Ultrasound technology makes up the bulk of imaging equipment on display at Medica 2012, which runs this week in Dusseldorf, Germany, and features over 4,554 exhibitors from 64 countries in 17 exhibit halls.

Not only does ultrasound fit well for a general medical show like Medica, but it's also a modality that has seen a lot of growth in past few years, according to vendors at the show.

"Many departments beyond the traditional radiology, OB/GYN and cardiology now use ultrasound," said Igen Hadeer, general manager for the international business division of the Guangzhou, China-based Landwind Medical, which manufactures a range of low to mid-level diagnostic ultrasound machines.

In addition, he told DOTmed News, many more companies besides the traditional OEMS like Philips, Siemens and GE, see opportunities for growth in ultrasound technology. He thinks this is mainly due to the non-invasive nature of the technology and its relatively low price point, which, he said, will continue to come down. Ultrasound is also attractive as an imaging option because it doesn't involve radiation and it's portable.

Ultrasound shifts its role

Many manufacturers are designing ultrasound devices specifically for fields outside of what it has been used for traditionally. Some of these new point-of-care solutions include anesthesiology, musculoskeletal and emergency medicine. According to IMS Research's medical electronics market research group, or InMedica, markets for these areas are projected to grow at double digit rates in the next few years.

Also, there are a number of ultrasound systems for specific clinical applications on the market for breast screening and ophthalmology, for example. And ultrasound has become popular to guide medical procedures.

Ultrasound on the high-end

The quality of ultrasound images also varies. On the high end, it's been able to generate images in four dimensions which have led to recent developments in ultrasound in perfusion studies.

According to European Hospital, perfusion studies of tumors using ultrasound and contrast agent have been able to assess if a cancer patient's treatment is working or not, which had not been shown before clinically with ultrasound.

Dr. Nathalie Lassau from the Institute Gustave-Roussy in Paris conducted the first such study in 2010, which followed 539 patients over one year at 19 oncology centers in France, and measured their tumors with a technique called Dynamic Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound.

The final study, called Standardization of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound for the Evaluation of Antiangiogenic Therapies, is published in this month's issue of Investigational Radiology. Lassau will also present her findings later this month at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago.

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