BENEFITS OFFSET COSTS OF MAGNETIC IMAGING SYSTEMS
While the costs of purchasing and installing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems are prohibitive, the benefits still allow for an expanded market for the device, analysts say.
Manufacturers face barriers as varied as tight research budgets, the high cost of MRI scans, and technical issues, including scanning people wearing pacemakers and other devices.
But the utility of the device provides a growing market, Frost & Sullivan research analyst Sangeetha Prabakar said. MRI scans provide images of any part of the body, in any plane, and offer more detailed information than X-rays or computed tomography scans can. Furthermore, the MRI contrast materials used for image enhancement have very low incidence of side-effects.
For instance, there is likely to be a market surge for MRI systems in developing Asian countries where the number of installed units is still low, Prabakar noted. Companies will need to leverage MRI systems' growing status as the preferred diagnostic imaging method for imaging the central nervous system, particularly for detecting brain tumors, spine lesions, and imaging blood vessels and stroke affected areas of the brain