Drastic Change in X-Ray Market as Digital Systems Surpass Traditional Ones

A market report estimates that digital X-ray system sales will exceed those of conventional X-ray systems used for a medical (nondental) purpose in 2011.

According to the healthcare market research publisher, revenues for digital X-ray systems are the largest component of the USD 12 billion radiography market, slightly higher than the firm’s projection for traditional systems. Kalorama Information (New York, USA), an international market research company, noted in a new report that digital X-ray will show the highest growth in the radiography market, which includes mammography, fluoroscopy, dental imaging, computed tomography (CT), and analog X-ray systems.

The report stated that it is initially expensive to purchase a digital X-ray system such as the Philips Healthcare (Best, The Netherlands) DigitalDiagnost, the Siemens Healthcare (Erlangen, Germany) Axiom Multix, or systems from several other companies. However, with continued use, operating costs are lower than with standard radiography. Digital systems do not require film and processing, the yearly cost of which can be as great as the capital cost of conventional radiographic equipment. Moreover, once a digital system is installed, large film storage facilities are no longer needed.

“The initial cost of buying a digital system is several times higher than a conventional system,” said Joe Constance, the report’s author and imaging analyst for Kalorama Information. “But the high cost can be justified, particularly in a high volume setting.”

Kalorama found that it is not the cost savings but convenience and usability that are especially driving system sales. Diagnosticians can retrieve digital X-rays nearly instantly from a computer terminal. The effort to digitize diagnostic imaging is closely tied to the movement to drive health care efficiency through the digitization of health care records--electronic medical records (EMRs). As a result of progressively increasing digital business, radiology equipment manufacturers that once had considerable involvement in film and film-related technologies have been investing in alternative digital technologies.

The report also noted changes in the competitors operating in X-ray equipment. Because advances rely greatly on funding, large companies with flexible budgets for research and development have owned a sizable percentage of the market. But others, such as Kodak (Rochester, NY, USA), have left the business. That company decided to focus its attention on the significant digital growth opportunities in consumer and professional imaging and graphic communications.

Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com, supplies independent medical market research in diagnostics, biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and healthcare; as well as custom research services.

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