By Greg Freiherr
An unusual sense of optimism is percolating through the North American marketplace for radiology. It is unusual not for its degree or intensity but rather that it exists at all. The past half decade has been unprecedented in the decline of high-profile markets, particularly those for MR, CT and PET/CT. Demand for these technologies has been impacted by a perfect storm of macroeconomic factors, market influences, and government regulations, forces that are again bearing down on the U.S. market, but in markedly different ways than in the past.
Although the US market has of course its own unique characteristics, it is worthwhile for European planners keep an eye on US developments , since market trends in the US frequently appear a few years later in Europe.