Which Is Most-Important Gas in Medical Settings and Why?
With the burgeoning population and high rate of urbanization, the number of people visiting various kinds of medical centers is increasing every year. This is because, while moving to the cities has certainly raised people’s living standards, the new environment has created a number of problems as well. Air, soil, and water pollution, stressful life, unhealthy dietary habits, and many other issues have led to a rapid rise in the prevalence of all types of diseases. Then, there are crimes and road accidents that cause serious injuries.
Access Detailed on- Medical Gases and Equipment Market Revenue Estimation Report
To cater to the increasing number of people in need of medical care, countries around the world are augmenting their healthcare expenditure, so that new facilities can be constructed, the existing ones can be upgraded, and staff can be hired. According to P&S Intelligence, this factor will likely propel the medical gases and equipment market size from $12,607.2 million in 2015 to over $21,600.0 million by 2022, at an 8.0% CAGR between 2016 and 2022. Numerous pure gases and mixtures of gases are used in various applications in healthcare centers, including direct patient care (acute and extended life support, surgery, diagnostics, and anesthetization), laboratories, and device sterilization.
Among the pure gases, including nitrous oxide, oxygen, medical air, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and helium, oxygen is the most-widely used, as it is one of the most-essential supplies at any medical facility. As the life-sustaining gas, it is widely used in emergency rooms, intensive care units (ICUs), operating rooms, patient wards, and even pre-hospital settings, such as advanced life support ambulances and paramedical settings. It is especially critical for patients suffering from respiratory diseases, which is why its consumption has risen massively during the COVID-19 crisis.
Because of the same reason, the consumption of medical air is also rising, as it is used as a carrier gas in ventilators. Moreover, before putting people on life support, the functioning of their lungs needs to be determined, for which helium and various types of gas mixtures, such as blood gas and lung diffusion mixture, are used. Thus, with the growing demand for such supplies, the requirement for the various pieces of equipment used to store and dispense them, including connectors, changeover systems, pipelines, switchover systems, manifolds, vacuum systems, flow meters, alarm systems, outlets, hoses, masks, and regulators, is rising too.
Since the COVID-19 case and death counts are the highest in the U.S., which, regardless, also accounts for the highest healthcare expenditure and incidence of major chronic disease, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), North America has been the largest medical gases and equipment market till now. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic diseases are the biggest cause of human mortality in the U.S., with six in 10 adults suffering from at least one.
Hence, as the number of people visiting healthcare facilities increases, the demand for various gases used here, especially the life-giving oxygen, will grow too.