Veterinary Computed Tomography Scanner Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Rising insurance and reimbursement policies: The rapid expansion in pet insurance coverage is a suitable growth driver for the market. For instance, in 2024, the pet insurance reimbursement for CT scans in the U.S. increased by 32.7% year-over-year (YoY), with the inclusion of almost 90.5% of policies as part of diagnostic imaging coverage. Meanwhile, as per the Association of British Insurers (ABI), there has been a 42.2% increase in CT scans in the UK, highly attributed to policies that include lifetime coverage for chronic situations.
• Automation in veterinary diagnostics: This is another driver that is positively impacting the veterinary CT scanner market globally. As stated in the 2024 NIH Government report, AI-infused CT scanners tend to reduce scan times by 36.5% and, in turn, improve diagnostic accuracy. Besides, in 2024, the Europe Medicines Agency (EMA) has funded €9.7 million for AI-based oncology detection for companion animals in the EU. Also, start-up organizations such as VetAI (UK) have deployed cloud-specified CT analytics to enable specialist interpretations' accessibility to rural clinic centres.

Challenges

• Limitations in administrative price controls: The existence of strict price guidelines in healthcare facilities is the biggest barrier for the veterinary computed tomography scanner (CT) market. National health interventions, for instance, have enforced compulsory price caps in the EU for medical devices, resulting in profit margin reduction by 17% to 22%. Also, the federal joint committee in Germany has classified veterinary CT scanners as non-essential, thereby limiting insurance compensation. Besides, the U.S. is undergoing a major challenge since Medicaid provides coverage of only 14% of advanced veterinary imaging procedures, which negatively impacts the market development.
• Increased costs and affordability: This is yet another challenge that restricts the upliftment of the veterinary CT scanner market. For instance, the USD 250,500 to USD 500,250 price range for these scanners results in poor affordability for an estimated 62.5% of mid-scale clinics. Meanwhile, in Australia, approximately 17% of domestic practices constitute CT scanners, owing to financial constraints. However, organizations such as Heska Corporation catered to this issue by unveiling pay-per-scan leasing that reduced costs by 42% for upfront pricing.