SonoSite, GE Healthcare Push Handheld Ultrasound Imaging Market Over $1.2B

The U.S. handheld ultrasound market is expected to exceed $1.2 billion by 2016 due to technological advances in size, imaging quality, ultrasound depth and improvements in three and four-dimensional capabilities by some of the leading manufacturers including SonoSite (Bothell, Wash.), GE (Barrington, Ill.), and Siemens (Malvern, Pa.), according to a new report by iData Research, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based medical device and pharmaceutical market research firm. Adoption of handheld ultrasound devices and the use of ultrasound in emergency medicine will fuel strong growth in the overall U.S. ultrasound market, which suffered a sharp decrease in sales during the recession.

Another area showing strong growth is the breast ultrasound market, which will double in size by 2016 as demand for devices in the detection of breast cancer increases.

iData's report, "U.S. Market for Ultrasound Equipment 2010" includes market analyses and competitor profiles for 11 ultrasound systems: cardiology, radiology, obstetrics, gynecology, breast, urology, vascular, ophthalmic, emergency-medicine, musculoskeletal, trans-cranial and handheld ultrasound imaging devices.