CRM Device Demand Soars Amid Surging Cardiovascular Disease Prevalence

Cardiac rhythm management devices have been garnering quite some momentum in the global healthcare space—a feat that can be attributed to the protracted need for devices that can control the symptoms of irregular heart functions. Given that instances of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) continue to rise worldwide, the surging demand for such devices does not come as a surprise.

The WHO estimates 17.9 million people died of cardiovascular diseases in 2016. 85 percent of those deaths can be attributed to heart attacks and strokes. Rising awareness about risk factors leading to CVDs and an aging world population has created greater scope for cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices industry. This has also lead to CRM device manufacturers investing in continuous research and development programs, to bring forth more micro-sized devices to the market.

Device Makers’ Persistent Contribution to Proliferation of CRM Device Market Trends
Boston Scientific, one of the most noted CRM device manufacturers, is known for bringing devices to the market that reduce costs, improve outcomes, and enhance patients’ lives with the least invasive rhythm management technologies. The firm’s RHYTHMIA HDx Mapping System is known for providing physicians the ability to diagnose arrhythmias with increased efficiency, deliver targeted therapy, and achieve procedural endpoints in complex substrates.

Boston Scientific’s Resonate family of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D) systems, have been approved by the U.S. FDA for conditional use in magnetic resonance imaging. The SmartCRT Technology deployed in the Resonate family helps physicians customize how and when to pace the lower chambers of the heart with Multisite Pacing capability.

The cardiac rhythm management device market players focus on innovating devices that provide progressive therapies and also aim to develop devices progressively smaller in size. For instance, Medtronic has spent more than a decade in the research and development of Micra, a modern pacemaker the size of a large pill that can be inserted through a groin vein and fed through the femoral artery to the heart.

Medtronic is undertaking a miniaturization program that aims at shrinking the size of medical devices by almost 90 percent, producing pacemakers one-tenth the size of traditional pacemakers. It may be plausible the future of healthcare and medical devices is completely revolutionized in the years ahead with the advent of such technologically advanced components.

How Is the Demand for Pacemakers Creating a Stir in Cardiac Care?
Speaking of pacemakers, it should be mentioned the cardiac rhythm management device market is expected to witness considerable growth through the expansive application of pacemakers in cases of irregular heart rhythm. As the geriatric population around the world continues to expand, pacemakers have registered increased demand.

In research reports published by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology between 1993 and 2009, there was a 56 percent rise in the use of pacemakers and the average age of recipients of pacemakers has also continued to creep upward. Pacemakers normalize the heartbeat, easing symptoms such as fatigue and fainting, and help people be more physically active. With rising incidence of diabetes and kidney disease, it can be said individuals have been getting sicker—which has made it more imperative to use pacemakers.

Spanning Geographies—the Consistent Surge in CRM Device Demand


United States

The U.S. is one of the major regions witnessing significant growth of the CRM device market due to the presence of various CRM device manufacturers. An expanding geriatric population and the spread of unhealthy lifestyles causing a rise in incidence of cardiovascular diseases have also been responsible for the surge in the demand.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 1 in 4 deaths in the U.S. are caused by heart disease, amounting to nearly 610,000 deaths in the U.S. every year. Remarkably, every year about 735,000 Americans have a heart attack. Of these, 525,000 are a first heart attack and 210,000 happen in patients who have already had a heart attack.

Coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease, killing over 370,000 people annually. Consequently, an increasing number of Americans are at risk and need CRM devices. Over the last two decades, more than 3 million Americans have been fitted with pacemakers, opening a considerable growth opportunity for CRM device industry players.

According to the WHO, three quarters of CVD deaths recorded around the world occur in low- to middle-income countries. A general lack of awareness about what causes cardiovascular diseases coupled with unhealthy lifestyle involving excessive tobacco use, high salt consumption, and general lack of nutrition has expanded the effect of CVDs in such countries. However, the scenario is said to be changing along with the economic conditions of these countries.

Asia Pacific

In Asia Pacific, a geographically diverse area, remote monitoring of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators is becoming more popular. Such a trend is especially apparent in Australia and Japan. According to NCBI statistics, in Australia up to 15 percent of pacemakers are remotely monitored, as are 40 percent of ICDs and 30 percent of CRT-Ds. In Japan 5 percent of pacemakers, 50 percent of ICDs, and 50 percent of CRT-Ds are remotely monitored.

The APAC CRM device market share is expected to surge at a commendable pace, as convenience and cost reduction for the adoption of such devices becomes easier. The region is likely to register an appreciable growth impetus due to increasing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases across India and China. Quite a percentage of the Indian populace is estimated to be suffering from multiple types of premature ventricular beats and atrial fibrillation.

CRM devices are continually being updated and redesigned to become smaller and less intrusive on the quality of lives of patients. A joint task force of the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and the Heart Rhythm Society publishes new guidelines for CRM device indications every few years that summarize recommendations for patient management.

Newer developments are continuously being made in CRM devices that are anticipated to boost the growth of CRM device demand. Estimates claim the CRM industry size to reach $13.7 billion by 2025.

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Paroma Bhattacharya has post graduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. Always endowed with a passion for writing, she commenced her professional career generating resourceful and informative content across diverse fields. With a comprehensive portfolio spanning business and technology, Paroma now works as a full-time research content developer at Global Market Insights.