CT and MRI studies expected to hit $45 million this year

Nuclear cardiac perfusion studies are growing “by leaps and bounds,” according to an industry analyst, while cardiac MR and cardiac CT hover around 1% of total studies in those modalities.

In 1993, cardiac perfusion studies made up only 38% of all perfusion studies, but the share grew to 45% by 1997, according to a new report by the Technology Marketing Group, which conducts market research with an emphasis on medical imaging. Although nuclear medicine overall grew by only 7% from 1996 to 1997, nuclear cardiac perfusion studies grew by 17% that same year.

Between 1998 and 2000, the combined volume of CT and MR procedures in the U.S. will climb to nearly 45 million, according to TMG projections. This figure would mean a 15% increase for CT and 20% for MR over the two-year period.

“In 1996 there were 22.6 million CT procedures, of which 200,000 were cardiac or vascular,” said Mitch Goldburgh, TMG’s general manager. “That (CT) number had grown by half again as much to 300,000 out of 26.3 million total procedures by 1998, but again, just around 1% of the total.”

Total MR procedures grew from 9.8 million in 1996 to 11.9 million in 1998, with the cardiac portion growing from 300,000 to 500,000, or from 3% to 4%.

Procedures involving the head, neck, pelvis, abdomen, chest, or spine dominated CT procedures at 89%, while MR procedures were most likely to involve the head, neck, spine, or extremities (85%).

TMG conducted 42,000 interviews for all its 1999 surveys, Goldburgh said, in order to get 85% to 90% site participation.

“The CT and MRI markets continue to grow at a faster rate than radiology procedure volume in general,” he said. “While procedure volume is growing, continued downward pressure on reimbursement has resulted in a diminished net gain in revenues. New products need to demonstrate expanded capabilities, high throughput, and proof of cost-effectiveness.”