Nuclear medicine procedures grow 7%

Market research firm Technology Marketing Group of Des Plaines, IL, reported this month that nuclear medicine procedure volume climbed almost 7% in the U.S. in 1997, with the number of studies performed growing from 12.1 million in 1996 to 12.9 million last year. Nuclear cardiology perfusion studies grew 17% over 1996, TMG reported. Cardiovascular studies make up 45% of overall nuclear medicine procedures, up from 38% in 1993.

TMG's data were based on surveys of more than 5600 nuclear medicine facilities, with 94% of the country's hospital nuclear medicine departments and 85% of independent sites responding. TMG reports that the U.S. gamma camera installed base stands at approximately 11,000 units, with more than half of those installed before 1993.