Microelectronic Medical Implants: Products, Technologies and Opportunities

Report Highlights

• The global market for microelectronic medical implants is projected to be $11.9 billion in 2004 and to rise at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 22.1% to $32.3 billion in 2009.
• Cardiac implants by far were the largest market segment in 2003, with sales of $7.2 billion, or more than three-quarters of total sales.
• Neurostimulators were the second largest market segment, with sales of $944 million, but are projected to grow at an AAGR of 39.7%, more than double that of cardiac implants (18.4%).
• The AAGR for accessories and supplies (27.5%) also is expected to outstrip growth of the market as a whole. The slowest-growing market segments likely will be spinal fusion stimulators and implantable drug pumps.
• Eye implants are unlikely to see any commercial sales before 2009.

INTRODUCTION

The microelectronic implant industry has come a long way since the first heart pacemakers appeared on the market in the 1970s. Some products, such as neurostimulators, have evolved directly from the pacemaker. Other devices, such implantable drug infusion pumps, would have been impossible without the development of increasingly sophisticated sensors-on-achip and the miniaturization of mechanical parts and circuitry.

Despite these advances, the product cycle in this industry lags considerably behind the available technology due to the lengthy nature of the clinical testing and approval process for new medical devices. As a result, new products often leapfrog their predecessors in terms of features and capabilities.

This BCC report examines market opportunities for the microelectronic medical implant industry and the technologies that make possible the more advanced products that rapidly are coming into being. The study is both a survey of products on the marketplace and a preview of things to come. It covers the entire global market but provides a greater focus on some segments on the U.S. market because of greater data availability. In such cases, the global implications

SCOPE OF STUDY

The report contains:

• An overview of major implant types and applications, both commercial and developmental
• Global market size and segmentation, including historical data on sales by application and implant type
• Discussion of market drivers and constraints
• Detailed market projections through 2009
• Industry structure, competition and market shares
• Analysis of factors that may influence the long-term market for microelectronic implants.

METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION SOURCES

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 on-line databases to produce the baseline market estimates contained in this report.

The base-year for analysis and projection is 2003. In cases where year-end data for 2003 are not available, figures were extrapolated from 2002 demand statistics and historical trends between 1999 and 2001.

With 2003 as a baseline, market projections were developed for 2004 through 2009. 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 an 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 2003 constant dollars.

ANALYST CREDENTIALS

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 Communications Co. studies of the health care and related industries, including: B-121N Plant-Derived Drugs: Products, Technologies and Applications; GA-109R Functional Foods and Beverages; C-140N Trends in the Noninvasive and Minimally Invasive Medical Device Market and B-182 Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery Market. Mr. McWilliams's recent study, GB-290 Nanotechnology: A Realistic Market Evaluation, also covers medical applications of nanotechnology