The global medical foam market has been witnessing strong growth, owing to the growing demand for medical foam, worldwide. The key factors likely to increase the demand for medical foam are rising healthcare expenditure by different countries across the globe and their contribution to the overall GDP, shift toward technologically-advanced products, and increasing aging population. Additionally, growing shift toward advanced wound care products, and government funding and grants for the development of advanced level of medical foam products are supporting the growth of the medical foam market across the globe.
The global medical foam market has been segmented on the basis of form, material type, application and region. On the basis of form, the market has been segmented into flexible foam, rigid foam and spray foam. Spray foam reported the fastest growth in the global medical foam market in 2015. Spray foam has been used increasingly in the wound care market in instant bandages over the past years. Coatings is another application where spray foams have been used. One of the major advantages of using spray foam over other types of foam is its ability to be used immediately and no requirement for any further molding in case of rigid and flexible foams, which helps in saving cost. Additionally, spray foams could be used where bandages and wound care products could not be used directly.
On the basis of application, the global market has been segmented into medical packaging, medical devices and components, prosthetic and wound care. The medical packaging segment has been the fastest growing segment, owing to high demand from the sterilized packaging industry.
On the basis of material type, the market has been segmented into polyurethane, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride and polyolefin.
Geographically, the medical foam market has been segmented into Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the world. The Asia-Pacific medical foam market is expected to witness the fastest growth, in the near future, owing to the increasing demand and increasing investments in the healthcare sector from countries such as China, Japan, India and Indonesia. The medical foam market in the region is in emerging stage; however, the market offers massive growth potential in China, Japan, India and South Korea.
Some of the factors inhibiting the growth of the global medical foam market include strict norms and regulations imposed on the usage of medical grade products, which require high research and development expenditures, and increasing investments in the healthcare industry during the last few years.
The key companies operating in the global medical foam market are BASF SE, The Dow Chemical Company, Bayer AG, and Sekisui Chemical Co, Ltd., Huntsman Corporation, Trelleborg Ab, Inoac Corporation Armacell International, SA and UFP Technologies Inc. among others.
