Perspective on the optics of medical imaging

Abstract

Significance: Medical imaging is very commonly described as synonymous with radiological imaging, yet optical imaging devices are widely distributed throughout many medical specialties. This delocalized nature of the technology reduces visibility and dominance as a cohesive medical technology sector.

Aim: Indicators of impact of medical optical systems were examined and compared to the radiology technology sector.

Approach: This study included a summary of (i) physician users, (ii) global technology valuations, and (iii) NIH funding levels. Analysis focused on comparing optical and radiological technology, comparing costs, funding, and finding differences, while tabulating strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the field of optical imaging.

Results: The 2023 global technology revenue valuation of biomedical optical tools is $128 billion USD/year while that of radiological tools is $48 billion USD/year. A direct comparison of US NIH funding in radiology shows $8.5 billion/year, whereas optical devices are nearer to $3.6 billion USD/year. R&D investment in applications, such as endoscopy, laparoscopy, and pulse oximetry, is far below those of radiological tools when normalized by valuation.

Conclusions: The medical optical device industry is highly fragmented but has become the largest single technology sector in medicine today. When contrasted to radiology, it appears underfunded for research, where point-of-care tools such as surgery, endoscopy, laparoscopy, ophthalmology, pulse oximetry, and monitoring have more potential for development through research investment.

Keywords: image; laparoscopy; optical; radiology; surgery.

Fig. 1

Numbers of physicians in the United States (from the American Medical Association in 2021) roughly categorized into those that primarily utilize radiological systems on a daily basis, those primarily using optical systems on a daily basis, those that utilize both, and those that utilize neither daily.

Fig. 2

Visual display of a range of many commonly adopted optical technologies used in medicine, broadly classified as diagnostic (top) and therapeutic (bottom), and roughly organized clockwise from lower system cost (top left) to higher system cost (bottom left), as noted by red dollar signs.

Fig. 3

Global market valuation of six radiological areas (CT, x-ray, MRI, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy) is summarized above totaling $48 billion for 27% of the global device market. The optical technology areas that were largest are also summarized (ophthalmology, endoscopy, surgery, dermatology, microscopy, and pulse oximetry) totaling $128 billion/year for 73% market share.

Fig. 4

NIH funding levels for 2023 were surveyed from NIH RePORTER, with total dollars of funding listed, in millions of USD. The levels for some are too small to show in the chart. Optical tools make up $3.6 billion while radiological tools make up $8.5 billion in funding per year.