Report Sees Slowing Growth in PET Scans

The growth rate of PET (positron emission tomography) and PET/CT (computed tomography) medical imaging scans in the United States began to slow in 2011, with an estimated 1.85 million clinical PET patient exams performed in 2011, down from a double-digit growth rate reported in previous years, according to a new market research report by the IMV Medical Information Division.

“The estimated 1.85 million clinical PET patient studies performed in 2011 represent a 6% increase over IMV’s estimate of 1.74 million patient studies performed in 2010,” observed Lorna Young, senior director, market research at IMV (Des Plaines, IL, USA). “This represents a continued slowing in the annual growth rate for PET patient studies."

The current numbers compare to annual growth from 2008 to 2010 of about 7%, and to annual growth between 2005 and 2008 of 10%. Ms. Young noted that in 2011, most of the growth was from an increase in the number of sites providing PET services; the average procedure increase per site was only 0.6% when compared to 2010. These PET studies were performed in 2,210 hospital and nonhospital sites, using fixed or mobile PET/CT or PET scanners.

Oncology continues to drive the use of PET imaging procedures, as hospitals open cancer treatment centers and install PET/CT scanners to support their oncology services. The study found that about 94% of all PET studies in 2012 were for cancer, distributed between diagnosis (19%), staging (38%), treatment planning (13%), and follow up (30%). Neurology and cardiology applications make up the remaining 6% of procedures, divided evenly between the two.

Used for 96% of all PET procedures in 2011, fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is still the mainstay of PET imaging. Rubidium-82, the next most frequently used radiopharmaceutical, was used for about 2% of all procedures, as problems with the supply of the radiopharmaceutical continued to limit its use for cardiac perfusion studies.

IMV is a leader in market research and online publishing for the medical imaging and clinical diagnostic instruments markets.

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