From the April 2013 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Since mobile C-arms are so much cheaper and smaller than their fixed counterparts, they work well to meet the needs of office settings and independent practitioners.
“I think that’s really where you’re going to see most C-arms going in the next few years, at least in terms of peripheral vascular surgery,” he says.
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Fixed C-arms haven’t been usurped
Of course, even as mobile C-arms build their strength and versatility, fixed C-arms still hold an important place in operating rooms, a position mobiles are unlikely to overthrow.
“Mobile C-arms have been improving in many aspects and are continually becoming more capable and versatile,” says Nadim Daher, principal analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “This evolutionary trend, however, is also impacting the higher-end, fixed systems. The latter continue to grow more powerful and full-featured, and thereby are maintaining a clear advantage over their mobile counterparts.”
The rise in spine surgeries, hip replacements and knee replacements that accompany the aging of the United States’ population has also created a greater need for interventional X-ray.
Though fixed C-arms may not face much competition from their wheeled siblings, there are other threats to their dominance, says Daher.
“While interventional X-ray equipment can be used both for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, its use as a diagnostic modality has dropped during the last few years, especially for coronary angiography,” says Daher. “This trend is a consequence of competition from noninvasive imaging techniques such as computed tomography angiography, which are gradually rising as the new standard of care.”
At the same time, some trends in interventional X-ray remain steady. Biplane technology, in which two C-arms rotate around each other to provide a broader scope, continues to hold 20 percent of the market.
The technology remains particularly popular in pediatrics.
Infinix-i Hybrid Lab
(courtesy of Toshiba)
“We can position our C-arms so both are positioned in a way that you have 180 degree open space at the head end of the table, and that’s really important in pediatric labs for the anesthesiologist who wants to be at the head end, or the ultrasound clinician who wants to be at the head of the table to get direct access to the patient,” says Allan Berthe, senior manager of market development for the X-ray/vascular business unit at Toshiba.
Growing interest in hybrid ORs also helps support the interventional X-ray market. Berthe says while more customers are interested in discussing building a hybrid OR than in actually buying one, having the option of purchasing products that would work well as part of a hybrid OR, such as ceiling-mounted C-arms with a mid-size panel, helps customers plan for the future.
