By Gus Iversen and Tom Dworetzky

The growing number of clinical applications for CT — coupled with an aging population with significant diagnostic needs, and a growing rate of chronic disease — is credited with propelling the global medical CT market to a value of $4.9 billion in 2016.

"Among all medical imaging systems, CT scanners are expected to be the fastest growing imaging equipment segment," said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information, a health care market research source. "Technological developments in the last decade have made it possible to acquire very high quality images in a very short time."


Here are the trends that Carlson and the market analysts at Kalorama Information believe are shaping — or are poised to begin shaping — the CT market.

1. The rise of high slice-count systems

Despite the push to cut health care costs, facilities that have taken the plunge into 256- or 320-slice systems are lauding the superior image quality and saying these deluxe systems lead to better diagnoses in CT angiography, according to the report.

In a perfect value-based world, the improved diagnoses taken from these high powered systems, such as the Aquilion ONE 320 from Toshiba Medical Systems, would be reflected in higher reimbursement.

Still, the report warns that although high slice-count systems are turning lots of heads and generating curiosity, there are still many imaging facilities that wonder if the higher price tag justifies the benefits — particularly when a 64-slice system, for example, can still make a cardiac diagnosis.


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