The market for LEDs in biophotonic and medical devices will grow by more than a factor of five between 2012 and 2019 although lower component costs will hide what is an even larger increase in the number of LEDs consumed in life-science applications.
ElectroniCast Consultants has published research entitled "LEDs used in biophotonic and medical devices" that projects a $324.7 million dollar market for LEDs in 2019 growing from $64.5 million in 2012. The Americas region currently accounts for 40% of the market, although the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) and APAC (Asia Pacifica) regions will be key to the projected growth.
The analysts break the market into three sub segments: Sensing/detection and analytical/monitoring Photo-therapy/sanitation/cell regeneration/curing Instrumentation light source and imaging.
ElectroniCast says that the sensing/detection and analytical/monitoring segment accounts for 60% of the worldwide LED consumption at present. The instrumentation light source and imaging is projected to have the highest growth rate going forward at 27% annually.
The report also breaks down the market by LED color and type such as multi-chip packages. Red LEDs, including infrared (IR) and near IR, made up 50% of the market in 2012. The other colors will close that gap going forward.
The projected sales numbers, while impressive, don't reflect the growth of the market in terms of number of LEDs made and sold for life-science applications. Dropping prices mean that the growth of components consumed in the applications is much higher than the market numbers suggest.
