Positron Emission Tomography Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts

Global Positron Emission Tomography Market Trends and Insights

Rising Global Burden of Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases

Cancer incidence keeps climbing, and the numbers are stark. In the United States alone, the American Cancer Society estimated 1,918,030 new cancer diagnoses for 2022, encompassing 290,560 new breast-cancer cases, 268,490 prostate-cancer cases, and 151,030 colorectal-cancer diagnoses ^{[3]American Cancer Society Staff, “Cancer Facts & Figures 2022,” American Cancer Society, cancer.org}. PET’s strength in detecting metabolic changes ahead of structural abnormalities positions it as an indispensable tool for early staging and therapy monitoring. On the neurology front, researchers at Fudan University validated tracers that visualize α-synuclein aggregates in Parkinson’s disease, raising expectations for earlier interventions. Increasing clinical familiarity with these capabilities keeps scanner utilization rates high and underpins hospital commitments to periodic technology refreshes.

Growing Technological Advancements

Total-body scanners such as the 194 cm-long uEXPLORER deliver ten-fold sensitivity improvements, enabling whole-body acquisitions in under one minute while cutting tracer dose by more than 80%. Providers infer that such gains translate into higher patient throughput without additional staff hours, boosting economic justification for upgrades. Furthermore, the NeuroEXPLORER achieves 1.64 mm spatial resolution, allowing visualization of brain structures previously below detection thresholds. Integration of these platforms with AI tumor-detection tools is shortening report turnaround times, an operational benefit that health systems increasingly quantify when approving capital budgets.

Increasing Demand for PET Analysis in Radiopharmaceuticals

Big-pharma transactions valued above USD 1 billion underscore confidence in theranostic pipelines, which thrive on PET for both patient selection and therapy monitoring. Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb acquisitions of radiopharmaceutical start-ups send a signal to imaging centers that a wider array of indication-specific tracers will soon require compatible scanners and production capabilities. Because novel tracers often command premium reimbursement, early-adopting sites anticipate faster payback on cyclotron investments, intensifying regional competition for isotope manufacturing capacity.

Shift Towards Image-Guided Interventions

PSMA-PET findings change prostate-cancer radiotherapy plans in up to one-third of high-risk cases, improving field delineation and sparing healthy tissue ^{[4]Elías Gomis-Sellés, “Impact of PSMA-PET/CT on Radiotherapy Decisions: Is There a Clinical Benefit?” Cancers (MDPI), mdpi.com}. Similar momentum is visible in spinal pain, where 18F-FDG PET/MRI altered management for eight of twelve complex patients. Clinicians infer that therapy planning now depends on molecular-signal clarity, making advanced PET indispensable rather than optional.

Government Reimbursement for 68Ga-PSMA PET in Prostate Cancer

Health agencies in North America, Europe, and parts of Asia have approved payment for 68Ga-PSMA-11 imaging, citing sensitivity above 80% and specificity near 90% in metastatic evaluation. Reimbursement clarity is persuading outpatient imaging centers to install dedicated PET suites, fostering geographic diffusion of services. Providers translate these policies into predictable cash flows, which strengthens credit profiles when financing new scanners.

Shorter Half-Life of Radioisotopes

The 110-minute half-life of 18F limits transport distances, creating service gaps in rural markets. Solutions range from compact cyclotrons like GE HealthCare’s MINItrace Magni to newer tracers such as 61Cu-PSMA with a 3.33-hour half-life, which broaden distribution radii. Providers interpret these developments as early evidence that dependency on centralized production may gradually loosen, reshaping competitive dynamics among isotope suppliers.

Stringent Regulatory Framework

The United States Food and Drug Administration now requires yearly stability testing at every PET drug site, a policy that operators estimate could add USD 3 million to annual costs. European regulators maintain heterogeneous rules for in-house preparations, complicating multinational tracer rollouts. Companies therefore allocate larger compliance budgets, and hospitals anticipate potential supply bottlenecks when selecting tracer portfolios, highlighting regulation as a strategic variable in scanner procurement decisions.

Limited Skilled Nuclear Medicine Workforce

Sub-Saharan Africa’s shortage of nuclear medicine technologists limits PET adoption even where equipment budgets exist. Teleradiology networks and AI triage solutions help mitigate imaging backlogs, but training requirements for radiochemists and physicists remain barriers to full modality deployment. Health-system executives increasingly evaluate vendor-provided workforce-development programs as part of tender criteria, reshaping commercial pitches around education as much as around hardware.

