Ultrasound medical devices Global Market estimated to be worth $10.10 billion by 2023

Ultrasound is one of the renowned technologies in the medical field. This safe, non-invasive and non-use of ionizing radiation procedure involves sound waves of higher frequencies waves, (greater than 20,000 Hz) for producing various structural echo patterns of internal body parts. An ultrasound machine during diagnosis, works by bouncing off sound waves when in contact with solid parts of the body. In addition with the diagnosis, ultrasounds are being used to treat medical conditions too and thereby ultrasounds have role to play in therapeutic application. As estimated by IQ4I Research, Ultrasound medical devices global market is expected to grow at a double digit CAGR to reach $10,106 million by 2023.

Rising population of chronic and lifestyle disorder, availability of public-private investments, increasing demand for point of care testing and rising adoption of ultrasound technology in the various fields especially in cardiology, oncology and emergency medicine are the factors driving the market growth. However, some of the factors like lack of skilled professionals, high cost ultrasound devices, stringent regulations and unfavorable reimbursement cuts may hinder the growth of global ultrasound device market.

Advancements and newer technologies like contrast enhanced ultrasound and ultrasound elastography are revolutionizing ultrasound market. Contrast enhanced ultrasound technology which involves microbubble contrast agents and specialized techniques for imaging the blood flow and perfusion within the human body are becoming most popular medical imaging method.  In September 7th, 2016 Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. announced its launch of Aplio 500 Platinum contrast enhanced ultrasound system after the recent approval from FDA for the use of microbubbles. Lumason and SonoVue from Bracco Diagnostics, Inc. (U.S.), Optison from GE Healthcare (U.S) are few FDA approved contrast enhanced ultrasound agents. Siemens Healthcare provides Cadence Contrast Pulse Sequencing (CPS) Technology on its ACUSON Sequoia Ultrasound platform providing detailed images of micro and macro vascularity enhancing lesion characterization. Philips HD11 XE has the versatility to expand into a complete digital imaging technology incorporating contrast imaging to enhance cardiovascular imaging capabilities. Similarly Ultrasound elastography is one of the emerging technologies where stress is applied on the organs to assess the mechanical properties (elasticity) and stiffness of fibrotic and cancerous lesions. Hitachi Medical Corporation has developed Real-Time Tissue Elastography (RTTE) application on its Hi Vision Avius ultrasound platform which differentiates the healthy and malignant tissues of breast, thyroid, prostrate, liver and pancreas. In addition the major players such as Toshiba Medical systems introduced elastography technique in its Aplio MX platform, Philips Healthcare on its iU22 platform and Siemens Healthcare in its ACUSON S2000 ultrasound platform.

The ultrasound medical devices global market is segmented based on their technology, display, portability, application, end users and geography. The market by technology is divided into diagnostic and therapeutic, based on display the market is segmented into black & white and color and based on portability market is divided into trolley/cart based and portable  ultrasound medical devices. The ultrasound medical devices application is further sub-segmented into radiology/general imaging, women’s health, cardiology, point of care, urology, orthopedic, cancer, neurology and others. The radiology/general imaging occupied highest market in ultrasound medical devices application market.

Geographically, European regions held the largest market share where Germany accounted for the largest share, this growth is driven due to its high acceptance of advanced technologies and sophisticated universal treatment facilities. Among North American regions U.S. dominates, the market with the share of 77.9% and is expected to show a strong growth due to the high advanced healthcare facilities, increased growing awareness about the technological advancements, availability of Medicare and third party insurance facilities, easy availability of skilled personnel are driving the market growth. In Asia- Pacific region, Japan has held the largest market share due to its increase in healthcare spending and advancements in healthcare facilities, the easy access to advanced healthcare technology. In RoW regions, Brazil has the largest market share and is expected to grow at the strong rate due to increasing trends of medical tourism, large patient pool, Medicare facilities and increase in technological advancements.

Some of the prominent players in ultrasound medical device market include Analogic Corporation (U.S), Esaote (Italy), Fujifilm Holdings Corporation (Japan), GE Healthcare (U.S.), Hitachi Ltd (Japan), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands), Mindray Medical International Limited (China), Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd (South Korea), Siemens AG (Germany) and Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Japan).