Medical Device Coatings

Report Highlights

The global medical device coating market reached $4.8 billion in 2010 and $5.4 billion in 2011. The market is expected to grow from $5.7 billion in 2012 to nearly $8 billion in 2017, a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7%.

SCOPE AND FORMAT

This study looks at medical device coatings and surface treatments from the perspective of both the supply and demand side of the equation, that is from coating manufacturers who supply the materials, the medical device companies which use it and the members of the healthcare that influence purchases.

Consistent with the scope of the study, the format of this report is arranged to present its five-year forecasts as a series of tables.  Each of those tables presents U.S. current dollar demand values for coatings and surface processes for 2010 and 2011 and a five-year period from 2012 through 2017.  Separate sets of forecasts are presented for the:

• Eight types of coatings and surface treatment technologies.
• 19 healthcare areas that correspond to FDA medical device review panels.
• United States, European Union, other developed nations and the rest of the world.

TECHNOLOGIES

We present forecasts for the seven basic types of coatings plus surface treatment technologies.  Coatings are grouped on the basis of their most distinguishing chemical or physical characteristic.  Surface treatments are defined as those processes that alter the surface of a device without adding a chemical or physical agent.  For example, we characterize chrome plating as a type of alloy coating, rather than a surface treatment.  The eight types of technology addressed in this study are:

• Alloy.
• Ceramic.
• Combination.
• Energy-absorbing.
• Energy-emitting.
• Micro and nano.
• Protective polymer.
• Surface treatment.

HEALTHCARE AREAS

Our forecasts by healthcare area follow the disciplinary divisions used by the FDA in creating its medical device review panels.  The 19 healthcare areas are:

• Anesthesiology.
• Cardiovascular.
• Chemistry.
• Dental.
• Ear, nose and throat.
• Gastroenterology and urology.
• General and plastic surgery.
• General hospital use.
• Hematology.
• Immunology.
• Microbiology
• Neurology.
• Obstetrics and gynecology.
• Ophthalmology.
• Orthopedics.
• Pathology.
• Physical medicine.
• Radiology.
• Toxicology.

COUNTRIES AND REGIONS

In this study we report both global and regional forecast values for the following countries and regions:

• United States.
• European Union.
• Other developed nations.
• The Rest of the world.

The forecast values for the United States include Puerto Rico, a major manufacturing center for many medical devices labeled as made in the United States.  The EU forecast contains only those 27 countries that were full members on March 1, 2012.  Assignment to one of the remaining groups is based on the World Bank’s determination of each economy’s per capita gross national income (GNI) on July 1, 2011.  Other developed nations are those where the per capita GNI is $12,276 and above.  The rest of the world forecast group contains countries for which the World Bank reported a per capita GNI of $12,275 and below.

Each of the 191 countries for which BCC Research deemed there was sufficient forward-looking healthcare information to permit forecasting has been assigned to one and only one regional group.  Thus, the developed nations group excludes the United States and EU member countries.  In tables that identify countries, we use their common rather than formal names; for example, Venezuela rather than The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.  We also distinguish among Communist China-Mainland and its two special administrative regions of China-Hong Kong and China-Macau.  We refer to Taiwan as China-Taiwan.

Analyst Credentials

James Wilson is a technology analyst, who has previously served as editor of the Princeton Business Journal and as senior science and technology editor for Hearst Magazines. He is a past member of the National Association of Science Writers and the American Medical Writers Association. Wilson served on the adjunct faculty of Temple University and on the staffs of Drexel University and the Academy of Natural Sciences.