Digital Radiology Market to Reach $356 million by 2007

The growing market for direct-digital radiography (DR) equipment is projected to reach US$356 million by 2007, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan (US and European Digital Radiography Markets).

More than 200,000 conventional x-ray machines are currently installed in North America and Western Europe. If manufacturers can persuade customers to replace even a modest fraction of these with DR systems over the next five years, total revenues would soar to more than $1 billion.

Developing countries such as Poland, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic have the opportunity to skip several stages of technologic development in making their first investment in DR. They can replace their 1960s medical imaging technology with 2001 technology. Although the initial cost is high, DR offers lower operating costs because film, chemicals, developing time, and low throughput are all eliminated. The current market for DR is being developed through increasing awareness of DR technology and the implementation of PACS and other infrastructure needs.

Frost & Sullivan analysts say detector technology appears to be the least important selection criteria when purchasing DR equipment. As long as the equipment delivers all the desired attributes, it does not seem to matter whether it uses charged couple detectors (CCD) or an amorphous-element flat panel. This has been proven by Swissray International, Inc. (Hochdorf, Switzerland), whose best-selling line of DR products are based solely on CCD chips, despite efforts of major competitors to convince end users that flat amorphous-element detectors are superior. Recently, Frost & Sullivan presented its Market Penetration Leadership Award to Swissray for capturing 47.7% of the US and European DR market. Swissray has the most extensive DR offerings of any manufacturer in the industry, says Frost & Sullivan. The other major players in this market are Siemens Medical Systems (15.8%), Philips Medical Systems (14.3%), and Hologic, Inc. (12.1%).

Although computed radiography (CR) has been available for 18 years, the technology is considered inferior to DR. The storage phosphor screens require periodic replacement, there is only a marginal improvement in throughput over conventional x-ray equipment, and while CR performance has become comparable to film, it may be inferior to the best DR models. Ultimately, say Frost & Sullivan analysts, as the price of DR begins to drop to more competitive levels, DR's higher productivity will attract more and more CR users. In the meantime, because of the formidable barriers to entry, there is little risk of cheap substitutes for DR suddenly coming onto the scene.


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