COVID-19 Impact on Integrated Cardiology Devices in Healthcare Industry

COVID-19 is a communicable, contagious disease that created ripples throughout the world in early 2020, taking the lives of millions around the globe and infecting more. The disease is caused by a virus SARS CoV-2 which causes the respiratory tract infection, damaging the upper and lower respiratory tract.
The spread of this disease brought the world to a halt affecting the medical device market immensely. The global integrated cardiology devices market was impacted by the widespread of the disease. There were numerous unprecedented changes seen in the market which affected the economy hugely.
The surgeon uses the integrated cardiology devices for critical cardiac surgeries using multiple devices. These modern devices are used for early diagnosis to provide better treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, growing geriatric population who are more prone to chronic illness, rising healthcare expenditure, and increasing the rates of minimally invasive surgeries performed are drivers for the global integrated cardiology devices market. Moreover, the rise in research and development activities by key market players, and increase of unhealthy lifestyle are acting as opportunities for the growth of the market. According, to World Health Organization, approximately 30 % of deaths are caused due to heart diseases across the globe. However, stringent government regulations and the high cost of equipment may hamper the market.

PRICE IMPACT
These have been some past whirlwind months due to the emergence of Covid-19. The medical devices firms are facing financial challenges as the disease brought the whole world to a complete stop. The sales of few medical devices experienced a downfall while others managed to stay afloat. According to LivaNova annual performance report, the cardiopulmonary segment reports a loss of 11.5% compared to previous years. The reduction was largely motivated by the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent deferral to medical procedures companies. This has impacted the price of the equipment as well. The increased demand for cardiac surgery devices and inhibited supply results in unmet needs of patients, and hence increased the cardiac devices to 15-20%.

IMPACT ON DEMAND
The coronavirus pandemic left a huge impact on the integrated cardiac surgery devices market because of its efficacy in its application. The emergence of COVID-19 set some significant operational changes in how the devices are manufactured and supplied. With the increase in the incidence of COVID-19 and existing infectious diseases, the demand for cardiac devices increased faster. Due to higher demand, the availability of the devices is greatly affected. The increase in initiatives taken by manufacturers such as product launches, mergers, and acquisitions has further increased the demand for the integrated cardiac surgery devices market.

IMPACT ON SUPPLY CHAIN
As the world came to a halt for almost six months due to the emergence of COVID-19, the supply chain could not escape the impact. The governments throughout the globe imposed a total lockdown to contain the spread of the disease. Consequently, the supply chain and third-party logistics came to a standstill due to the closure of borders. Even though the demand for devices was high, the availability was affected due to disruptions in the supply chain, trade, and travel restrictions. The supply of raw materials was also affected, due to which the devices' production was restricted. Bottlenecks in the supply were foreseen due to limited production. Still, some companies managed to overcome the challenges and saw high growth.
Due to such an impact, various companies seek to diversify their supply chain from a geographic perspective to reduce the supply risk rising from one countryside. Many companies would want to move some of their supply chains locally as well.

STRATEGIC DECISIONS BY MANUFACTURERS
As the reality of COVID-19 dawned upon the world, the manufactures and production units of the companies in the global cardiopulmonary bypass accessory equipment market swiftly planned for strategies to cope with the effect of the crisis. Major players in the market took various initiatives to cope up with the situation.
• In May 2020, Medtronic announced that it had received FDA approval for cardiopulmonary technologies to be temporarily used in the U.S. for ECMO therapy greater than six hours only for public health emergencies such as COVID-19. The FDA allows limited modifications to the cardiopulmonary device without prior submission of pre-market notification. This will help the company to meet the demand in the market
• In April 2021, LivaNova PLC announced that it had received FDA clearance for B-Capta, a blood gas monitoring system integrated into the S5 Heart-Lung Machine. The system is designed to accurately monitor venous and arterial blood gas parameters during pediatric and adult cardiopulmonary bypass procedures. It will help the company to acquire the market in coming years
• In January 2021, EUROSETS announced the commercial launch of ECMO Life, an Extracorporeal Life Support System. This will help the company expand its portfolio to provide temporary support to patients in various therapeutic areas
• In October 2020, Medtronic announced its partnership with the Foundry to develop innovative mitral valve repair technology. This has helped the company to get benefit from The Foundry’s track of innovation in the field of trans catheter mitral valve repair and replacement
These strategies helped the company in coping with the pandemic and ensured business operations, it also helped to minimize the impact of Covid-19 and provided full support to the government in their efforts to combat the disease and help the front-line workers.

CONCLUSION:
COVID-19 has impacted every market with no exception. The global integrated cardiac devices market has been affected the same. With a rise in the geriatric population, increasing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, and technological development led to growth in the market. The trend has been suggested to show steady growth in upcoming years.
It has been concluded that the COVID 19 pandemic situation has an adverse impact on the market, affecting the price, supply, and demand of the equipment. However, in the crisis call, market players, government bodies, and healthcare organizations worked closely with healthcare professionals, customers, and patients for the betterment of public health.
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