Medical Electronics Growth Predictions for Today and Beyond

Medical electronics is one of the strongest sectors in the market, with growth fueled by a variety of factors. 

The global medical electronics market will likely reach $4.41 billion USD by 2022, according to MarketsandMarkets, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4 percent between 2016 and 2022.  Monitoring applications will likely grow at the highest rate during those years.

A report by Visiongain, a business information provider based in London, predicts the global medical devices market will reach $398 billion in 2017.

About Medical Electronics

Medical electronics deal with the design, implementation, and use of electrical equipment and devices for medical purposes, including examination, diagnosis, treatment, care, assistance, and research.

Portable biomedical electronic devices are moving care from hospital environments to patient homes. These devices also move medical examination from the doctor office and laboratory diagnostics to outpatient atmospheres, including patient homes, long-term care facilities, and rehabilitative centers. Medical electronics offer secure access, and promote communication and engagement between patients and doctors.

Factors Sparking Future Growth

Factors that support robust growth include a growing aging population, increases in lifestyle diseases, rising demand for personalized, easy to use and advanced healthcare devices, and the increasing use of wearable medical electronic devices.

The medical electronics market growth is not unfettered, however, as external factors can restrain growth. Perhaps the largest barrier to medical advances is the stringent regulatory process for product approval currently in place. Gaining approval for a new drug can take about 12 years, for example. Fortunately, gaining approval for medical devices is much shorter, only about 3 to 7 years. Still, the rate of approval is much slower than the pace of discovery and developments.

High maintenance and refurbishment costs can also play a role. Medical equipment budgets should include relocation costs, transition rentals, leases, equipment upgrades, information technology (IT) integrations and ancillary expenses. Electronic health record interoperability may be a significant part of the electronic medical equipment budget.

Increasing incomes, higher standards of living, improved health awareness, greater aging populations in developed countries, and the development of health facilities in developing countries are also key factors driving the increase in medical electronics.

The high availability of wires, microcontrollers, display technologies, and memory devices also contribute to growth in this market. Furthermore, there is greater acceptance of electronic medical devices across all age groups; advanced technology appeals to younger users and makes it easier for older patients to self-administer care.

A report by Grand View Research suggests the consumption of respiratory care devices continues to increase and attributes this increase to the growing aging population, lifestyle changes, and the high prevalence of respiratory illnesses. These factors should boost the medical electronic therapeutic segment, as should the introduction of handheld devices. Grand View Research also predicts that the aging population will spur the increasing adoption of therapeutic equipment such as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP),Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM), and oxygen concentrators.

Other factors that may affect market growth include the new administration and changes in legislation, particularly with the Affordable Care Act. Clinical trial requirements for new products from regulatory authorities and from the government may also affect the medical electronics growth, particular in the short term during 2017. In past years, global medical device regulations and approval guidelines have become more stringent in an effort to minimize errors associated with medical devices.

Innovation pushes the market

Innovation drives the medical electronics growth in 2017 and beyond. Recent innovations in the market include the first FDA-cleared prosthetic arm, which gives amputees a powered shoulder and elbow, a wrist capable of multiple movements, and a hand containing four independent motors. Other innovations include credit card sized batteries for use in medical electronic devices, peripheral plug-in gadgets to monitor blood glucose, home testing for chronic kidney disease patients, and smartphone applications that monitor pill regimens.

Non-invasive product market will hold the lion’s share of the medical electronics market by 2022

Non-invasive products grabbed the largest share of the market in 2015. It will likely grow at a high CAGR between 2016 and 2022, and continue to hold onto a large percentage of the medical electronics market during the forecast period.

Manufacturers are concentrating on making portable electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) devices that cardiac patients can use at home. Design features of the most innovative devices improve ease of usage to patients.

Growth in the two main segments of the market

There are two main segments in the medical electronics market, based on their application: diagnostics and monitoring. Growth of the monitoring devices market will likely outpace that of diagnostic devices as the result of increasing use of patient monitoring devices in outpatient settings, such as ambulatory care centers, outpatient care departments, and home care settings.

Portable medical devices, like those used for remote patient monitoring in home healthcare establishments, are increasingly penetrating the market. This increased market penetration will likely contribute to the growth of the medical electronics market in the next year and for years to come.

Asia-Pacific expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2016 and 2022

Of all the regions, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region will likely enjoy the highest CAGR between 2016 and 2022. Major drivers for the medical electronics market in this region include increasing population with sleep apnea and other respiratory diseases, and an aging population.

In terms of technological advancement, healthcare infrastructure, and other factors, Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region. These technological advancements, and increased awareness among consumers in the APAC region, will promote growth in that area of the world.

Still, North America holds the largest market share for medical electronics. The region will likely maintain this position as demand for electronic devices increase, and technological advancements to meet those demands, increase in the region. Perhaps the strongest growth will occur as the result of the rising demand for medical electronics in home treatment and the establishment of well-structured distribution channels in North America.