Date: 29/04/2010

Home-use medical electronics device shipment to grow over 1.6 million units by 2013

A new report from InMedica on the world market for telehealth, predicts that the use of home use medical devices will ramp-up as telehealth takes-off. By 2013, the combined unit shipments of home-use digital blood-glucose meters, blood pressure monitors, weight scales, pulse oximeters and peak flow meters used in telehealth applications will grow to over 1.6 million. Shipments of health hubs will also increase, such that the total shipments of telehealth devices will top 2 million.

Regionally, U.S. is most developed leading in adopting telehealth technologies. Telehealth implementation by the Veterans Association is the single largest to date, with more than 30,000 subscribers. European countries like the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany have also witnessed implementation of telehealth projects of varying scope and scale. A second market for telehealth that is also gaining traction includes people who are more generally concerned or worried about their state of health, who may not necessarily be diagnosed with a condition.

In 2009, nearly 50,000 blood-pressure monitors were used in telehealth applications. Shipments are forecast to increase to more than half a million in 2013. Though the number of blood-glucose monitors used in telehealth applications was quite low in 2009, shipments are forecast to grow to around 300,000 in 2013.

Consumer telehealth will be an extension of the current home-use medical device market, with manufacturers offering additional internet-based services to people that purchase their monitors. These services are expected to include simple analysis of readings and some level of generalised feedback that may include dietary and nutritional advice. Moreover there are a host of specialist software applications of varying health management tools also available. According to market research analyst Neha Khandelwal