create a less visually oppressive design, taking into account the usage and psychological aspects, achieved by a tight communication with R&D and intellectual property staff. As a result, TX-F was awarded the Good Design Award in 2003.

Our portable X-ray digital camera CXDI-50G launched in 2003 had the widest field of view in the industry at that time. Canon's original flat-panel sensor gave it a thinner body and lighter weight and enabled flexible photography of an affected portion from any direction.
In terms of design detail, its rounded shape gives a soft impression to relax the patient and its improved operability helps doctors and technicians in their daily work. CXDI-50G's successful and unique industrial design, expressing both gentleness and reliability, was protected by a design registration and was awarded the Good Design Award in 2004 as well.

The CX-1 is Canon's first camera that integrates mydriatic and nonmydriatic features equipped with a dedicated digital camera unit that combines digital single-lens reflex camera technology and fundus camera technology. Conventional cameras that integrate mydriatic and nonmydriatic features have separate optical systems for observing, photographing, and displaying the fundus, making them larger and more complicated to operate than either mydriatic or nonmydriatic models. The CX-1 provides simple and comfortable operation by using a dedicated digital camera unit to observe, photograph, and display the fundus of the eye. The advanced EOS technology enables the industry's highest resolution (at the time) of approximately 15.1 million pixels. The Group has built a patent portfolio that supports CX-1 by creating 16 new patents centered on technologies for applying EOS technology, which is strong in digital SLR cameras, to fundus cameras, while realizing strong product protection through the patents that support EOS technology.

Canon Medical Systems has responded to the needs of the times as a pioneer in Japan's medical equipment industry for more than 100 years, since 1914, when Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd.—a predecessor of Toshiba—began research on Japan's first X-ray tube. During that time, we have pioneered many products, including Computed Tomography (helical CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and have filed worldwide patents for these products. Together, our company Canon and Canon Medical Systems have built a patent portfolio of well over 10,000 patents, providing strong support for Canon's medical equipment business.

The present invention relates to a data-reading method for wide-area CT detectors mounted on a medical X-ray CT. In order to expand the scope of testing and reduce the burden on patients, efforts have been made to expand the field of view of detectors, but increasing circuit size has been an issue. In the present invention, switches are arranged in each element of the detector, and the number of wires is reduced by extracting signals by time division. In addition, the number of processing circuits is also reduced by blocking processing units and performing parallel processing, thereby achieving high-speed data readout that meets CT requirements. As a result, we succeeded in commercializing a large-field CT with a scan range of 16 cm in 1 scan.