The Impact of the Top 3 Strategic Imperatives on the Mobile Imaging Equipment Industry

Transformative Mega Trends

Why

• Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the use of telemedicine and remote monitoring has increased globally.
• Health departments in developed and developing markets are conducting large-scale public screening programs and implementing strategies to increase healthcare access in remote areas. These trends will drive the adoption of mobile imaging equipment.

Frost Perspective

• Equipment providers must collaborate with healthcare institutions in emerging markets and remote communities with few trained healthcare personnel to develop solutions that suit their resources, ensuring access to low-cost portable equipment.

Competitive Intensity

Why

• While the major players, such as GE Healthcare, Siemens, and Philips, dominate most medical imaging modalities, mobile imaging devices are highly competitive, especially for ultrasound and digital X-ray.
• Competition in these segments is growing globally, with many companies emerging in Asia–Pacific (APAC).

Frost Perspective

• Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and start-ups are developing portable/mobile medical imaging equipment for use in multiple clinical settings and various indications, and investor funding and government grants will intensify competition in the market.

Disruptive Technologies

Why

• New start-ups are innovating and launching mobile medical imaging equipment, such as mobile computed tomography (CT) and mobile MRI. These machines have received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in recent years.
• Advances in new technologies, such as AI, the 5th generation mobile network (5G), and the cloud, are expanding healthcare access through POC imaging equipment, disrupting the medical imaging market.

Frost Perspective

• Radiology departments are increasingly adopting mobile MRI and CT. Hospitals in the United States and other parts of the world are using POC imaging in intensive care units (ICUs), emergency rooms (ERs), and operating rooms (ORs) because the equipment provides diagnostic information quickly while minimizing transportation requirements and discomfort to patients.

Market Segmentation

Mobile Medical Imaging Systems

Mobile Ultrasound Scanners

• In mobile POC ultrasonography (POCUS), the attending physician (not necessarily a radiologist or cardiologist) acquires, interprets, and integrates ultrasonographic imaging as a bedside test.

• Manufacturers include GE HealthCare, Clarius Mobile Health, Exo Imaging, Inc, Butterfly Network Inc., EchoNous Inc., and Healcerion Co. Ltd.

Mobile CT Scanners

• Mobile CT imaging systems (also called portable CT scanners or POC-CT scanners) are compact, lightweight devices with motorized wheels, enabling easy transport to the patient’s bedside.

• Manufacturers include Siemens Healthineers AG, Micro-X Limited, NeuroLogica Corp., and Xoran Technologies, LLC.

Mobile X-ray Scanners

• Healthcare professionals use mobile X-ray scanners at outpatient locations that do not have access to a conventional fixed radiographic machine or with patients who are immobile and cannot travel to the radiology department.

• Mobile X-ray scanners weigh less than fixed X-ray machines and can be wheeled or handheld.

• Manufacturers include itie Knowledge Solutions, Canon Medical Systems Corporation, Fujifilm Corporation, Micro-X Limited, OXOS Medical Inc., and GE HealthCare.

Mobile MRI Scanners

• Mobile MRI scanners (also called POC MRI systems or portable MRI [pMRI] systems) are portable platforms that are low in magnetic field strength (64 milliTesla [mT]–1.5 tesla [T]). Users can easily transport, position, and operate these machines.

• Manufacturers include Hyperfine, Inc. Promaxo, Inc., Synaptive Medical Inc., and DeepSpin GmbH.

Growth Drivers

• The incidence of chronic diseases and the size of the aging global population are increasing. The World Health Organization estimates that the population over age 60 years will be approximately 1.4 billion and will increase to more than 2.1 billion by 2050. Chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and respiratory illnesses, will account for more than 86% of the 90 million deaths annually by 2050. This will drive the demand for mobile medical imaging.
• The growth of remote healthcare and telemedicine will drive the uptake of mobile medical imaging equipment.
• Mobile/At-home medical imaging services have increased globally, especially since COVID-19. This will drive the use of portable POC imaging services, such as portable digital X-rays and portable ultrasound.
• Hospitals will invest in mobile medical imaging equipment to free up capacity of conventional imaging devices.
• Opportunities exist for healthcare investments in low-cost portable medical imaging equipment in markets that do not have the financial resources for expensive conventional equipment.

Growth Restraints

• Portable equipment’s small bore size increases scan-related anxiety in patients.
• Lower image quality than conventional imaging equipment may limit its clinical application areas.
• Mobile imaging devices pose high cybersecurity risks because of exposure to unsecured mobile networks and the potential for theft or equipment falling into the wrong hands.
• Frequent use of mobile imaging equipment increases the risk of spreading infection without the adoption of proper disinfection methods.
• Operator fatigue, improper positioning, or patient movement during scanning may affect scan quality.