Growing Demand
There are about 800,000 thoracic and cardiac procedures performed by traditional, open surgery in the United States each year. The numbers are about the same in Europe. Despite the early growth of some minimally invasive procedures, such as balloon angioplasty and stenting, that number has been fairly constant since 1995.
The demand for full access surgery is about to grow dramatically. A recent analysis1 concluded that demand will grow by 50% by 2025. Growth will be driven by aging baby boomers, increasing rates of obesity, the growing success of surgery for older patients, and many other factors.
Physcient’s thoracic retractor for thoracotomy should be ready for sales by 2012, helping these patients hurt less and heal faster.
