Heart Attack Diagnostics Market to Be Worth More than $22B in a Decade

Recent reports predict that the heart attack diagnostics market will see moderate growth over the next decade or so, both due to the increasing global rates of heart attacks and heart disease, as well as the development of new technologies. A report released in May 2022 by market research firm Fact.MR says that, during its forecast period of 2022 to 2032, the market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.1 percent, reaching a value of almost $22.2 billion US by 2032. Another report from competing market research firm Reports and Data that was also released in May 2022 has a more positive outlook. That report estimates that during its forecast period of 2022 to 2030, the heart attack diagnostics market will grow at a CAGR of 8.0 percent to reach a value of about $24.7 billion US by 2030.

What is Driving the Growth of the Heart Attack Diagnostics Market?

Every 40 seconds, someone in the US has a heart attack, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That works out to around 805,000 people each year, with about one in five heart attacks classified as “silent,” meaning the person is unaware they’ve even had one, the CDC adds. With heart attacks and heart disease rates continuing to rise both in the US and around the world due to a variety of factors, the need for fast and simple diagnostics is growing as well.

There are several key factors driving the growth of the heart attack diagnostics market. The Fact.MR report highlights growing adoption of unhealthy lifestyles in major cities around the world; rising rates of coronary artery disease (CAD), a key cause of many heart attacks, as well as increasing elderly and obese populations as key drivers. To those, the Reports and Data report adds:

• Increased R&D
• Partnerships and collaborations between major players in the market
• Increases in healthcare spending
• Technological advances

Both reports also note that the current COVID-19 pandemic has helped drive growth in the heart attack diagnostics market, with the Fact.MR report stating that, in the early days of the pandemic, COVID-19 symptoms were mistaken for heart attack symptoms, thus boosting the need for effective diagnostics. The Reports and Data report adds that the pandemic has helped drive the development of new technologies to monitor and detect heart attacks remotely as well as artificial intelligence (AI)-related tech to help make assessing heart health faster and more efficient.

Challenges to Growth

However, there are several factors that could limit the growth of the heart attack diagnostics market, both reports note, including:

• Lack of trained staff to perform certain diagnostic procedures
• High cost of certain diagnostic procedures
• Low reimbursement for heart attack diagnostics by some governments, including the US
• Lack of awareness of financial support for medical expenses in third-world countries
• Insufficient healthcare infrastructure in remote regions

The Main Market Segments

Both reports separate the heart attack diagnostics market by test type, with the key ones including:

• Cardiac computerized tomography (CT)
• Angiogram
• Blood tests
• Electrocardiogram (ECG)
• Echocardiogram
• Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Cardiac catheterization
• Stress test
• Other tests

The Reports and Data report further separates diagnostic procedures into non-invasive and invasive, noting that, unsurprisingly, non-invasive options, which include cardiovascular imaging techniques, are preferred by patients and recommended by healthcare professionals due to their low cost.

Of those tests, Reports and Data says that, currently, ECG accounts for the largest revenue share as it is the most widely used test. Advances in telehealth and remote monitoring via wearable sensors is only expected to help grow the ECG segment further, Reports and Data adds. The Fact.MR report also predicts that ECG is likely to experience greater demand in low- and middle-income countries, though both reports note that the blood test segment is the fastest-growing, with Fact.MR predicting it will see a CAGR of almost 6.8 percent from 2022 to 2032.

Key Recent Developments in Heart Attack Diagnostics

Both reports note several important recent developments in heart attack tests, including blood tests that measure levels of proteins, known as troponin T or troponin I, that are released when the heart muscle is damaged, such as when a heart attack occurs. Such troponin tests have begun gaining approval by the FDA over the past five years. Developments in AI have also been important:

• September 2018: Abbott is the first to gain CE marking for its High Sensitive Troponin-I blood test to identify those at risk of developing heart disease
• February 2021: Abbott receives expanded FDA clearance for its implantable sensor, the CardioMEMS™ HF System, that can detect early warning signs of worsening heart failure*
• March 2021: Caristo Diagnostics’ CaRi-Heart® technology, which uses AI and deep learning to predict heart attack risk, gains CE marking
• April 2021: Roche announces five new uses for two of its key cardiac biomarkers—high sensitive cardiac troponin T (cTnT-hs) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide test (NT-proBNP), which help identify those at risk of developing heart disease and can help diagnose heart attacks
• June 2021: New York City-based cardiac diagnostic company Cleerly launches a new digital heart attack prevention solution that makes use of CT imaging, AI, and “FDA-cleared solutions,” the company says in a release
• November 2021: Royal Philips signs an agreement to acquire France-based medtech Cardiologs, which produces a number of cardiac diagnostics solutions based on cloud and AI technology

* Not mentioned in the reports, but added by G2 Intelligence.

The Reports and Data report adds that the rapid growth of blood tests is likely due to enzyme-based diagnostics methods and rapid blood tests seeing increasing adoption in developed countries. In terms of which regions will see the most growth, both reports note that North America currently accounts for the largest share of the market and will likely continue to do so over the next several years, due to rising rates of CAD in this region. Fact.MR predicts the US will see the largest growth in the heart attack diagnostics market, with a 6.8 percent CAGR over the next 10 years bringing its worth to $7.7 billion by 2032. Currently, the firm states, the US accounts for almost 35 percent of global heart attack diagnostics revenue.

Key Users

The reports list diagnostics centers, ambulatory surgical centers, hospitals, and others as the main users of heart attack diagnostics, with hospitals accounting for the largest revenue share. That share is expected to see solid growth over the next several years due to increasing test usage in hospitals, as well as growing use of new technologies. Over its forecast period of 2022-2032, Fact.MR estimates the hospital market segment will grow at a rate of 6.7 percent, noting, however, that due to a recently expanding user base, diagnostic centers and ambulatory surgical centers are likely to see their shares of the market increase over the next decade.

Outlook

Though there are some factors that could limit the growth of the heart attack diagnostics market, the development of new techniques and technologies, as well as increasing incidences of heart disease around the world, will likely mean decent growth overall over the next decade, both reports conclude.