2. Medical imaging market and industrial challenges

Need we say? From an industrial standpoint, medical imaging represents a considerable financial challenge. The annual market for imaging equipment is estimated at around 25 billion dollars, with growth in the region of 1.5% per year, boosted by the explosion in demand for equipment in developing countries, particularly in the Far East and Latin America. All segments are growing: conventional X-ray imaging still accounts for the lion's share (one-third of the total market), followed by ultrasound, CT and MRI (one-fifth each), and nuclear medicine. Endoscopy is not considered here, and must be added. And the equipment market isn't the whole story; to it must be added that of image processing software, hospital computer networks and associated consoles. PACS, or Picture Archiving and Communication Systems, are worth between 6 and 7 billion dollars a year. There is also the market for contrast...