Thomas said he deals with his voluminous e-mail inbox every Friday.

"I use as few words as possible. I train people to ask their question in the first line. I then decide whether I want to read the detail."

Despite having huge responsibility, Thomas never expected to find himself where he is.

"I enjoyed being a hippy when I was younger," said the former rock band roadie who has 14,000 songs on his computer "all legally downloaded".

He planned to see Doctor John playing while in Beijing and lists his favorite band as The Band, Bob Dylan's one-time backers. His favorite song is Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb with Gary Gilmour on guitar. When not fishing, he likes to go to rock concerts and listen to jazz to relax. Going to the gym is not on his agenda.

So what is the outlook for Cook Medical in the Asia-Pacific region?

"There's a real buzz about the healthcare industry in the region," said Thomas.

"We are thrilled to be a part of this extraordinary success story. My work takes me to countries all over the region and everywhere I go I sense a positive feeling about healthcare.

"The region is enjoying tremendous economic growth. Governments are investing in healthcare and, in doing so, are presenting us with opportunities, both in the business and in the humanitarian sense.

"We have a name that attracts the best people in the industry and, together, we have achieved exponential sales growth in the region. The region's need for improved healthcare is one of the highest in the world and the number of people who stand to benefit from our expertise and the health solutions we provide are considerable."

Cook Medical was the first manufacturing company to produce wire guides and catheters in the United States and the first to introduce percutaneous catheterization products in the Asia-Pacific region.

Cook Medical made its first foray into Asia in the late 1960s, using a distributor to sell products in Japan and gradually expanded over the continent over the next 40 years.

The company was started in the spare bedroom of the home of Bill and Gayle Cook in Bloomington, Indiana in 1963.

Bill, a biologist, began building wire guides, needles and catheters for use in medical procedures while his wife took care of bookkeeping and distribution.

That year he met the man known as the father of angioplasty, Dr Charles Dotter, in Chicago and began making wires and catheter's to his specifications.

On Jan 16, 1964, Dr Dotter performed the first transluminal angioplasty using a Cook device. In doing so, he revolutionized cardiovascular and vascular intervention surgery.

In 2008, Cook Medical opened its Asia-Pacific distribution center with a 1,500 square meter warehouse in Shanghai. This was expanded to 3,500 square meters last year and within months, capacity reached 300,000 units a month with 600 categories of Cook products.

Cook Medical employs 740 people in the Asia-Pacific region and 116 in China with sales rising from $50 million in 2002 to $252 million in 2010.

Sales in the region accounted for 15 percent of global sales and 40 percent of total growth in 2010. It does not as yet conduct research and development in China but plans to.

markdesmondhughes@chinadaily.com.cn