New market reports and business deals indicate the minimally invasive surgical market can expect to maximize growth

The business of ultrasound has been booming. New capabilities and new applications have broadened its base, both among new and existing users. Its affordability (as compared to more advanced imaging modalities) and its safety (no radiation) make it an ideal tool in many instances. This is becoming particularly true in the surgical suite, where ultrasound is often a primary modality used during minimally invasive procedures.

According to MarketsandMarkets, Dallas, ultrasound is one of many segments in the market: the minimally invasive surgical device market is classified into handheld instruments, guiding devices, inflation systems, auxiliary devices, ultrasound, x-ray, CT and MR imaging, electrosurgical devices, and robotic-assisted surgery systems.

In general, the market has been dynamic with both steady drivers and intimidating challenges in all of these areas. The difficult economic climate has impacted development, pricing, reimbursement, and capital investment, but an aging population and technological advances have counterbalanced these concerns. Over the next few years, the drivers can be expected to ride over the obstacles. Minimally invasive surgery is becoming a popular option for both physicians and patients. Advantages can include better patient outcomes with shorter recovery times, lower risk of infection, and smaller scars, as well as healthier economic results through shorter hospital stays and fewer complications.

These benefits will likely translate into market dollars. MarketsandMarkets has forecast that from 2011 to 2016, the minimally invasive surgery market will grow with a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 8.2%. Currently, it estimates the market size at $23 billion dollars.

In a separate report, the company broke out ablation procedures, a minimally invasive surgical method that targets diseased (or unnecessary) tissue for destruction or removal. As a subsection of the larger market, the ablation segment is naturally smaller, but still significant with a size of approximately $7.5 billion in 2011. But it too, can be expected to grow, even more quickly than the minimally invasive surgical market: MarketsandMarkets estimates the smaller segment will experience an annual growth rate of 10.5% over the 5-year period from 2011 to 2016. Part of the growth will be attributed to new devices coming on to the market that are expected to offer advanced safety and efficacy. Some of these will likely come from the multinational companies that currently dominate the market and include organizations such as Covidien, Mansfield, Mass; Intuitive Surgical Inc, Sunnyvale, Calif; GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis; Philips Healthcare, Andover, Mass; and Siemens Healthcare, Malvern, Pa.

Business Move
Each of these firms will engage its own strategy to preserve and maximize market share. The usual business moves are likely to apply with new product launches and new partnerships to be expected.

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The Institute of Technology’s Institute of Food Safety and Health has found some success using ultrasound to sanitize food

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 31 pathogens known to cause foodborne illness; there are also unspecified agents not yet identified. Each year, roughly 1 in 6 Americans, or 48 million people, will get sick as a result of these pathogens and agents and 128,000 of them will be hospitalized and 3,000 will die.

Naturally, regulations exist to help avoid these preventable deaths, yet occasionally outbreaks still occur. Food companies are, therefore, presented with the challenge of developing sanitization processes to eliminate, or minimize as much as possible, the risk of foodborne illness. Organic companies have a further challenge in that they have to do this while meeting the standards of the National Organic Program of the United States Department of Agriculture, as well as their own internal standards.

Many do a good job, but one company was inspired by an outbreak to participate in research looking at alternative methods and teamed with the Chicago-based Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)’s Institute of Food Safety and Health (IFSH). The organization is working with companies, such as Earthbound Farm in Carmel Valley, Calif, to explore the use of high-powered ultrasound (HPU) in the sanitization of food.

HPU has been employed for decades to clean materials as diverse as metals and jewelry, window blinds, and teeth. It cleans by creating a partial vacuum in the liquid that in turn creates tiny bubbles. These collapse rapidly—thousands of times per second—producing high-energy shockwaves.

In combination with the proper sanitizer, these shockwaves enhance the removal of microorganisms and other particles through damage to their cellular structures. The pilot tests underway use HPU in conjunction with peracetic acid-based and citrus-based sanitizers, which have already been approved for use in organic food preparation processes.

“Early results show that in some cases, the method works well, and in others, not quite as well,” says Robert E. Brackett, PhD, IIT IFSH director.

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A toothbrush on the market by Emmi-dent replaces brushing with ultrasonic pulsing to clean teeth

There are a slew of songs to help kids learn how to brush their teeth, and the large majority of them include the phrase “brush your teeth.” A smaller portion, but still a good number, feature the “tch, tch, tch” sound or some other form of toothbrush onomatopoeia. The newest technology to hit the toothbrush market will make these songs obsolete.

The Emmi-dent, by Emmi-Tech Inc, Canton, Mass, uses ultrasound to clean teeth—and only ultrasound. The personal dental hygiene instrument is designed like a traditional brush with bristles that are applied to the tooth, but the device does all the work—there is no more “brushing.”

A microchip embedded in the brush head creates ultrasonic impulses that work in conjunction with the special toothpaste to better clean teeth while reducing abrasive wear. A steal for an ultrasound device but more expensive than many toothbrushes, the Emmi-dent is only slowly entering the market. Few users can be found, but those that have written on the subject are enthusiastic.

How it Works
The Emmi-dent is revolutionary in that it changes how teeth are cleaned. Rather than the conventional brushing motion made immortal in song, the bristles of the device are applied to the tooth and transmit ultrasonic impulses to its surface and gum.

The ultrasound penetrates the surrounding tissue up to about 12 mm deep, according to Emmi-tech. When used in conjunction with the nano-bubble toothpaste, the device has the potential to clean between teeth, deep into fissures, and within the gingival pockets, where conventional bristles cannot reach.

The Emmi-dent will work with regular toothpaste, the company notes, but the cleaning effect is reduced and abrasives introduced. The nano-bubble toothpaste is designed to perform better because it creates millions of nano-bubbles that implode with the ultrasonic impulse. As they destruct, they clean. Imploding nano-bubbles crack the cell membrane of plaque, destroying it, and they then remove impurities, such as food scraps, tartar, and bacteria. Because no brushing is required, the potential damage to the enamel that can result from abrasion is eliminated.

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