Segment Analysis

Product Type: Full-Ring PET Dominates While Partial-Ring Gains Momentum

Full-ring scanners hold 71% Positron Emission Tomography market share in 2024, and their market size advantage stems from unmatched sensitivity and whole-body coverage. Sites count on premium image quality to support difficult oncology cases, which reinforces the purchasing rationale despite higher upfront costs. A logical corollary is that facilities aiming for research prestige almost invariably opt for full-ring designs.

Partial-ring systems exhibit a 4.5% CAGR through 2030 as they target neurologic and orthopedic subspecialties needing compact footprints. Cost savings and focused field-of-view translate into lower break-even procedure volumes, making these units attractive to ambulatory surgical centers. The rise of dedicated brain PET iterates how specialized hardware can coexist with flagship whole-body systems inside the same network, diversifying revenue sources without cannibalizing existing assets.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

Modality: PET/CT Maintains Leadership While PET/MRI Accelerates Growth

PET/CT accounts for 81% of the Positron Emission Tomography market size in 2024 because its fusion of metabolic and anatomical detail underpins standardized cancer staging protocols. The modality benefits from a large installed base, which supports service revenue for vendors.

PET/MRI posts the fastest growth at 4.9% CAGR as radiation-sensitive cohorts like pediatrics gravitate toward lower dose options. Evidence showing superior soft-tissue contrast for gastric cancers further consolidates its value proposition. Hospitals thus weigh PET/MRI as an investment that simultaneously advances clinical outcomes and ESG-linked radiation-exposure objectives.

Radiotracer / Isotope: 18F-FDG Leads While 68Ga-PSMA Gains Traction

18F-FDG maintains 59.5% Positron Emission Tomography market share due to its versatility across oncology, neurology, and cardiology. Providers appreciate its 110-minute half-life because regional distribution hubs can cover multiple facilities before decay erodes usable activity.

68Ga-based tracers clock a 4.1 % CAGR thanks to PSMA and DOTATATE applications that command premium reimbursement. New derivatives such as 68Ga-LNC1011 show encouraging tumor-retention profiles, hinting at deeper penetration into theranostics. The pipeline signals a broader isotopic palette in which niche tracers collectively chip away at FDG dominance, creating procurement complexity but also expanding clinical opportunities.

Application: Oncology Dominates While Neurology Shows Fastest Growth

Oncology represents 47 % of the Positron Emission Tomography market size because metabolic imaging influences virtually every stage of cancer management from diagnosis through surveillance. Clinicians infer prognostic value from standardized uptake values, which strengthens the modality’s role in precision medicine.

Neurology scores the quickest uptick at 4.4 % CAGR, propelled by dementia and movement-disorder imaging. Breakthrough tracers targeting amyloid, tau, and α-synuclein turn PET into a gateway for disease-modifying therapies, widening the modality’s strategic relevance to neurologists. Cardiology follows closely as flurpiridaz F-18 demonstrates higher diagnostic efficacy for coronary artery disease versus SPECT.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

End-User: Hospitals Lead While Diagnostic Imaging Centers Grow Fastest

Hospitals retain 52% Positron Emission Tomography market share because integrated imaging departments simplify patient logistics and capitalize on inpatient referral streams. Central scheduling also permits efficient tracer usage, reducing wastage.

Diagnostic imaging centers expand at 4.8% CAGR, capitalizing on patient preference for shorter wait times and transparent pricing. The outpatient shift now sees 40% of radiology volume occurring outside hospitals, and PET volumes mirror that migration, indicating that ownership models rather than clinical need determine where scans happen.

Geography Analysis

North America remains the largest regional contributor, holding 38.9 % Positron Emission Tomography market share in 2024. U.S. fixed PET sites recorded a 10.2 % year-on-year scan increase, averaging 1,495 studies per system. Domestic manufacturing of the Omni Legend PET/CT in Wisconsin underscores policy momentum favoring on-shore supply chains. A policy-induced inference is that localized production buffers the market against geopolitical shocks affecting component flow.

Asia-Pacific posts the fastest regional CAGR at 5.2 % through 2030, buoyed by government infrastructure investments and rising chronic-disease burdens. China’s Mid- and Long-Term Development Plan for medical isotopes catalyzes domestic tracer innovation, and Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center has already logged over 30,000 total-body PET/CT studies. Such volume density suggests that economies of scale may soon tilt radiopharmaceutical pricing downward, enhancing affordability for neighboring markets.

Europe delivers steady demand anchored by research collaborations like the €25.3 million Thera4Care consortium led by GE HealthCare. However, heterogeneous rules governing in-house tracer production create compliance overheads that fragment supplier strategies. The PRISMAP radionuclide-production alliance aims to harmonize supply, and its progress will likely influence scanner-procurement timelines as centers align purchases with anticipated isotope availability.