"Overall, new equipment system sales are down and interest has grown in the value of used equipment. PET/CT procedures continue to grow at about 4% per year and we are starting to enter into a replacement cycle of PET and PET/CT equipment," said Greg Kramer, President, C&G Technologies, Inc., Jeffersonville, IN. "Hospitals, imaging centers and physician practices are looking to the third party market for alternatives in providing high quality equipment and service at a better value. Service contracts represent a significant operational cost for PET/CT equipment. The emergence of competent third-party service companies represents the potential to reduce these operational costs."

"Our sales have continued to grow in the dedicated PET market and now, the refurbished PET/CT market is growing. The first round of PET/CT scanners that were released are now coming out of warranty. We can buy them for a reasonable price, put the money into refurbishing, turn them around to an end user and still be below what the OEMs will want for a new PET/CT," said Kevin McGehee, President, Marquis Medical, LLC, Denham Springs, LA. "The [used] PET/CT market is growing. It's not as hot as dedicated PET. But in the next six months I think you will see PET/CT take off in the refurbished market."

"Some companies are struggling due to lenders being much more reluctant to provide capital. But, those companies with access to capital are able to keep the industry segment healthy through acquisitions and consolidations," says Ray Stachowiak, president of Shared Imaging. "Our own company did an acquisition in 2007. Last year was quiet for us, but I think that this year will be very active for us. I believe it's going to follow the pattern of the mobile MR field over the years. Right now there are literally dozens of companies competing. Over the next few years though, things will consolidate. We'll likely see just a handful in the next five to seven years if not sooner."
Stand-Alone PET Makes a Comeback

Lost in the discussion of the exciting new hybrid PET/CT scanners is the ongoing usefulness of stand-alone PET. This market was abandoned by the larger OEMs several years ago. The refurbishers have largely filled the void. But this created an opportunity for some smaller OEMs to develop new scanners for dedicated applications.

One example is Positron Corporation out of Indianapolis, which has just received FDA 510(k) approval to market its new stand-alone PET system. The Attrius is a dedicated, state-of-the-art PET molecular imaging system designed for cardiac imaging studies. Positron has a joint venture with Neusoft Medical Systems, Shenyang, China, to manufacture the device. The unit is priced somewhere between a refurbished, stand-alone PET and a new PET/CT.

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