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Medicine has made startling advances in recent years. One such advance, DNA diagnostics, which entails the use of DNA analysis to view an individual's “biological blueprint,” is gaining attention the world over. Widespread use of DNA diagnostics offers great hope for the possibility of early detection of disease and congenital health issues, as well as individualized selection of medicine based on effectiveness and lack of side effects.
Canon is making progress in the research and development of DNA diagnostics. Our goal is to create a compact, low-priced desktop DNA diagnostic system.

The process for Canon's DNA diagnostic system involves first injecting DNA and reagent into a special cartridge to cause a response. After rapid amplification takes place by applying heat through the use of an inkjet printer heater technology, the DNA mutations are quickly and accurately detected through the use of Canon's proprietary CMOS sensors. Our system also makes previously difficult and complex testing faster and simpler, because it allows automatic and continuous examination of changes in multiple regions within the DNA.
As a result, Canon's diagnostic system is capable of completing complex testing procedures in one hour, which when performed using existing equipment would take several hours to more than a day to produce results.
By broadly improving diagnostic speed and testing efficiency, and markedly reducing both the cost of testing and the unit itself, Canon will greatly contribute to more widespread use of DNA diagnostics.

Due to the United States' position as a leader in this field, research and development for Canon's DNA diagnostic system is handled by Canon U.S. Life Sciences, which is located in the state of Maryland.
We installed a prototype DNA diagnostic system at the University of Utah in November 2010 for practical trials. During 2012, we increased the installation locations and began conducting functional evaluations and joint application development with the goal of near-term commercialization.
Also, in July 2011 we launched a joint research program with the University of Maryland. The main research theme is the development of automated systems for detecting the pathogens that cause infection. This joint research is aimed not only at installing such systems at university hospitals and specialized testing facilities, but also at a broad range of medical institutions, such as regional hospitals and clinics.
Canon will continue to produce results in the DNA diagnostic field through collaboration with universities in the United States, where the world's leading DNA research is conducted.

Medical treatment centers need high-level image-diagnostic equipment that allows physicians to obtain images from within a patient's body without causing harm. Due to the fact that the latest equipment tends to be both very large and expensive, it is currently inaccessible anywhere but at large hospitals.
Our goal is to help create a society in which the latest in medical treatment is accessible at nearby medical centers through the imaging technology we have developed over many years to create medical devices that are compact, inexpensive, and minimize patient impact.
We launched the Kyoto University/Canon Joint Research Project (CK Project) in 2006, joining with Kyoto University to pursue advanced technology development and clinical research in the latest fields of medical imaging diagnostics. We have continued to work to strengthen the CK Project, for example by setting up the clinical research base at the Clinical Research Center for Medical Equipment Development in Kyoto University Hospital in 2012.
The CK Project focuses on application-oriented research in such fields as optical coherence tomography, ultrasound imaging, and medical image diagnosis systems. Research that has currently reached the clinical stage includes photoacoustic mammography, which allows testing for breast cancer without radiation exposure through the use of a low-cost, compact device, and adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (AO-SLO), which provides high-resolution imaging to detect signs of lifestyle disease appearing in the retina.
Canon Inc. is also engaged in clinical research with U.S. universities as we pursue the goal of commercializing such technologies, AO-SLO in particular.

Canon's CMOS sensor technology, which up to now had mostly been used in digital cameras, has achieved landmark success in the field of astronomical observation.
In January 2011, an ultra-high-sensitivity CMOS sensor, with the world's largest^*1 surface area for a CMOS sensor, was installed in the Schmidt telescope at the University of Tokyo's Kiso Observatory, Institute of Astronomy, School of Science, enabling the video recording of faint meteors with an equivalent apparent magnitude of 10.^*2 Detecting a faint meteor with an apparent magnitude greater than 7 has proven difficult using conventional observation technologies, and this success has proven the high level of CMOS sensor technology. Analysis of data from these observations is expected to lead to better understanding of the influence that meteors may have exerted on the development of life on Earth.
Canon is making real contributions in academic and industrial fields, such as astronomy, space and aeronautics, through digital imaging innovation.