Fractional Flow Reserve Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2022-2027

The fractional flow reserve (FFR) is a gold standard for assessing coronary artery disease during invasive coronary angiography. The demand for FFR is increasing due to its increasing applications in improving patient outcomes, reducing stent insertion, and the cost of the treatment. The benefits of FFR are high; however, its usage is limited in the market. The FFR is commonly used to decide the need for revascularization. The usage of non-invasive fractional flow reserve systems is increasing due to innovative methods in healthcare systems. As a part of the standard procedure to diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD), multiple non-invasive tests are performed on the patients complaining of stable chest pain and low or intermediate probability of CAD. Chest pain remains the second most common reason for adult emergency visits in the United States.

The increasing target population globally drives the demand for FFR systems.

The increasing target population will be a major driving factor for the usage of FFR in the market. Cardiovascular diseases cause one-third of deaths worldwide. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the prevalent conditions. The IHD incidence is expected to increase due to an increase in obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetic conditions, and the aged population. In the past two decades, there has been a significant increase in the aging population. According to the United Nations, one in every eleven people will be over 65 years old by 2050, up from one in every eleven in 2019. In addition, reduced physical activity, rapid urbanization, and globalization activities in LMICs have led to an increase in cardiovascular diseases, including IHD. In countries like the United States, the cost of IHD is approaching 1%-1.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP); in the case of LMICs, it accounts for 10% of total per capita healthcare expenditure. This increasing target population globally will drive the global fractional flow reserve market growth.

Technological Advancements Driving the Faster adoption of FFR.

The fractional flow reserve market is experiencing high technological advancements with non-invasive FFR methods. This trend is augmenting the demand and adoption of next-generation FFR products among healthcare providers and end-users. The vendors such as Boston Scientific, Philips, and ACIST Medical Systems have launched the next-generation products in the market. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning also played an essential role in giving real patient experiences with FFR products. In comparison with conventional methods, AI technology has helped the end-users analyze a large volume of cases in a shorter duration and provide equal quality treatment to all the patients irrespective of the number of patients diagnosed at the same time. The end-users adopt image-based techniques such as FFR-CT and FFRangio more frequently due to the non-invasive assessment of coronary lesions.

SEGMENT ANALYSIS

Technology

The invasive fractional flow reserve systems are widely accepted as a standard technique for assessing the lesion-specific ischemic in patients with 50% to 90% of stenosis. The advancement in the invasive segment is limited. For instance, in 2020, Philips launched the first solid core pressure guidewire for the coronary interventional procedure.

The number of people admitted to the CATH labs is decreasing in developed countries due to the change in better diagnostics of coronary artery disease. The non-invasive method is revolutionizing the cardiac diagnostic segment. The FFR-CT has helped reduce the number of patients referred for unnecessary catheterization. There are many scenarios in which the patient is recommended for stents and other procedures without proper quality data, where invasive FFR is ineffective in diagnosing the patient's condition. The FFR-CT (non-invasive) has proven to be better than the FFR invasive, seen as a gatekeeper for CATH Labs in the market.

Application

The technological advancements in the market have made the clinicians diagnose the patient with multivessel diseases, which is a complex scenario for the invasive methods in the market. Non-invasive methods provide the 3D structure of the heart with the FFR value and indicate the possible stenosis locations. This is a major revolutionary product to treat patients with multivessel diseases. There is a constant increase in people admitted to hospitals suffering from multivessel diseases, especially in developing and developed countries.

End-User

Hospitals & Specialty Cardiac Centers: Hospitals are the first point of contact for any patients, especially during the emergency conditions like chest pain. This increases the number of people preferring the hospitals to undergo treatments, and Hospitals do invest in the latest technologies to attract better customers in the region. Most elective surgeries and complex cardiac surgeries are performed in specialty cardiac centers.

Office-Based Labs: It is one of the new evolutions in the laboratory spaces. The movement of people and doctors away from the hospitals to get better attention, and safer and quickest treatments are driving the demand for the new labs like office-based labs in the market.

