The U.S. diagnostic imaging system market will grow slowly to reach a total size of $4.5 billion by 2017, according to a new report from market research firm Millennium Research Group (MRG).
Growth will be driven by an increase in the volume of procedures required by an aging and increasingly unhealthy population, according to the company. While continued reimbursement cuts and radiation dose concerns have restricted growth, the increasing number of patients and growing demand for minimally invasive surgery will lead to a total market size of $4.5 billion by 2017, Millennium said.
The firm is projecting much stronger growth, however, for a few premium-priced segments such as specialized ultrasound systems and nuclear medicine.
As hospitals replace their older standalone SPECT systems, they will prefer sophisticated SPECT/CT and PET/CT systems that offer diagnostic CT capabilities and high-slice CT components that can perform calcium scoring, Millennium said. Premium prices for those systems are expected to provide growth for this segment through 2017.
In addition, the comparatively low cost of ultrasound systems means that cost-cutting measures will have less effect on their purchases. The ultrasound market is projected to reach $1.8 billion in revenues by 2017, with particular growth in cardiology, radiology, and emerging applications.
Millennium pointed to steadily improving technologies such as 3D/4D real-time applications and volume acquisition on cardiology ultrasound systems. These enable complex image manipulation and thus command premium prices, Millennium said.
A shift in procedure preference from modalities such as CT and MR is also benefiting the market for radiology ultrasound systems, Millennium reported. The company also noted that emerging systems will be the fastest ultrasound segment of all, driven by improved quality, performance, and mobility of compact portable ultrasound systems.
