Capsule Endoscopes Market Overview
Capsule endoscopes when swallowed by the patients are used to record internal images of the gastrointestinal tract for use in medical diagnosis. Growing prevalence of chronic diseases, such as cancer and gastrointestinal diseases; increasing geriatric population; and rising number of technological advancements in capsule endoscopes are positively impacting the growth of the global capsule endoscopes market.
The capsule endoscopes market is classified into small bowel, colon, and esophageal capsules, where the small bowel capsules category holds a dominant share in the market. Increasing number of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) cases, globally, is a major factor driving the demand for this category. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2015, an estimated 1.3% of U.S. adults (3 million) were diagnosed with IBD (either Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis), as compared to 0.9% U.S. adults in 1999.
Capsule endoscopes are hugely used for the diagnosis of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB); Crohn’s disease; small intestine tumor; and other diseases, such as celiac disease, esophageal disease, and screening of polyps. OGIB is defined as gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding from a source that cannot be identified on upper or lower gastrointestinal endoscopy. According to an article published in National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), OGIB occurs in approximately 5% of all the patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. Moreover, the U.S. National Library of Medicine states, that, capsule endoscopy is more effective than barium X-rays, used for the investigation of OGIB.
Capsule endoscopes comprise of a wireless capsule, and workstations and recorders. Among these components, the wireless capsule component leads the capsule endoscopes market, owing to the presence of favorable reimbursement policies, and rising usage of wireless capsules in the diagnosis of esophagus, small intestine and colon related health problems. Various researches are being conducted to increase the available energy efficiency of the capsule. For instance, the BioRobotics Institute, made an inductive-based wireless recharging system for the development of an innovative capsule for colonoscopy, that would provide fast off-line battery recovery for improving capsule lifecycle, thereby reducing the cost of a single endoscopic procedure.
Hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, and ambulatory surgery centers are the major end users in the capsule endoscopes industry. Hospitals is expected to be the largest end-user category during the forecast period, due to the availability of diverse and advanced endoscopic devices and presence of skilled healthcare professional in the hospitals. Moreover, availability of highly-equipped special operating rooms and facilities for the diagnosis and monitoring of chronic diseases is predicted to augment the growth of this end-user category in the coming years.
Capsule Endoscopes Market Dynamics
Growth Drivers
Increasing presence of government initiatives and demand for accurate and faster diagnostic tools are further expected to boost the capsule endoscopes market growth in the future. For instance, in April 2018, the Australian government made changes in the fee for capsule endoscopy, and reduced it to $1,229.4. The Gastroenterology Clinical Committee of the Taskforce, Australia, reviewed capsule endoscopy services and recommended a fee review by the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC), due to significant variations in service volumes between and within states and territories that could not be explained on clinical grounds alone.
Moreover, the Government of Canada launched a project in Bangladesh, in 2013, in which the project team proposed a solution to enhance the current approach to capsule endoscopy by using imaging algorithms. The team successfully developed a prototype of a low-cost, portable diagnostic device to detect gastrointestinal diseases that lead to colorectal cancer. Using this method, the team developed two different android apps for both, data storing and image viewing and analysis. Owing to this innovation, the Grand Challenges Canada's award, helped in leveraging funding from Western Economic Development (WED) Canada for $99,000 for two years, for lab infrastructure to support the research and development of the next generation endoscopic system, and increase the adoption rate of the capsule endoscopes in emerging countries.
However, high cost of technologically advanced products and lack of skilled professionals are the major barriers obstructing the growth of the capsule endoscopes market.
Capsule Endoscopes Market Competitive Landscape
The capsule endoscopes industry is characterized by growing partnerships between manufacturers and distributors, that leads to the expansion of manufacturers’ market share. For instance, in October 2018, CapsoVision Inc. entered into a distribution partnership with PENTAX Medical to sell the CapsoCam Plus system. Under the terms of the agreement, PENTAX Medical will serve as the exclusive Canadian sales agent of the CapsoCam Plus system, including CapsoAccess and CapsoView. This partnership was designed to assist the Canadian endoscopists with diagnosis and monitoring of small bowel disease and is a valuable addition to CapsoVision’s HD colonoscope and video processor platform for GI endoscopy.
Some of the major competitors in the capsule endoscopes market are Olympus Corporation, RF SYSTEM lab., Fujifilm Holdings Corporation, Medtronic plc, Chongqing Jinshan Science & Technology (Group) Co. Ltd., Intromedic Co. Ltd., and STERIS plc.
The study provides historical as well the forecast market size data for various countries including the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, U.K., Italy, Spain, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa.
