Extracorporeal life support devices rises in use in Australia

It played a major role in treating high risk COVID-19 patients.

A rise in the incidence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) as more patients suffer from severe COVID-19 infection has driven the growth of Australia’s extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) devices market, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of about 6% between 2021 and 2025, according to GlobalData.

The market rose 25% between 2019 and 2020. Two companies accounted for around 80% of the total market in 2020. “ECMO devices are playing a major role in treating high risk COVID-19 infected patients,” GlobalData’s medical devices analyst Tanisha Verma commented.

ECMO remains reserved for patients requiring critical interventional therapy due to the inability to oxygenate the blood, maintain adequate tissue perfusion with oxygenated blood, or both. Due to the risks associated with such procedures, its usage for non-critical patients remains unlikely.

“Factors such as high cost, lack of sufficient trained staff, complications such as blood clots, limb ischemia and difficulty in mitigating bleeding disorders during ECMO procedures need to be addressed to increase the market penetration of these devices in future,” Verma said.