Asia Pacific Digital and Computed Radiography Equipment Markets

Research Overview

This Frost & Sullivan research service entitled Asia Pacific Digital and Computed Radiography Markets provides an overview of the entire digital X-Ray markets in Asia, with extensive discussions on the market drivers and restraints and industry challenges for DR and CR radiography markets. It offers strategic recommendations to address the major challenges and provides detailed analysis based on end-user adoption, utilization rates, and procedural volumes. In this research service, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the following markets/applications/technologies: DR (flat-panel, CCD, CMOS, and storage phosphor detectors), CR (single- and multi-plate scanners), and tiers of end users (hospitals, imaging centers, and so on).

Market Sectors

Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:

Digital Radiography:

• Flat-panel
• Charge-couple devices (CCDs)
• Complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)
• Storage phosphor

Computed Radiography:

• Single-plate scanners
• Multiple-plate scanners

Technologies

The following technologies are covered in this research:

• Flat-panel Detectors (amorphous silicon or selenium): Flat-panel detectors are thin-film transistors using a scintillator coated with cesium iodide (CsI) that use either aSi or aSe to capture X-ray diffraction. Photodiodes convert captured X-Rays into electrical charge, which are then converted into visible light.
• Charge-couple Device (CCD) Detectors: CCDs are detectors that are coupled with scintillating phosphor and optically connected fiber that spans the imaging area. CCD tiles are bonded together in various optical arrangements such that the entire imaging area can be read. Used in optics for well over 40 years, CCD is a proven technology that guarantees dependable image qualities and high production scaling to meet the increasing demands.
• Complementary Metal-oxide Semiconductor (CMOS): CMOS are chips incorporated into computers that are capable of long-term image storage, using very little power. Hundreds of CMOS chips are incorporated with arrays of photodiode sensors that capture and store X-Ray photos.
• Storage Phosphor (Cassette-less systems): X-Rays are trapped in a detector plate composed of storage phosphor that produces images once lasers strike the plates to reduce valence states of highly charged electrons.

Market Overview

Increasing Move from Analog to Digital X-Rays in Asia

Across Asia, countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong are increasingly moving away from traditional film-based X-rays to the more sophisticated digital and computed radiography (DR/CR). In 2005, China and Japan constituted the largest markets for DR and CR, respectively, in the Asia-Pacific region. Since 2002, unit shipments of DR and CR have increased by around 20 to 30 percent, reflecting the rising demand for these systems. The combined revenues of the DR and CR markets have also increased significantly from $194.3 million in 2002 to $301.3 million in 2005. This growth in market revenues is largely due to the higher adoption rates of DR, with countries such as China offering strong incentives for their medical facilities to shift from conventional analog systems.

"Thus, the transition from analog to digital radiography is steadily gaining acceptance in Asia," remarks the analyst of this research service. "With facilities starting to implement picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) networks and having already installed other digital imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the move to digital X-rays is a natural next step in the progression toward completely digital imaging environments."

Integrated Information Management Systems Essential for Growth of DR/CR Markets

Although most of the economically advanced countries in Asia have adopted PACS solutions to accommodate DR or CR, the lack of integrated information management systems combined with high prices pose a challenge to widespread market penetration of DR and CR in the Asia Pacific region. The benefits of DR and CR such as enhanced productivity over film-based radiography will be tangible only if medical facilities have electronic information management systems to accurately store and retrieve patient information.

Most healthcare facilities in Asia, especially in the less technologically advanced countries, use traditional film radiographs that are filed into a folder. In facilities without PACS, either a printout of the digital scan is offered on a film or the film X-Ray is scanned with a digitizer to produce a digital image. "Both these procedures are bound to lose the high-quality resolution that DR and CR systems offer in comparison to analog X-Ray," notes the analyst. "Hence, installing or updating information management systems and IT infrastructure are some of the primary goals of DR and CR manufacturers to eventually incorporate imaging modality that can rely solely on electronic information transfer."