Diagnostic Imaging Centers predominantly invest in advanced products to attract customers; they partner with a large number of clinics and hospitals providing the services indirectly. They are expected to grow at a faster CAGR during the forecast period.

Segmentation by Technology 

• Invasive
• Non-Invasive

Segmentation by Applications

• Single-Vessel
• Multi-Vessel

Segmentation by End-Users 

• Hospitals & Specialty Cardiac Centers
• Office-Based Labs
• Diagnostic Imaging Centers
• Others

Geography

Many developed countries like the US are shifting from the volume-based to value-based approach in the healthcare systems. This is making the developed countries prefer advanced products like FFR-CT. Some European countries prefer using value-based products to enhance their quality of treatments, which is not the case with developing countries like India, China, Brazil, Mexico, and Turkey. Still, the preference is majorly for volume-based treatments, which are economical and provide results to treat the patients.

North America: The United States dominated the global fractional flow reserve market globally. The faster adoption of value-based products in the healthcare system, better awareness among the clinicians, and increasing adoption of FFR-CT has made the US a major fractional flow reserve market shareholder.

Europe: Europe healthcare is a mixture of both values-based and volume-based healthcare providers. The adoption is faster among the value-based treatment providers. The adoption of advanced technologies is low in some of the developing economies in Europe. The increasing number of CATH Labs and office-based labs are mainly driving the usage of advanced products and boosting the non-invasive fractional flow reserve market.

APAC: The adoption of advanced products like FFR is limited in the region. There is a constant increase in the number of cardiovascular disease patients in the region, and the number of people undergoing diagnostics is increasing. The demand for invasive methods is still high in the APAC region compared to non-invasive techniques. Due to its increased potential in the market, it is expected to grow at its highest during the forecast period.

Latin America: Latin American countries are also seen as famous destinations for various medical treatments. The adoption of advanced technologies is high in urban hospitals to attract tourists. Due to lack of reimbursement, the usage by local patients is limited, and they prefer undergoing more economic tests in the market. In addition, the lack of skilled lab technicians also limits the people to use conventional methods in the market.

Middle East & Africa: The middle east& Africa region is growing at a lower CAGR than other countries. As per the recently available data, there are more than 1.1 billion people in that region, but only 20 countries have CATH labs. The potential for FFR-based products is high in the market due to the increased target population. The fractional flow reserve market demand will increase with more economical products.

Segmentation by Geography 

• North America
• US
• Canada
• Europe
• Germany
• France
• UK
• Italy
• Spain
• APAC
• China
• India
• South Korea
• Australia
• Latin America
• Brazil
• Mexico
• Argentina
• Middle East & Africa
• Turkey
• South Africa
• Saudi Arabia

VENDOR ANALYSIS

Abbott, ACIST Medical Systems, Boston Scientific, CathWorks, General Electric Company, Koninklijke Philips, Opsens, and Siemens Healthineers are key players in the global fractional flow reserve market.

Vendors like HeartFlow are applying advanced methodologies to launch better products. Their technology uses the competitional fluid dynamics model, proper segmentation of coronaries, helping to find the value through the place of interest, and produces an interactive image with the FFR values for the doctors to make accurate decisions. In addition, one of the major benefits of this FFR-CT is that it avoids the invasive angiogram and provides better results comparatively. In addition, they are also using AI technology for better enhancement of the results and accuracy in diagnostics.

Key Vendors 

• Abbott 
• ACIST Medical Systems
• Boston Scientific
• CathWorks
• General Electric Company
• Koninklijke Philips
• Opsens
• Siemens Healthineers

KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED

1. What is the estimated value of the global fractional flow market?
2. What is the growth rate of the global fractional flow market?
3. Which region has the highest growth rate in the Fractional Flow Reserve Market?
4. Which region has the largest Fractional Flow Reserve Market share globally?
5. Who are the key players in the FFR market?