Citing a recent report, GE Healthcare said austerity measures implemented during the recession in Europe could have a lingering effect on patients unless countries in the EU make investments in imaging equipment.
The European imaging equipment market is now the oldest it's ever been, according to the 2014 Medical Imaging Equipment Age Profile and Density report from the European Coordination Committee of the Radiological, Electromedical, and Healthcare IT Industry (COCIR). A COCIR report released in May 2014 showed a 40% increase in the number of scanners 6 years or older in Europe between 2008 and 2013.
In the U.K., 56% of scanners in 2013 were more than 6 years old, compared with 40% in 2008; COCIR recommends that no more than 30% of scanners in a country should be 6 years or older.
GE said that the Republic of Ireland, Greece, and Spain -- the countries most affected by the recession -- had the most growth in the percentage of scanners more than 6 years old (a 33%, 21%, and 20% increase, respectively). Thanks to innovative funding mechanisms such as capital financing programs, France and Denmark have been able to buck that trend, however, GE said.
Furthermore, the EU's 2007-2013 Structural Funds initiative has also helped Eastern European countries such as Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania with purchasing of imaging equipment, according to GE.
