Asia-Pacific Digital Pathology Market Size Expected to reach $0.39 billion by 2031 | CAGR of 10.6%

Asia-Pacific Digital Pathology Market Size Expected to reach $0.39 billion by 2031 | CAGR of 10.6%

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, “Asia-Pacific Digital Pathology Market by Type, Application and End User: Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2031, “The Asia-Pacific digital pathology market size was valued at $143.32 Million in 2021, and is projected to reach $393.33 Million by 2031, registering a CAGR of 10.6%.”

Digital pathology is a diagnosis technique carried out by the use of various computer technologies. Digitized specimen slide generates information that is managed by advanced computation and through virtual microscopy. Advances in medical science and computer technology have all contributed to the development of digital pathology.. It offers a high-resolution sample scanning, analysis of computer images, and online storage of digital slides which enables pathologists to examine slides without forensic evidence. 

Digital pathology scanners can scan slides in as little as 30 seconds, be configured at multiple magnifications, and handle up to 1,000 slides at a time. Storage, now available in the cloud, is affordable, secure, and accessible. Computational applications incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) offer a myriad of ways to analyze and present images to the pathologist. 

Digital pathology is rapidly gaining momentum as a proven and essential technology, with specific support for education, tissue-based research, drug development, and the practice of human pathology throughout the world.  It is an innovation committed to the reduction of laboratory expenses, an improvement of operational efficiency, enhanced productivity, and improving treatment decisions and patient care. Some of the advantages associated with digital pathology are easy access of digital images and video streams which can be shared in real-time, thus bridging physical distance (telepathology) between local hospitals, colleges (second-opinion), teachers and students, and between home and workplace (home-office).

Digital pathology is used primarily in three ways. First, to efficiently design research protocol, collect data, and manage databases for the millions of specimens. Second, clinical labs use digital pathology on select cases for remote consultations, education, or quantitative analysis. And third and fastest-growing use case centers on clinical labs moving to an all-digital workflow. These labs use computationally-enabled digital pathology powered by AI to help assign cases to pathologists, manage the workflow into worklists, offer quantitative image analysis for specific case types, integrate information into the existing Lab Information System (LIS). 

With digital pathology, diagnosis is no longer needs to be delayed by the physical shipment of tissue samples or the wait times that result when pathologists are out of the office. For instance, AetherAI provides solutions for digital pathology and AI-powered diagnostic support to help pathologists perform more effectively. Moreover, in 2020, Qritive received the CE mark for its digital pathology solution, Pantheon V2.0. which is an agnostic digital pathology platform with AI plugins that enables digitization of the entire histopathology workflow and assists pathologists in image analysis for cancer diagnosis. 

The key factors that drive the growth of the market are rise in number of pathologists, benefits of digital pathology, and its rapid adoption in the healthcare industry. Moreover, increase in prevalence of chronic conditions is projected to increase clinical urgency to take digital pathology to improve the current poor diagnostic imaging measures and to reduce the high cost of conventional diagnostics. According to the research article published, about 21% of the elderly in India reportedly have at least one chronic disease; and 17% elderly in rural areas and 29% in urban areas suffer from a chronic disease. Hypertension and diabetes account for about 68% of all chronic diseases. 

According to a report by the Indian Council for Medical Research on the ‘Burden of cancers in India’, seven cancers accounted for more than 40% of the total disease burden; lung cancer (10.6%), breast cancer (10.5%), esophagus cancer (5.8%), oral cancer (5.7%), gastrointestinal cancer (5.2%), liver (4.6%) and cervix & uterus (4.3%).

However, expensive equipment, instable technology, lack of standards, and lab information systems that are not yet ready to support digitalization are the factors that hinder the growth of the Asia-Pacific digital pathology market.

On the basis of type, the Asia-Pacific digital pathology market is segmented into scanners, software and storage & communication system. In 2021, the scanners segment accounted for the largest share of the market. The dominance of this segment can be attributed to the advanced features provided by digital pathology scanners, such as whole slide imaging systems that conduct automated assays as well as repeated data analysis across experiments and produce high images, are the key drivers for the growth of the market. The software segment is anticipated to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period. Owing to the fact that digital pathology software provides a universal platform for pathology workflow to histo-technicians, pathologists, and administrators through diagnosis. 

On the basis of application, the market is classified into teleconsultation, disease diagnosis, drug discovery and training & education. In 2021, the disease diagnosis segment exhibited the highest growth, and is anticipated to lead during the forecast period, owing to increase in use of digital pathology to diagnose various types of cancers and chronic diseases such as lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer which is projected to boost the growth of the market. 

The drug discovery segment is expected to grow at a considerable growth rate during the Asia-Pacific digital pathology market forecast period. Owing to increase in the productivity for drug development by reducing the volume of slides that need to be analyzed and provides increasingly accurate predictions of the images. 

By end user the market is segmented into educational, clinical and pharma & biotech companies. In 2021, the pharma & biotech companies exhibited the highest growth, and is anticipated to lead during the forecast period, owing to the collaboration among various pharma & biotech companies which further helps in the development of advanced diagnostics devices. 

The clinical segment is anticipated to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period. Owing to increase in demand of clinical trial training applications which can be reformatted to drive quality improvement in routine practice, hence, contributing in the growth of Asia-Pacific digital pathology market

By country, Japan accounted for a majority of the digital pathology market share in 2021 and is anticipated to remain dominant during the forecast period. This is attributed to increase in key players for the digital diagnosis software development which is one of the major factors for the growth of the market. India is anticipated to witness fastest growth, owing to rise in geriatric population and surge in use of digital pathology in drug development, data sharing with the payers, and high use of digital pathology for cancer cases.

Key Findings Of The Study

• By type, the scanners segment was the highest contributor to the market in 2021.
• By application, the disease diagnosis was the highest contributor to the Asia-Pacific digital pathology market in 2021.
• By end user, the clinical segment is projected to grow at a significant CAGR of 11.0% from 2022 to 2031.
• By country, Japan garnered largest revenue share in 2021, whereas India is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR of 14.4% during the review period.