III-Vs Review

As the medical profession moves towards greater reliance on minimally invasive and noninvasive therapeutic procedures, therapeutic uses of radiation are growing in importance and can often be used to treat a disease or pathology without an incision, or using a very small incision. Radiation equipment is also widely used in conjunction with other minimally invasive surgical procedures to guide other instruments

According to the report Radiation-bsed therapy and therapeutic imaging from Business Communications Co Inc, the US market for radiation-based therapy and therapeutic monitoring equipment is projected to rise at an AAGR of 7.6% from $4bn in 2004 to $5.7bn in 2009.

These figures include dental and veterinary applications of therapeutic radiation, but exclude cosmetic uses of radiation such as laser tattoo removal and ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty.

Radiation-based therapy equipment includes equipment that uses ionizing radiation (particle and electromagnetic) as well as non-ionizing radiation (radio frequency, ultrasound, and laser).
Radiotherapy was the largest sub-segment, accounting for 30% of the therapeutic radiation market. Therapeutic RF is the fastest-growing sub-segment of the therapeutic radiation segment, with a projected AAGR of 13.5% between 2004 and 2009, followed by radiotherapy with a projected AAGR of 9.3%.

As a result, while radiotherapy is expected remain the largest therapeutic radiation sub-segment through 2009; RF should increase its share of the market from 19% in 2003 to 25% in 2009. Ultrasound, laser, and brachytherapy are all expected to lose market share over the years through 2009.

The total market for radiation-based therapeutic monitoring equipment was worth $687 million in 2004 and is expected to reach $744m in 2009, an AAGR of about 1.6% between 2004 and 2009.

Ultrasound accounts for the largest share of this market, with a 44.4% market share in 2004. Fluoroscopy was the second-largest segment with 40.9% of the market, followed at a distance by computed tomography and MRI.

Average annual growth rates in individual segments of the therapeutic imaging market range from a low of 0.9% between 2004 and 2009 (fluoroscopy) to a high of 4.2% (MRI). As a result of their different growth rates, different segments' respective market shares are expected to shift significantly by 2009.

Oncology applications accounted for the largest share of the market after general surgical applications. Other major applications were neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery. The fastest-growing applications are projected to be neurosurgery, dentistry, and veterinary medicine.

General surgery is expected to be the slowest-growing segment and its share of the total market is expected to shrink from 51.1% to 41.5%.

This report focuses on the U.S. market for radiation-based therapeutic and therapeutic monitoring devices. However, it is useful to place the U.S. market estimates and projections developed above in their global context.

The total global market is projected to grow from $8.8bn in 2004 to $13.6bn in 2009 at an AAGR of 10.2% through the forecast period.