The U.S. surgical navigation systems market will be heavily driven by the expansion of outpatient settings between 2016 and 2020, according to a new Technavio report.

It's expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of almost 6 percent during that time frame.

There has been a spike in the number of ambulatory surgical centers where complex spinal surgeries can be performed with the surgical navigation systems. The procedures are preprogrammed into the systems and then performed with the assistance of a surgeon.

Other drivers of the market are the popularity of minimally-invasive surgery, new applications for surgical navigation systems, and vendors' marketing strategies. Because of this growing demand, manufacturers are working on portable, lightweight systems.


Neurosurgical navigation systems for cranial tumors and neurological disorders make up the largest segment of the market. Frameless stereotaxy and MR image-guided navigation are being used more to obtain brain biopsies for tumor resection procedures.

Orthopedic surgical navigation systems represent the second largest segment of the market. These systems are ideal for joint arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty total shoulder arthroplasty, limb-salvage techniques and fracture surgeries.

A growing number of patients are undergoing knee replacements, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. The rate has risen by 120 percent over a 10-year period and the number of hip replacement cases has also doubled over the same period.

The newest and fastest-growing portion of the market is the ENT surgical navigation segment. These systems are used for performing procedures on optic nerves, blood vessels, eyes and the nasal region.

The systems are becoming a popular option for ENT procedures at ASCs. In 2015, 92 percent of the ear and 87 percent of the nasal surgeries were performed in ASCs, according to the report.

The top vendors in the market are GE Healthcare, Medtronic, Stryker, Brainlab and B. Braun Melsungen.

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