by
Joanna Padovano, Reporter | March 13, 2012
Beacon Surgical’s
refurbished OR equipment
From the March 2012 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
More and more, technologically advanced hospitals are implementing hybrid operating rooms — a mixture of catheterization lab and traditional OR suite. And advancements don’t come cheaply.
In today’s market, a typical general surgery table is going to set a hospital back around $40,000, estimates Charly Dalbert, director of vocational services, table business and business development for TRUMPF Medical Systems. Depending on the complexity of the table’s functions, the price could be closer to $120,000, says Cynthia Jefferson, marketing manager of lights and booms for MAQUET Medical Systems USA. Typical LED operating room light systems cost between $25,000 and $27,000 on average, says Steve Palmer, TRUMPF's director of marketing.
According to “Operating Room Equipment - Global Opportunity Assessment, Competitive Landscape and Market Forecasts to 2017,” a report published by Global Data in September 2011, the global operating room equipment market, valued at more than $770 million in 2010, is predicted to reach nearly $990 million by 2017. The U.S. operating room equipment market, which is the largest, was valued at $288.8 million in 2010. It is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 3.9 percent to hit $377.2 million in 2017.
Much of this growth is driven by interest in hybrid ORs, the report says. But specifically, the market for OR tables will be fueled by rising demand for specialized surgical tables used for complicated operations, such as hip replacement surgeries. And the market for OR lights will see slight growth due to the transition from halogen to LED lights.
LED outshines halogen
As has been the case for some time now, the preference for halogen lights in the OR equipment has dimmed considerably since the technology’s heyday.
“Halogen is being phased-out,” says TRUMPF’s Palmer, who estimates that 95 percent of all major acute-care hospitals purchasing surgical lights are buying LED. “Probably in about four, five years, you’ll be hard-pressed to see a new halogen surgical light being sold to the major hospitals.”
“For the past five years or so, we’ve seen a preference for LED surgical lighting, especially as LEDs have become more efficient as the technology has evolved,” says Jake Isley, the product manager of Chromophare for Berchtold. “Surgeons appreciate the cool properties LEDs provide.”
There are several advantages to LED lights, with less heat generated being perhaps the most appreciated by those working under their shine. Older halogen lights, according to Palmer, generate more heat and have to filter out ultraviolet and infrared radiation, which is not always 100 percent effective. “LEDs by nature do not have UV or IR characteristics to them,” he says.
