Description
With the barrier between consumer and healthcare blurring, an increasing number of healthcare applications are using MEMS components, resulting in impressive market growth!
Major trends will propel the bioMEMS market for the next five years
Faced with an aging “baby boomer” population, healthcare is more important than ever. In-vitro diagnostics, pharmaceutical research, patient monitoring, drug delivery, and implantable devices: all of these fields are growing and system integrators need new innovative technologies to rapidly improve performance, cost and size. Enter bioMEMS: micro components such as accelerometers, pressure sensors, flow sensors, and micropumps bring improved sensing and actuating functions for all of these healthcare fields. The applications are many and the market is quite segmented. Yole Développement’s BioMEMS report provides an overview of the diverse bioMEMS components and applications, along with who is using/ providing which component for which application. As a consequence of this “applications array”, the technical requirements are extremely diverse amongst similar component families.
BioMEMS have been used for years. Some are linked to solid, mature, slow-growing industries, while others are part of booming applications that are adding new fuel to the bioMEMS market – a market that will triple from $2.7B in 2015 to $7.6B in 2021! In Yole’s BioMEMS report, this dynamic growth is forecast in dollars and in units per component, taking into account the influence of all bioMEMS applications. For example, the report highlights the transition from reusable sensors to disposable ones in certain applications, thus driving huge growth in market volume.
From exoskeletons to retinal implants and gas sensors, new promising applications are emerging thanks to bioMEMS
Though certain components have been used for years, Yole has identified several new medical applications using existing sensors, thus creating new market opportunities for these bioMEMS. One example is exoskeletons, which use inertial sensors. Moreover, Yole tracked the emergence of brand-new sensors on the bioMEMS market that bring new functions and enable unprecedented opportunities. This is the case of gas sensors, which Yole’s analysts have dedicated an entire chapter to in order to provide precise information about these new components and their medical applications. Yole’s analysts have also followed other innovative bioMEMS-based systems which have been in development for years and are now entering the market thanks to companies successfully addressing technical challenges and passing clinical trials and regulations approval. Companies like Pixium Vision, Retina Implant AG, Ekso Bionics, and Aerocrine, all of which are moving towards market access and patient acceptation.
The rise of consumer healthcare: a paradigm shift
Despite being a multi-billion-dollar market, many applications use bioMEMS that have different requirements for the same component families. The market is extremely fragmented, with numerous niche segments in which startup companies manage to address unmet needs. The high-value devices used here include unique components which are often very expensive. Thus, the volume associated with the typical bioMEMS component rarely exceeds 1M units, prohibiting cost reduction via high-volume manufacturing. However, Yole Développement thinks the bioMEMS industry is nearing a major turning point. Indeed, following the recent flooding of the market with numerous modules for mobile devices and wearables integrating sensors for vital-signs monitoring (diabetes, blood pressure, etc.), the line between consumer and healthcare applications is fuzzier than ever. In the meantime, home care devices allowing remote diagnostics and monitoring are being increasingly adopted by consumers while regulations adapting to these new devices. Yole Développement forecasts an increasing integration of bioMEMS in wearables and modules for mobile devices.
This has the potential to help the industry cross the gap between medium and large volumes, enabling significant cost reductions. Though there are still many challenges to address before wide acceptance of these mobile devices, we already see major semiconductor and electronics players positioning themselves in this market.
Objectives of the Report
This report’s objectives are to:
- Explain which MEMS are used in which healthcare applications, and why
- Provide an overview of the main players at each level of the supply chain, with market share
- Identify the threats and opportunities related to bioMEMS, along with market and technology trends
- Identify promising technologies and booming applications
- Compare the bioMEMS market to the global MEMS market; explain similarities and differences
- Discuss where and how bioMEMS will be used in the future
