The U.S. breast imaging and mammography market will recover from the recession and double in value over the next decade, as clinics replace old film units and adopt new molecular imaging technologies, according to a new report.
IData Research, a market research firm, estimates the breast imaging market will reach $1 billion by 2017. Hologic Inc. and General Electric Co. lead the market because of sales of their digital mammography equipment, the report said.
Replacing film or analog units with digital ones will drive much of mammography's growth, according to Dr. Kamran Zamanian, CEO of iData. He predicted that most film units would be replaced by digital ones by 2017.
Also driving the market will be breast-specific gamma imaging, developed by Dilon Technologies and Gamma Medica, and positron emission mammography, sold by Naviscan.
"These technologies will experience rapid growth as they may be used for patients who cannot receive a breast MRI, and are less expensive than MRI systems," Zamanian said, in a statement.
The report, part of the three-part series "Markets for Women's Health Devices 2011," also sees the female sterilization market experiencing double-digit growth, thanks to the adoption of transcervical sterilization, a non-surgical procedure that can be performed in a doctor's office. iData predicts by 2017 this will account for nearly all female sterilization procedures, with Conceptus Inc. and Hologic fighting to dominate the market.
