Each year, cancer kills 9.6 million people, while heart diseases (CVDs) kill 17.9 million people, says the World Health Organization (WHO). These massive mortality rates and incidence of chronic diseases are leading to more hospitalizations each year, which is giving a strong push to the global healthcare industry. New medical facilities are being constructed, while the existing ones are being advanced and expanded. Now, one of the most essential steps to treating any disease, chronic or acute, is effective diagnosis.
Because of the increasing hospitalizations and rising public awareness about effective diagnosis, the demand for medical imaging tests is growing. P&S Intelligence credits these two factors while projecting a massive increase in the portable ultrasound device market size in the years to come. An ultrasound scanner is one of the most common pieces of equipment at medical centers, as it helps doctors look inside the body for anomalies. Apart from the incidence of disease, the population is growing too, and regular ultrasound studies are one of the most important aspects of the prenatal regimen.
With time, ultrasound devices have undergone immense technological advancements, which have led to their reduced sizes. Now, portable ones are being preferred over those large and bulky variants that could not be transported from one room in a hospital to another. The small size of these devices has enabled point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) applications, wherein instead of the patients going to the radiology lab, the ultrasound comes to them. This is a boon for people who are unable to leave their homes, such as the elderly and those in an incapacitated state.
Even though the preference for homecare is rising, portable ultrasound devices are still majorly used at hospitals and diagnostic centers. Till 10–15 years ago, hospitals were the major users of such equipment, as diagnostic centers hadn’t become that popular as a concept yet. Now, the latter are becoming increasingly popular, as they offer diagnostic imaging services at much lower prices than a full-fledged tertiary-care facility. Plus, at hospitals, the admitted patients might be given preference, so those who visit them merely for a scan might have to wait for days, weeks even.
Presently, Europe is the largest portable ultrasound device market due to the increasing healthcare spending and rising prevalence of chronic diseases. Plus, the PoCUS concept is already blossoming in the continent, which is leading to the rising sales of such medical imaging devices. Apart from Europe, the industry also has a bright future in North America, which accounts for a rather high per capita healthcare spending and the most-advanced medical infrastructure in the world. Moreover, government reimbursement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid make healthcare cost-effective and easily accessible.
Hence, as the number of people being hospitalized increases and healthcare infrastructure improves around the world, the use of portable ultrasound will rise too.
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