With Promise of Personalized Medicine, World Molecular Imaging Market Set to Reach $4.75 Billion in 2010

Revolutionizing how disease is diagnosed, evaluated and treated, molecular imaging - a market set to surpass $3 billion in 2007 and expected to reach $4.75 billion in 2010-holds the promise of personalized medicine for the aging global population, according to Medical Imaging Markets, Volume V: Molecular Imaging, a new study from Kalorama Information.

Interest in and use of molecular imaging technologies has exploded in recent years, thanks to advances in cell biology, biochemical agents, as well as advances in computer analysis.

While only a small percentage of global imaging procedures are truly molecular, annual market growth rates are expected to be in the 10% range for PET and 3% to 4% for SPECT, as SPECT is more fully established.

While much of the focus on molecular imaging research is on highly sensitive nuclear medicine techniques, expectations are high that all imaging modalities will one day offer some form of molecular imaging. Improvements in detector sensitivity, along with the development of more precise and sensitive signal molecules, will continue to lead to improvements in the various molecular imaging modalities which will increase the potential for early diagnosis of disease.

"There are currently novel research areas such as PET Targeting Alzheimer's Disease, radiotracers and drug addiction, and molecular breast imaging that hold great promise," notes Melissa Elder, the report's author.

"There's a positive momentum in the industry to bring to fruition the full potential for utilizing molecular imaging for an expansive range of diagnostics and treatments."

Unique to this report is the examination of the current and potential global market for molecular imaging products for all of the following technologies: PET, SPECT-Gamma Camera Systems, MRI, CT, Ultrasound, Fusion Imaging, and Optical Imaging.