PET/CT is predominantly used in oncology - with cardiology and urology as two other growing applications. SPECT and SPECT/CT have high utilization in cardiology,with oncology and general imaging as additional diagnostic areas.
In terms of market trends, nuclear medicine technology has experienced a recent downturn by all accounts.
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"Last year we experienced roughly a 28 percent decline in the overall [PET/CT] market. We also expect a further decline this year," observes Markus Lusser, Vice President, Global Sales & Marketing, Molecular Imaging Division, Siemens Medical Solutions. "This is definitely a result of the Deficit Reduction Act
and [reduced] reimbursement of PET/CT. But the [initial impact of] reimbursement is cleared now and we expect by the second half of this year a positive trend upwards."
An illustration of SPECT
cardiac image slices.
Illustration by Patrick J.
Lynch, medical illustrator
"When you look at PET/CT, we see the [U.S.] market roughly in the $300 million range," estimates Henry Hummel, Global PET/CT General Manager, GE Healthcare. "What we felt in 2007 and 2008 was the post-DRAeffect. The entire market felt a pause for a period of time, where before DRA it was very healthy growth.... The good news is that procedures continue to grow, which is great because we really believe that PET/CT has a lot of benefit to patients in terms of giving them a better understanding of what treatments they might need."
The SPECT market is also essentially flat in unit sales but more promising in terms of capital investment dollars being earmarked for the technology, industry experts report.
"We see a strong trend toward higher-end diagnostic SPECT/CT-6 slice to 16 slices. And this is where I see a renaissance in the SPECT arena of higher utilization tied to the referring physicians and increased procedure growth," says Lusser.
The SPECT cardiac imaging market is likely to be driven by the prevalence of heart disease in an aging U.S. population. SPECT/CT is still somewhat new, but the OEMs such as Siemens are investing heavily in radiopharmaceutical research and development for applications specifically designed for SPECT/CT. To date, about one-third of new gamma cameras purchased are SPECT/CTs but it may be only a matter of time before this market gains wider acceptance.
