Report Predicts Medical Robot Shipments Will Triple By 2021

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Revenues for surgical, rehabilitation, and hospital robots will reach $2.8 billion in the same time span.

Medical robots are being utilized for surgery, rehabilitation, and hospital tasks, and now a study from market intelligence firm Tractica has found annual shipments of healthcare robots will triple by 2021, exceeding 10,000 units a year.

The firm also predicts revenues for these units will increase from $1.7 billion in 2016 to $2.8 billion by 2021, with growth driven by a shortage of clinicians, declining robotic costs, and the completion of a number of successful pilot studies. While surgical robots are currently the largest application market and are forecast to continue to lead the market, Tractica also anticipates they will be eclipsed by exoskeletons and prosthetics by 2021.

Principal Tractica analyst Wendell Chun says, “More than 200 companies are already active in various aspects of the healthcare robotics market.  These industry players are creating highly specialized devices for a wide range of applications, and the use cases will continue to expand as costs decline and healthcare providers recognize the early successes of robots in supporting high-quality care and a range of ancillary services.”

These robotic units can handle routine menial tasks efficiently, bring consistency to jobs like compounding dangerous chemotherapy drugs while maintaining the safety of hospital workers, and enable enhanced forms of therapy and rehabilitation, thus proving their worth in the healthcare setting.

Tractica’s report, Healthcare Robotics, analyzes and forecasts the global market for healthcare robots. Market sizing and forecasts include unit shipment and revenue, segmented by world region, application market, and enabling technologies. The report includes more than 80 profiles of key players in the healthcare robotics sector.