Canon Medical Systems Division Awarded National Contract for Its Digital Radiography Solutions by Premier, Inc.

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. -- Leading National Healthcare Alliance Agrees to Make Award-Winning Canon DR Technology Available to Its Alliance Hospital and Healthcare Systems

Canon Medical Systems, a division of Canon U.S.A., Inc., today announced that it has been awarded a contract from Premier, Inc. (Premier), a leading strategic healthcare alliance, to make Canon digital radiography (DR) solutions available to Premier Alliance hospitals and healthcare systems across the country.

As part of the agreement, Premier offers the Canon CXDI-31 and CXDI-50G portable DR systems, Canon DR Image Viewer software and the Canon Mobile Access Station as DR solutions to its alliance members. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Premier is entirely owned by more than 200 of the nation's leading not-for-profit hospitals and healthcare systems, which operate nearly 1,500 hospitals and thousands of other healthcare sites nationwide.

As a result of Canon's unique technology offering, Premier's Imaging Committee members decided to invoke the Technology Breakthroughs Clause contained in Premier's existing contracts with healthcare service providers making it possible for Premier's member hospitals to purchase Canon's Portable DR System.

The Canon DR solutions that Premier members can use include:

--Portable DR Solutions - Earlier this year, Canon received Frost & Sullivan's 2005 Customer Value Enhancement Award in Medical Imaging for successfully bringing innovative, portable, cost effective DR to the market and expanding the adoption of the technology. Canon delivered the industry's first portable DR system - the Canon CXDI-31 - in 2001. The second generation portable DR system - the Canon CXDI-50G - is a light-weight, large imaging area (14" x 17") DR system that was recently honored with a 2005 Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) from the Industrial Designers Society of America and BusinessWeek Magazine. Both portable systems bring affordable DR technology to more applications than ever before, including trauma, orthopedic, ICU and bedside imaging.

--Canon DR Image Viewer Software - This economical and fully-scalable solution provides the user with pixel-to-pixel display of individual or multiple high-resolution Canon DR images. Ideal for orthopedic clinics, the Canon DR Image Viewer features pan, zoom and measurement tools such as cobb angles. In addition, its optional stitching application makes it ideal for scoliosis and long leg imaging.

--Canon Mobile Access Station System - The Mobile Access Station is designed and engineered for facilities that have limited network capability, but have the need for a portable DR solution. The Canon Mobile Access Station helps to improve workflow of patient data transfer on portable digital x-ray units and helps meet productivity demands of trauma, ICU and bedside care.

Since 1997, Canon Medical Systems has introduced five generations of flat panel sensors (Canon CXDI-11, Canon CXDI-22, Canon CXDI-31, Canon CXDI-40G and Canon CXDI-50G), offering a full range of DR system solutions for various applications.

Canon DR systems help to reduce exam times, increase patient throughput and contribute to substantial cost and labor savings. These flat panel digital sensors use Canon Amorphous Silicon (a-SI) technology, helping to provide high image quality and consistent image output. Canon Medical Systems has more than 800 DR sensor panels installed throughout Canada, the United States and Latin America, part of more than 2,500 DR systems that have been installed worldwide by the Canon family of companies.

About Premier, Inc.

Premier, Inc., a leader in helping hospitals accelerate performance on both clinical outcomes and supply chain costs, is a healthcare alliance entirely owned by more than 200 of the nation's leading not-for-profit hospital and healthcare systems. These organizations operate or are affiliated with nearly 1,500 hospitals and thousands of other healthcare sites. Premier Purchasing Partners provides an array of services supporting health services delivery including group purchasing totaling more than $25 billion annually in supplies and equipment purchasing, as well as supply chain and clinical performance improvement services. Premier Healthcare Informatics offers performance measurement, benchmarking, and reporting products and advisory services supporting quality improvement. Insurance Management Services helps hospitals manage insurance costs and improve risk management and claims capabilities. Headquartered in San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer, business-to-business, and industrial imaging solutions. The Company is listed as one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies in America and is rated #35 on the BusinessWeek list of "Top 100 Brands." Its parent company Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ) is a top patent holder of technology, ranking third overall in the U.S. in 2004, with global revenues of $33.3 billion. For more information, visit www.usa.canon.com.

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