This Frost & Sullivan research service titled Strategic Analysis of the Medical Imaging Industry in Kenya provides growth forecasts, competitor analysis and examines areas of growth or opportunity. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the following markets: ultrasounds (differentiating between 2D and 3D/4D systems), CT scans (single-slice and multi-slice) and x-rays including analogue radiography (AR) and digital radiography (DR).
Market Overview
Digital X-ray Systems Gain Popularity
The medical imaging market in Kenya is poised to continue on a path of steady growth in the medium to long terms, driven by an aging population demanding greater access to imaging and diagnostic procedures. Price sensitivity and competition in the imaging market, however, remain high due to the sizeable capital investment required to purchase imaging systems and the financial constraints faced by many healthcare institutions in the country. Despite global financial pressures, the Kenyan government launched an initiative in 2007 to replace old equipment and acquire new imaging technologies in public facilities. This initiative, together with the increased training provided to radiologists in Kenya, will act as definite drivers of growth in this market.
“Growth in the x-ray market will be driven mainly by the installation of digital systems as well as the introduction of picture archiving communication systems (PACS) to the Kenyan market,” notes the analyst of this research. “Doctors and patients in Kenya are becoming more aware of the benefits of digital x-ray systems, hence placing a greater demand on authorities to upgrade hospitals’ existing AR systems to digital ones.” With digital x-rays, radiologists can manipulate images at the time of viewing and can improve contrast for a better image. Although traditional AR systems still account for a dominant share of the market, growth in the medium term is expected to be driven by high adoption rates of computed radiography (CR) systems in an effort to digitise existing x-ray systems. “Over the long term, higher adoption of DR systems are expected since this technology significantly lessens the waiting time for both patients and radiologists as well as has a much lower repeat rate,” adds the analyst. “The growing adoption rates of PACS integrated with a DR systems is expected, since this would help healthcare facilities to store and transfer digital images as well as allow an easy transition from analogue to digital.”
Concerns about Effects of Radiation Caused by X-ray Screening Cast a Shadow
Concerns about the effects of radiation caused by x-ray screening are growing in Kenya. These rising concerns are related to improved education and improved awareness about the effects of radiation and also due to the increased cases of cancer detected in the country. “Mounting concerns about the radiation effects derived from imaging devices such as x-rays is causing patients to hesitate about coming for repetitive scans,” remarks the analyst. “The risk of developing cancer is considerably increased when exposed to repetitive radiation.”
Apprehensions about the effects of radiation can be alleviated by efforts to control radiation. This includes training of radiologists in dose reduction software and hardware. Doctors also need to be educated to refrain from prescribing repetitive scans when it is not absolutely necessary. Encouraging healthcare institutions to invest in the use of digital technologies will further enable them to be able to control the dose of radiation emitted during scans more effectively. Accordingly, the Kenyan government needs to take the initiative in improving patient care and diagnostics by providing public hospitals with enhanced technologies such as digital x-rays. This will support improvements in both image quality as well as enable radiation doses to be lowered.
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