An Industry of Innovation
DITTA industries encompass a wide range of products and services covering the complete care cycle. The global market for medical equipment is worth € 100 billion. With an annual growth rate of 5% and investments in R&D representing up to 8% of sales volume, medical imaging and health ICTs are among the most innovative and dynamic industry sectors globally.
DITTA leads for the following 4 industry sectors
MEDICAL IMAGING EQUIPMENT
Medical imaging is the discipline in charge of generating internal images of the body. The main objective of these images is to allow medical doctors to identify abnormalities in order to prevent, diagnose or follow up diseases or conditions present in the patient. Medical imaging equipment requires significant capital investment in hardware and software technologies to produce the images.
DITTA comprises more than 90% of the global industry players in medical imaging technology, which bring to market the different main product modalities, namely:
- X-ray
- Computed Tomography (CT) scanners
- Nuclear Medicine
- Ultrasound (US)
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI)
HEALTHCARE IT
With the constant development of new technologies that impact our daily life, the health care sector increasingly turns to information technology (IT) to enhance healthcare delivery, access and quality of health services. DITTA is unique as it brings together telecom operators and healthcare IT companies. eHealth is a wide and evolving concept that includes a broad range of products and services including:
- Hospital information systems
- Electronic Medical Records and other specialty clinical information systems
- Integrated health information exchange networks
- Telemedicine and Mobile Health
- Secondary-usage non-clinical systems (data analytics, public health, biomedical research)
RADIATION THERAPY (RT)
Radiation Therapy (RT) has evolved to be one of the essential therapies for cancer treatment. It uses photons from X-rays to impact the tumors and destroy its genetic material avoiding its further growth. There are different ways to use RT for cancer treatment:
- Cure - In cases where the tumor is easily located and no metastasis has taken place, the use of RT can reduce the tumor and eliminate it from the body.
- Complement to surgery - After a tumor removal surgery is performed, the area is irradiated in in order to remove remaining malign tissue and lower the probability of recurrence.
- Support therapy for chemotherapy - RT is used to reduce the size of the tumor.
- Palliative care - For several types of tumors that cannot be removed or eliminated, RT is used to reduce their size reliving the patient from the symptoms.
Currently 50% of the cancer patients population reside in low and middle income countries, were only 30% of the RT unites are located. With this fact in mind increasing access to RT units in those countries is the actual challenge for the RT market...
ELECTROMEDICAL EQUIPMENT
Electromedical equipment includes all of the electronic devices that are intended for medical use. They span from machines monitoring patient’s health in intensive care units, like vital signs monitors also used during surgery, to simple devices which monitor single variables like blood pressure devices or glucometers that can be used by the patient himself. There are also devices developed to help surgeons on interventions on the patient, like electro surgery knifes and anaesthesia machines, or infusion pumps that control the infusion of fluids into the body.
Other kinds of electromedical equipment are used to develop therapies, like incubator for new born babies, or diagnostics like electro-cardiographers. All equipment used in medical imaging can be included in electromedical equipment, as they are devices used for diagnosis.
Value of our industry
QUALITY, SAFETY AND COST-EFFICIENCY
The role of medical technology is of critical importance in societies facing budget constraints, the challenges of ageing populations, the rise in chronic diseases and shortage of qualified healthcare professionals. Making cutting-edge medical technologies accessible to all is DITTA’s goal.
Over time, DITTA members, products and services have steadily increased the quality of healthcare delivery, while ensuring the highest safety for patients. DITTA supports the deployment of medical imaging and health Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as essential building blocks for reducing healthcare inequalities, and improving the quality of life globally.
One way to make medical devices available to patients quickly, safely and in a cost-efficient way is through the use of globally harmonised standards. It is important that procedures in different regulatory systems be aligned so that the principle of “accepted once, accepted everywhere” is applied.
INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS
Ensuring an effective coverage of the entire care cycle, from prevention, early diagnosis and treatment to follow-up, significantly increases the quality of life of patients, in particular for those with chronic diseases.
THE POWER OF IMAGING
Medical imaging helps keep people healthy through smart prevention and screening. Imaging technologies, such as X-ray, Ultrasound and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), play a vital role in the detection of serious illnesses or injuries, by producing an accurate picture of the inside of the human body. These technologies help doctors make accurate diagnoses and enable conditions such as cancer to be caught early and therefore treated more successfully.
THE IMPORTANCE OF RADIOTHERAPY
Radiotherapy is an essential component of comprehensive cancer care. More than half of all patients with cancer will require radiation as all or part of their treatment, often in combination with surgery and chemotherapy. Radiation treats cancer by destroying the genetic material in rapidly growing cancer cells. The most common type of radiation used is x-rays, also known as photons. Radiation can be produced in a variety of ways and is delivered to patients using a radiotherapy machine. It is used to used to treat cancer, prevent recurrence, and help manage pain and other symptoms.
CONNECTING WITH EHEALTH
eHealth solutions are increasingly used by healthcare professionals to store or exchange information and to remotely monitor patients or deliver healthcare services. They reduce health inequalities by giving access to healthcare to people located in remote places, cut the risk of medical errors and allow safer and faster transfer of important patient data.
Thanks to telemedicine, the mortality rate among chronically ill patients is likely to be decreased by 40% and the number of hospital admissions by 50%. eHealth solutions contribute to making global healthcare systems more cost-effective and sustainable.