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Rising Cancer and Heart Disease Cases Propelling Usage of CT Scanners

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Rising Cancer and Heart Disease Cases Propelling Usage of CT Scanners

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), 17.9 million people die of heart diseases and 9.6 million of cancer each year. Those who succumb to or survive such diseases experience long-term discomfort, and the quality of their life is severely destroyed. Hence, the focus of the global healthcare fraternity on their effective diagnosis, so that the appropriate care regimen can be initiated, is rising. A variety of tests are done at hospitals and diagnostic centers for the detection, staging, and treatment evaluation for these and many other diseases. 


Therefore, with the rising number of people requiring diagnostic tests, the computed tomography (CT) market is expected to witness a steady 5.0% CAGR between 2016 and 2022, since generating $4,894.3 million in 2015, according to P&S Intelligence. A CT machine is one of the most-useful tools at medical centers to scan the insides of the body. It uses X-rays to create pictures of bones, muscles, tissues, organs, and blood vessels, so that the issues related to them can be identified. 


One of the main purposes a CT is used for is looking for internal trauma, such as internal bleeding and brain injuries. As per the WHO, almost 1.3 million people die of road accidents each year. Since road accidents lead to some of the nastiest injuries, CTs are extensively used in emergency settings to evaluate the condition of the victim. In such places, where time is short, a CT is usually preferred over a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, as the former can generate images within minutes, while an MRI can take up to 40 minutes to create images.


Apart from helping in the diagnosis, CTs also help doctors in assessing the effect of treatments and in several medical procedures. For instance, minimally invasive surgeries (MIS), which are becoming increasingly common with time, are centered on the principle of as minute incisions as possible. But, as the doctor still needs to see inside the body, CTs can be used to guide the surgeon. Similarly, CT-guided biopsies and radiation therapies are also increasing in volume, especially with the rising incidence of cancer.


When doing a CT, a key term radiologists use is ‘slice’. CT scanners can range from one to 320 slices! A slice is the number of layers the scanner can break the body into. It is literally like slicing a loaf of bread to check if it has gone bad inside. How many slices a CT should have is a matter of debate, with some radiologists insisting that a cost-effective 64-slice CT is as good (for cardiac diagnosis) as an expensive 256-slice variant.


However, the demand for high-slice CTs is still expected to increase fast in the coming years, as their potential usage for more applications than before is evaluated. For instance, owing to their ability to scan the entire heart in 0.5 seconds, 320-slice CTs might be a better option for cardiac perfusion imaging than 64-slice variants and for adenosine stress imaging, currently done by MRIs and positron emission tomography (PET) systems. For the same reason, high-slice CTs could also be used for the perfusion imaging of the brain and liver, thus allowing multiple departments of a hospital to share one system. 


Presently, North America is the most-productive computed tomography market on account of the rising incidence of chronic diseases, especially heart diseases and cancer, booming geriatric population, increasing healthcare spending, and improving healthcare facilities. Apart from North America, the demand for CT systems is set to grow rapidly in Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the future, due to almost the same reasons. Moreover, to offer quality healthcare, governments of APAC countries are taking measures to construct new hospitals and procure advanced CT machines and other systems.


Thus, as the awareness regarding the early and effective diagnosis of diseases increases, so will the procurement of CT systems by medical centers around the world. 


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