Urethroscopy

Chronicle

2024: Global Urethral Diagnostic Equipment Market Size Reaches $1.27 Billion for the Year

In 2024, the costs of the global market for equipment for diagnosing the urethra amounted to $1.27 billion. More than a third of this amount fell on the North American region. Such data are provided in the Fortune Business Insights review published on April 28, 2025.

The study considers ureteroscopes - special optical devices that consist of a flexible or rigid working tube with a distal head, an eyepiece and an illumination system. Such devices are used for the diagnosis and therapeutic treatment of urethra, carrying out under visual supervision various procedures and simple intra-urethral operations. In particular, ureteroscopy allows the detection of erosions, granulations, ulcers, tumors, constrictions, etc. Ureteroscopes are used in combination with video equipment, which ensures the visualization of procedures on the monitor.

The authors of the study call the increase in the incidence of urolithiasis one of the drivers of the global ureteroscopes market: this negative trend is observed in both developing and developed countries. Metabolic disorders, genetic factors, urinary tract abnormalities, lifestyle changes and environmental causes lead to increased cases of salt deposits in the form of kidney stones, bladder, ureters and urethra. The situation worsens against the background of an aging population: in the elderly, urolithiasis develops due to age characteristics. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), kidney stones are recorded in 9% of the population in the United States alone.

Urolithiasis is an increasingly serious problem worldwide. Lifestyle changes, rising alcohol consumption, global warming and poor diet contribute to increased morbidity, study says

The COVID-19 pandemic, as stated in the review, negatively affected the development of the ureteroscopy sector due to disruption of supply chains, a slowdown in the economy, a reduction in production and the suspension of planned surgical procedures. Another deterrent is the high cost of modern equipment, which prevents its implementation in many developing countries. In addition, there is a shortage of highly qualified healthcare professionals trained to use ureteroscopes.

By device type, analysts segment the market into flexible, semi-flexible and rigid (rigid) ureteroscopes. The products of the first of these types accounted for the largest sales in 2024 - about 56.8%, or $0.72 billion. Geographically, North America is leading, where sales in monetary terms amounted to $0.46 billion, or 36.2% of the global figure. Growth factors here are the increase in the prevalence of urolithiasis, high demand for minimally invasive procedures, developed health infrastructure, technological advances and the availability of modern ureteroscopes. Globally, significant players are:

• Stryker;
• Olympus;
• Richard Wolf GmbH;
• Karl Storz;
• Pentax Medical;
• Elmed Electronics & Medical Industry & Trade Inc.

Fortune Business Insights analysts believe that in the future, the CAGR in the market under consideration will be 5.8%. As a result, by 2032, the cost of equipment for diagnosing the urethra on a global scale could increase to about $2 billion.^[1]

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