Japan Spinal MRI Procedures Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Industry Analysis: By MRI Procedures (Lumbar MRI Procedures, Cervical MRI Procedures, and Sacro-iliac MRI Procedures), By Sector (Public Hospitals/Universities, and Private (Private Hospitals, and Imaging Centres)), 2020-2030.

In 2023, a total of 2,293,000 MRI procedures were done and is projected to grow at CAGR of 3.7% over the forecast years to reach 2,945,000 procedures by 2030. The market is primarily driven by an aging population and a rise in chronic diseases like spinal disorders and cancer. Increased investment in healthcare and advent of newer technology, especially AI-based diagnostic applications, also drives this market. High MRI system costs, along with strict regulatory standards, are the major restraints on this market, limiting it from smaller players in the healthcare sector. There are government initiatives toward modernizing health care infrastructure, which are now offering opportunities to the market, along with the increasing usage of MRI by researchers and clinicians conducting clinical trials. Again, AI integration and point-of-care ultrasound devices are changing the landscape. Diagnosis is increasingly efficient and unnecessary full MRI scans are reduced.

Key Takeaways:

• The Japan Spinal MRI Procedures in 2023 were 2,293,000 growing at a rate of 3.1% from 2019.
• By procedure type, the Lumbar procedure segment has captured a 63.2% market share in 2023 with 1,449,000 MRI procedures.
• By sector, the public hospitals/universities segment will account for a market share of 48.2% in 2023, with 1,106,000 MRI procedures.

Japan Spinal MRI Procedures Market Segmentation Analysis

MRI Procedures: The Lumbar MRI procedure segment has captured a 63.2% market share in 2023 with 1,449,000 MRI procedures.  Another aspect that increases the need for lumbar MRI procedures is the number of elderly people in Japan. The elderly are more prone to problems in the lumbar spine. Some elderly patients suffer from lumbar spine problems such as lumbar spinal stenosis and lower back pain, which require more cases of lumbar MRI.

Sector: The private segment has accounted for a market share of 51.8% in 2023 with 1,187,000 MRI procedures. Private health care facilities could have the most high-tech MRI equipment and better and faster diagnoses. Many insurance packages in Japan already include MRI procedures for easier and cheaper access to the patient.

Future Outlook for Key Players in the Japan Spinal MRI Procedures Market

The Japan spinal MRI Procedures Market size is inclusive of several companies such as Philips Healthcare, Canon Medical Systems, Toshiba Medical Systems, Stryker, Zimmer Biomet, Abbott Laboratories, GE Healthcare, Resonance Health, Medtronic, Siemens Healthineers, and others.

Facts & Figures of MRI Procedures in Japan

• Japan is the world's country with the largest population aging, with close to 29.9% share of the total population with the age over 65 years corresponding to the number of elder citizens in Japan, while the share of the total number of citizens is forecasted to reach 40% in 2060.
• A third of the population in Japan will reach the age of above 65 years by 2050. Spinal disorders would become the most common chronic disease within the population of Japan.
• Epidemiologic studies have proven that the prevalence of chronic low back pain in adults is about 12% in communities. Since aging, a study focused on this age subgroup was therefore able to report an even higher prevalence at around 18%.
• Prevalence of symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis in the general population was reported at 9.3% and this includes 10.1% for males and 8.9% for females.
• Health expenditure in Japan is still increasing. This increases from 8.5 percent of GDP between 2008 and 2013 to 10.2 percent in the same period hence higher than the average expenditure of the OECD countries that was reported at 8.9 percent between the said periods.
• In 2022, health spending in Japan was 11.5% of its GDP making it rank amongst the places that spend the largest percent share of their GDP on health within the OECD.
• Japan has the highest population density of MRI units where more than 57 MRI units exist for everyone million of its people.

Japan Spinal MRI Procedures Market Key Developments

• In Dec 2020, Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology, and InSightec, a global healthcare company specializing in the therapeutic power of acoustic energy, announced that they are collaborating to make MR-guided focused ultrasound a more accessible technology for incision-less neurosurgery.
• In Nov 2019, Canon Medical Systems acquired Skope Magnetic Resonance Technologies AG, a Swiss MRI research and development company. Through such acquisition, it hopes to augment its capabilities in the development of innovative MRI technologies and to produce excellent imaging for users.