Drug-coated balloon (DCBs) catheters have become the latest weapon in the fight against peripheral artery disease in the US, although they have been in use in Europe for some time. While the number of procedures employing DCBs is still dwarfed by conventional angioplasty procedures, they are expected to grow at a much faster rate, fueling a market projected to reach $1 billion by 2020; meanwhile other procedures such as mechanical atherectomy are also expected to show significant growth.

Improving the patient’s QoL and preventing disease progression, and with it the threat of critical limb ischemia and amputation, dominate peripheral artery disease management, but emerging technologies and the aging population are set to boost a percutaneous transluminal angioplasty market that is already worth $730 million in the US alone.

The market for peripheral vascular interventions and diagnostics is poised for significant growth in the years ahead, driven by an aging population and the growing incidence of peripheral vascular disease, along with new technological developments such as drug-eluting balloons, which are inching closer to regulatory approval in the US.

The US interventional cardiology market will continue to exhibit weak growth in the next five years, but there will be pockets of healthy growth, such as in coronary thrombectomy devices. According to Medtech Insight’s latest report on the sector, growth to 2018 will also be supported by several other factors.