The first microelectronic medical implant (MMI) was introduced over 45 years ago and remains to be the best-known pacemaker. Assisting people with weak or failing hearts in living longer, fuller lives has continued to be a major focus of medical implant R&D. The pacemaker has been followed by a variety of other implantable cardiac devices, including defibrillators, loop recorders, heart assists, and even heart replacements.
Neurostimulators, implantable devices that employ the same principles as pacemakers for the purposes of neural stimulation, have also been introduced. Neurostimulators were used initially for pain relief, but are now being used for other neurological indications ranging from the treatment of urge incontinence to preventing epileptic seizures.
Other therapeutic implantable devices have followed, including bone growth stimulators, drug infusion pumps, and ear implants that provide a semblance of hearing for the deaf. Eye implants that can restore limited vision to people with certain types of blindness are under development and may become a commercial reality around the end of this decade.
This report contains:
- Major implant types and applications, both commercial and developmental
- Global market size and segmentation, including historical data on sales by application and implant type
- Market drivers and constraints.
- Detailed market projections through 2012
- Industry structure, competition, and market shares
- Factors that may influence the long-term market for microelectronic implants.
The findings and conclusions of this report are based on information gathered from manufacturers and distributors of microelectronic implants, hospitals, doctors, and other end users. Interview data were combined with information gathered through an extensive review of secondary sources such as trade publications, trade associations, company literature, and online databases to produce the baseline market estimates contained in this report.
The base year for analysis and projection is 2006. In cases where year-end data for 2006 was unavailable, figures were extrapolated from 2005 demand statistics and historical trends.
With 2006 as a baseline, market projections were developed for 2007 to 2012. These projections are based on a combination of a consensus among the primary contacts combined with our understanding of the key market drivers and their impact from a historical and analytical perspective. The analytical methodologies used to generate the market estimates are described in detail in the section on Detailed Market Projections.
All dollar projections presented in this report are in 2006 constant dollars.
The author of this report is Andrew McWilliams. Mr. McWilliams, a partner in the Boston-based international technology and marketing consulting firm of 43rd Parallel, LLC, is the author of several other BCC Research studies of the health care and related industries, including: Plant-Derived Drugs: Products, Technologies and Applications; Trends in the Noninvasive and Minimally Invasive Medical Device Market, Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery, and Patient Monitoring.
Report Code: HLC016C, Published: June 2007, Analyst: Andrew McWilliams
