Critical care is associated with intensive care given to patient facing life-threatening conditions and needs sophisticated invasive monitoring devices & other life support systems. It is the direct delivery of medical care by professionals for critically injured or ill patients. The treatment includes diagnostic technology, monitoring, advanced therapeutic, and several other treatments with the aim of stabilizing organ functioning and enhancing patient conditions. It is also known as point of care diagnostics, where rapid tests are done to facilitate quick and instant results. The counter test and self-testing also fall in the category of critical care diagnostics.
The growing prevalence of lifestyle-related disorders and chronic diseases will steer the growth of the global critical care diagnostics market. According to the health library, around 84 million people in the US suffer from a different form of cardiovascular disease, which causes around 2200 deaths in a day. The surge in the utilization of data management and connectivity with the help of interoperability to generate electronic health records is likely to further accentuate critical care diagnostics globally. The ongoing technological advancements are also likely to fuel the growth in the forthcoming years. For instance, the advent of the i-stat blood gas analyzer in the market by the leading pharma company Abbott—that combines self-contained catalyzers with microfluidic components and electrochemical detection to offer accurate results—will significantly bolster the growth of the global critical care diagnostics market.
The global critical care diagnostics market can be segmented into end-user, prescription, product, and region.
By end-user, the market can be segmented into research laboratories, homes, ambulatory surgical centers, hospitals, and others.
By prescription, the market can be segmented into over-the-counter testing kits and prescription-based testing kids.
By product, the market can be segmented into urine stripe testing kits, drug abuse testing kits, pregnancy test kits, blood glucose test kits, cardiac markers, cancer biomarker testing kits, cholesterol test kits, and others.
North America accounts for the largest share in the global critical care diagnostics market due to the growing prevalence of chronic diseases in the region. Furthermore, the ongoing technological advancements in the healthcare sector will further accentuate the growth of the regional market.
Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the global market due to the growing initiatives from the government to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure in the region. Also, the presence of prominent market leaders in the region will positively impact the market. In addition, the growing disposable income of the people is inducing them to have better treatment, which in turn will also help in the growth of the regional market.
Some of the significant players in the global critical care diagnostics market are Siemens Healthineers, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Bayer AG, Becton Dickinson and Company, Beckman Coulter, Inc., Alere, Inc., and Abbott Laboratories. To cite, Abbott in February 2016 acquired Alere to strengthen its portfolio. Alere is a healthcare management company also offering the point-of-care solution.
