Electroceutical Devices Global Market estimated to be worth $44.3 billion by 2022
Electroceuticals are medical devices which make use of electrical impulse to stimulate nerves and tissue to relieve or alleviate various conditions of the body. Electroceuticals are emerging as an alternative to pharmaceuticals as they are highly target specific and affect the body electrically rather affecting the chemistry of body, in case of the use of pills which in turn leads to various side effects. The electroceutical devices market is expanding at a steady rate. The electroceutical devices global market is expected to grow at a high CAGR to reach $44,336 million in 2022. Growing prevalence of medical conditions related to central nervous system for e.g. Parkinson, depression etc, increase in aging population prone to chronic medical conditions, increase in research and development investments for electroceutical and cost effectiveness of the therapy are driving the market growth. According to World Health Organization (WHO), the world’s population of over 60 years is estimated to increase from 12% of overall population in 2015 to about 22% by 2050 and it is projected that by 2020, the aged group will outnumber children younger than 5 years this due to rising life expectancy and falling birth rates.
However, the electroceutical devices are clunky & imprecise, the use needs shocking large areas of neural tissue to stimulate the desired response and mode of action is still a trail & error method are the factors hindering the growth of the market. The lack of self regulating measurement, miniaturization in terms of electrodes or chip which can interface with single nerve and the devices must be wireless with elimination of traditional batteries are some of the challenges faced by electroceutical market.
The electroceutical devices global market is segmented into internal and external electroceutical devices based on the type. The Internal electroceutical devices are designed to deliver electrical currents through an electrode (leads) that are placed inside the body through traditional or minimally invasive procedures. External electroceutical is another type of neuromodulation/neurostimulation where the stimulation device are either placed or moved at specific locations over the body to deliver therapy.
The internal electroceutical segment held the largest market revenue in 2015 and is expected to grow by 2022 growing at a high CAGR from 2015 to 2022 due to technological advancement in wireless micro current stimulation, wearable pain management technology, miniaturization etc.
The internal electroceutical devices is again classified into Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS), Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS), Sacral Nerve Stimulation (SNS) and others which includes Gastric Electric Stimulation (GES), Respiratory Electrical Stimulation (RES), cardiac pacemakers, Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), cochlear implants. External electroceutical devices are classified as Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), External Pacemakers, External Defibrillators and others based on technology.
Based on the application the electroceutical devices market is segmented into pain management, central nervous system, gastroenterology & Urology, hearing aids, cardiology and others. Based on end-users the market is segmented into hospitals and home-care. Among end-users, hospitals held the largest revenue in 2015 and are expected to growth at a high CAGR from 2015 to 2022.
The electroceutical devices global market based on geography is divided into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the world. North American region commanded the largest revenue market expected to grow at a moderate CAGR. Favourable reimbursement coverage and high investments in healthcare infrastructures have led the market growth in this region. However, Asia- Pacific region is expected to grow at the highest CAGR 2015 to 2022 due to increased healthcare awareness, improved economic growth and increasing government funding, large patient pool and rising aged population with increased surgeries.
The existing demerits of pharmaceuticals have paved the way for development electroceuticals which affect the body electrically and are highly target specific. Investment in research and development plays a significant role in the growth of devices or products. British drug Maker Company GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) a pharmaceutical giant has invested $50 million in its action potential venture fund on five start-ups companies for conducting research on electroceutical and $5 million for its own Bioelectronic research centre at GSK and has forged collaborations with 40 research universities. GSK has funded approximately 33 electroceuticals that are mostly in early research stages. GSK currently has early prototypes in animal testing and plans to start human trials using third-party devices in 2017 and planning to begin its own electroceutical devices by 2019. Recently in August 2016 GSK and Google spinoff Verily Life Sciences entered a joint venture to form Galvani Bioelectronics that will work on research, development and commercialisation of bioelectronic or electroceutical devices. GSK and Verily Life Sciences would provide funding close to $715 million over 7 years. Initial research is concentrated on treating inflammatory, metabolic and endocrine disorders, type 2 diabete and disease caused by zapping nerves. National Institute of Health (NIH) of U.S is investing heavily in development of electroceuticals. NIH has announced funds of $248 million for development of electroceuticals.
In the coming years, the technological advancements such as introduction of organ regeneration apart from tissue regeneration for treating wound care, multi point pacing technology, wireless micro-current stimulation, wearable devices and miniaturized devices would change the therapeutic approach of electroceutical device use.
Major players in electroceutical devices market include Medtronic (Ireland), Boston Scientific (U.S.), LivaNova (U.S.), St. Jude Medical (U.S.), NeuroMetrix, Inc (U.S.), Nevro Corporation (U.S.), DJO Global (U.S.), Enteromedics (U.S.), Biotronik (Germany), Philips (Netherland) and Cochlear Ltd (Australia).