In a recent survey published in Preventive Medicine, the authors reported that mammography screening plummeted by more than 90% during April 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic first hit the USA. That same month, MarketsandMarkets published a report on the global breast imaging market, broken down by technology, users, and forecasts up to 2025. Given the disruptions caused by the pandemic, it is vitally important for breast imaging companies like CapeRay to understand the implications of the changed landscape over the next five years.

Seen below left is a forecast of the global breast imaging market broken down by the five major geographic regions of the world: North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa (© MarketsandMarkets). Sales of breast imaging equipment are estimated to be $4 billion this year and, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8%, will increase to almost $6 billion by 2025. North America, dominated by the USA, has the largest market share, closely followed by the Asia Pacific region and Europe.

The growth in the global market will be driven by factors such as technological innovation, the increasing incidence of breast cancer, the rising number of screening programmes, as well as a heightened awareness of the benefits of early diagnosis. As we highlighted in a blog two years ago, Signify Research reported that screening by ultrasound will increase at a greater CAGR than mammography over the next five years. In terms of geographic regions, Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

The report by MarketsandMarkets also included a review of the key market players. Among these companies a range of growth strategies have been adopted, including the launch of new products, acquisitions, partnerships and agreements. For example, Hologic, with its market leading digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) system, acquired the ultrasound company SuperSonic Imagine, while Fujifilm purchased Hitachi’s medical imaging business.

The Asian country with the greatest challenge in dealing with breast cancer is China. As we reported in May 2019, the country is projected to reach an incidence of 85 cases per 100,000 in 2021, resulting in 2.5 million new cases per annum. There are 720 million Chinese females – of whom half are in the age group that would benefit from screening – and the government will be offering annual breast cancer screening to 90% of eligible women under its Healthy China 2030 programme. This constitutes a significant market opportunity for medical imaging companies, and is good news for the women of China.