Report Detail
U.S. Markets for Medical and Dental Laser Products
The term “laser” is an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.” Laser technology is based on Max Planck’s discovery of the principles of discrete absorption and emission of light and Albert Einstein’s theories of the quantum mechanics of elementary particles. Practical implementation of these theories occurred in mid-1950s when fundamental works in the field of quantum electronics, performed independently by Charles Townes of Columbia University, and Nicolay Basov and Alexander Prokhorov of the Lebedev Institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, led to the construction of the first laser
prototypes for which Townes, Basov, and Prokhorov were awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Medical laser technology has evolved and progressed dramatically and has emerged as a powerful, versatile, and indispensable tool for many clinical practices by offering some unique advantages in complex surgical and surgical-assisted procedures. Medical lasers have the ability to deliver directly, or deliver through fiber-optics, the right amount of photonic energy with the appropriate wavelength to selectively modify, damage, or destroy the targeted tissue. This allows precise microsurgery, including those surgeries that are in difficult locations, and expedites high-volume laparoscopic and endoscopic surgeries. Advanced laser technology also enables clinicians to perform unique and previously unfeasible procedures, such as soft-tissue sculpturing, micron-scale shaving, or selective denaturation.
Within the domain of general surgery, lasers offer the advantages of a bloodless operating field, minimal collateral damage to adjacent tissues, reduced risk of infections, minimized postoperative pain, faster patient recovery, shorter hospital stays, and expanded opportunities to perform “same-day” outpatient procedures.
Today, a wide variety of gas, liquid, solid-state, and diode lasers commonly are utilized in all major fields of medicine including cardiothoracic surgery; dentistry; dermatology and cosmetology; ear, nose, and throat (ENT); gastroenterology; head and neck surgery; interventional cardiology; neurosurgery; gynecology; oncology; ophthalmology; orthopedic surgery; pulmonology; and urologyFor the purposes of this report, the scope of the market analyses has been confined to therapeutic laser systems, which are divided into five major product categories based on major end-user groupings and marketing call points:
• aesthetic (dermatology or cosmetic surgery) laser systems;
• cardiovascular laser systems;
• ophthalmic laser systems;
• dental laser systems; and,
• surgical (multipurpose) laser systems.
In 2001, the cumulative United States (U.S.) market for photonic therapy products covered in this report was estimated at approximately $663 million, of which the ophthalmic segment accounted for an estimated 48.7% of total laser product sales, followed by the aesthetic segment with 23.5%, the multipurpose surgery segment with 16.1%, the cardiovascular therapy segment with 7%, and dental segment with 4.7%. During the forecast period covered by this report, combined revenues from medical laser product sales are forecast to grow at a 9% annual rate to more than $1 billion in the year 2006. The market will be driven by advances in all the product groups, with particularly strong gains in the aesthetic, cardiovascular, and dental laser segments.