"The health care [law] is having a positive impact on the [refurbished] endoscopy business both from a repair perspective as well as from equipment sales," said Voli. "As budgets are cut and payments per procedure are reduced, health care facilities are forced to purchase their equipment at lower prices and many times repair their existing equipment instead of upgrading to later generations."

Dennis Leiner, president of Lighthouse Imaging Corporation, believes the health care reform law will stabilize the endoscopy industry.

"I think we'll see less redundancy in product development," he says. "New products will either solve a medical problem that has not been solved or else the product will reduce costs."

More buzz in endoscopy

Endoscopes are primarily a diagnostic tool, but they are used as an alternative to surgery in some cases as several scopes are instrumental in performing biopsies, repairing sports-related injuries and removing polyps and other growths.




"I believe that the biggest news in endoscopy equipment is the continued aging population who will most likely require more medical procedures to stay healthy along with the reported more than 1 million new cases of colon/rectum cancer a year," said Voli. "The new health care law and the aging population needing more preventive endoscopic screenings have proven to be good for business."

As the expansion of endoscopy procedures make it more useful in helping doctors detect more dangers, the number of people who are helped increases every year. In the past few years, endoscopy has evolved into the choice for invasive procedures in a variety of areas including removal of small tumors and extensive therapies like removal of non-essential organs.

"As more people worldwide become educated and aware of colon cancer and other illnesses affecting the gastrointestinal tract, more people are seeking screening and treatment for these illnesses," says Harvey Buxbaum, president of HMB Endoscopy Products, which offers complete endoscope restorations, refurbishments and repairs. "For this reason, the demand for endoscopy procedures is on the rise."

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