Growth is expected to resume this year in the European market for digital radiography (DR) and computed radiography (CR) after a slowdown in 2009, according to market research firm Frost & Sullivan.
European hospitals and imaging facilities are expected to begin buying digital x-ray systems again as financial capital becomes available, following several years of delayed purchasing, according to Simone Carrone, a research associate for the firm. DR will lead the charge with rapid growth through 2016, while CR will grow more slowly as it is a mature technology, Carrone said in an August 11 press briefing.
The market research firm projects that the DR market will grow from $68 million in 2009 to $111.2 million in 2016, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2%. The CR market will grow from $228 million in 2009 to $237.4 million in 2016, representing a CAGR of 0.6%.
The growing adoption of PACS will drive demand for DR as hospitals look for ways to make digital images available throughout the healthcare enterprise. Also spurring adoption will be a decline in PACS pricing and a growing trend of vendors offering PACS/DR solutions as bundled packages, Carrone said.
Hospitals and private imaging centers see a number of advantages to converting their radiography operations to digital. DR offers increased patient throughput, better image quality, and lower radiation dose, and it improves workflow by allowing images to be reviewed immediately after patient exposure. Image manipulation tools also allow users to process suboptimal images, reducing retakes and patient radiation dose.
Despite the perceived advantages of DR, many facilities have not converted to the technology due to its higher cost relative to CR and the perception that DR is only suitable for sites with high patient throughput. CR has begun to be treated as a commodity, and CR prices saw a sharp decline in 2009 (prices are expected to stabilize in 2010, however, Carrone said).
The advantages of CR include that it's perceived as a technology that's easily integrated into a department's existing workflow, Carrone said. CR requires less staff training and is viewed as more appropriate for low-volume facilities. On the negative side, CR is viewed as having worse image quality than DR, she added.
Geographic hot spots
In general, the European market for CR is saturated, Carrone said, although there is much room for growth in DR. Regions such as Germany, Scandinavia, and the Benelux countries were early adopters of CR, and facilities in these areas are most likely to upgrade to DR. Market growth is expected to be from 7% to 8% in these areas.
Meanwhile, adoption of DR is expected to be slower in the U.K., Italy, Spain, and France. These regions tend to have smaller hospitals and are more interested in continuing with CR.
Factors working against market growth include budgetary problems in many countries that are prompting some governments, such as Spain, to cut back on healthcare spending. On the other hand, a trend in some countries, such as the U.K., to modernize their healthcare systems by adopting healthcare information technology could add impetus to convert radiography to digital.
On the technology side, Frost & Sullivan sees several trends driving both CR and DR:
- CR mammography, in which existing analog mammography systems are outfitted with CR cassettes
- Digital x-ray systems that combine both CR and DR in a single unit
- Mobile and retrofit DR
- Combination DR and digital fluoroscopy systems
- New DR clinical applications including dual-energy imaging, computer-aided detection (CAD), and digital tomosynthesis
"These three technological developments [dual-energy imaging, CAD, and digital tomosynthesis] have great potential in the future once all clinical doubts surrounding these features are addressed," Carrone said.
By Brian Casey
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
August 13, 2010
Related Reading
Study: Global imaging market will rebound, July 7, 2010
PACS to drive DR growth in Europe, June 10, 2010
Ghana's radiology market set to grow, September 15, 2009
European HIS market hits $3.4 billion, September 8, 2009
European healthcare IT outsourcing to grow, August 14, 2009
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