News Article
Collaboration vital to crack growing medical imaging market
Demand for semiconductors for use in medical imaging is set to almost double over the next five years.
Demand for semiconductors for use in medical imaging is set to almost double over the next five years.
Market analyst Frost & Sullivan is forecasting that the market will expand from around US$1.1 billion in 2003 to just under US$2 billion in 2008 – an annual compound growth rate of around 12.3%.
The company said that the growth would be particularly strong for high-end imaging systems such as ultrasounds and computed tomography scanners. But a spokesman warned that it would not be an easy market for new entrants to break into.
"Semiconductor vendors face a strong challenge in understanding the unique needs of the medical imaging modalities market, and addressing those requirements with the appropriate technology."
For example, medical imaging vendors increasingly demand faster and superior quality imaging. To satisfy this need, semiconductor vendors might have to work at combining one or more technologies in collaboration with other vendors, the spokesman said.
"Building the right partnership in order to offer the best possible technology to their medical imaging clients is, therefore, likely to play a decisive role in the success of semiconductor vendors."
Customers in the medical imaging sector also have very different needs from those in other sectors. Most electronic devices are simply thrown away when they are outdated but medical imaging customers expect their equipment to last many years.
"Since customers consider these expensive systems as a long-term investment, it is essential for semiconductor vendors to develop upgrades regularly and cut down on the time-to-market," said the spokesman.
Since frequent upgrades call for a flexible architecture, the field programmable gate array (FPGA) – which can easily be programmed - is likely to dominate over other technologies in medical imaging.
Market analyst Frost & Sullivan is forecasting that the market will expand from around US$1.1 billion in 2003 to just under US$2 billion in 2008 – an annual compound growth rate of around 12.3%.
The company said that the growth would be particularly strong for high-end imaging systems such as ultrasounds and computed tomography scanners. But a spokesman warned that it would not be an easy market for new entrants to break into.
"Semiconductor vendors face a strong challenge in understanding the unique needs of the medical imaging modalities market, and addressing those requirements with the appropriate technology."
For example, medical imaging vendors increasingly demand faster and superior quality imaging. To satisfy this need, semiconductor vendors might have to work at combining one or more technologies in collaboration with other vendors, the spokesman said.
"Building the right partnership in order to offer the best possible technology to their medical imaging clients is, therefore, likely to play a decisive role in the success of semiconductor vendors."
Customers in the medical imaging sector also have very different needs from those in other sectors. Most electronic devices are simply thrown away when they are outdated but medical imaging customers expect their equipment to last many years.
"Since customers consider these expensive systems as a long-term investment, it is essential for semiconductor vendors to develop upgrades regularly and cut down on the time-to-market," said the spokesman.
Since frequent upgrades call for a flexible architecture, the field programmable gate array (FPGA) – which can easily be programmed - is likely to dominate over other technologies in medical imaging.
