Singapore: With recent developments in Asia-Pacific healthcare delivery as well as the growing emphasis on reduced radiation, seamless workflow and safety measures, innovations in the digital and computed radiography market in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia are inevitable, acording to an analysis from Frost & Sullivan.

According to the analysis firm, digital and computed radiography markets in Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia earned revenues of $31.8 million and $14.8 million respectively in 2014.

Since Thailand and Malaysia are popular spots for medical tourism, the large patient population translates into increased procedure volumes and greater demand for digital radiography.

"The need for higher resolution diagnostic images, coupled with benefits such as improved patient comfort, reduced radiation and high throughput, has led to the widespread use of digital and computed radiography in TIM," said Ms Poornima Srinivasan, healthcare consultant, Frost & Sullivan."The technological efficiencies that digital radiography solutions, in particular, bring to the table bolster market demand," she added.

Digital technologies significantly reduce the use of chemicals and films otherwise necessary to develop X-rays, thereby ensuring environmental sustainability. Digital radiography also has features for capturing and processing images at a speed of 10 to 20 seconds, and is thus fast-evolving into an integral part of hospital infrastructure.

Despite substantial advantages, healthcare service providers are often hampered by budget constraints. As such, the availability of affordable, locally-developed technologies with enhanced features such as minimal image acquisition and short processing times will present immense opportunities for uptake in TIM.