Conversion of High-Energy Radiation Made Possible by Scintillators
The Scintillator market is evaluated at US$617.538 million for the year 2020 growing at a CAGR of 4.69% reaching a market size of US$851.309 million by 2027.
Scintillators are materials that convert high-energy radiation such as X-rays or gamma-rays to near visible or visible light. These scintillators are widely used as detectors in medical diagnostics, geophysical explorations, and high-energy physics. The scintillator-based detectors consist primarily of a scintillator substance and a photodetector, which could be a photomultiplier tube (PMT) or a photodiode. The photodetector’s function is to turn the scintillator’s light output into an electrical signal. Furthermore, the photomultiplier tubes are considered as most common photodetectors, which consist of photocathodes. The photocathode emits photoelectrons whenever the light photon hits the photocathode. As a result, the subsequent multiplication of that electrons produces an electrical pulse, which could then be analyzed to produce useful understandings about the particle that struct the detectors. Scintillators are extensively used in several applications such as gamma cameras, medical diagnostics, high-energy physics, geophysical explorations, security radiation detectors, gas explorations, and CT scanners among others.
The rapid R&D advancements and growing demand for scintillators in various industries are expected to fuel market growth during the forecast period.
Owing to the numerous benefits of and widespread use of scintillators in industries like manufacturing, healthcare, defense and security industry and nuclear power industry, the market for scintillators has gained momentum in the past few years. With the rapid advancements in technology coupled with ongoing research and developments, the market for scintillators is steadily changing and expected to grow at a steady pace. For instance, in February 2022, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported more sensitive X-ray imaging. The researchers at MIT have shown how one could improve the efficiency of scintillators. By changing the surface to create certain nanoscale configurations, such as arrays of wave-like ridges, the efficiency of scintillators can be improved by at least tenfold, and even a hundredfold reported MIT news. In addition to these scientific breakthroughs in the research and development of scintillators, the key market players are also taking a step forward in the scintillator market by introducing a new range of products in the market. For instance, in April 2021 Scintacor, a world leader in the manufacturing and development of large-area Scintillators, announced the availability of their largest-ever Csl: TI scintillators on a range of different substrates. Now, the company can provide the same premium scintillators for usage in mammography, cone beam CT, and Fluoroscopy applications with the ability of up to 310mm-square active area. Such product advancements coupled with the latest scientific research are expected to fuel the market growth for scintillators during the anticipated period.
Furthermore, the increasing demand for scintillators can be attributed to their high precision, efficiency, and ability to detect even lower radiation levels in many end-user industries like healthcare, nuclear power, security, and defense industry among others. For instance, in May 2022, SPIE, an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing scientific research and engineering operations reported that a successful method for creating radio luminescent polymeric scintillators with different emission colors has recently been described by researchers from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT, China). This latest innovation opens a new avenue of research for low-cost flexible radio luminescent polymeric materials.
Based on material type the market for organic scintillators is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period.
Based on material type, the scintillators market is divided into organic and inorganic scintillators. During the anticipated period, the organic scintillators market is expected to witness significant growth. The organic scintillators generally have fact decay times that range typically ~10-8 Sec which the inorganic crystals are usually far slower. When a charged particle or a photon passes through an organic scintillator, it emits observable photons in the visible portion of the light spectrum. The mechanism for both the scintillators differs from each other. As the organic scintillators have a fluorescence mechanism that arises from a transition in the energy levels of a single molecule, which allows observation of fluorescence independent of the physical state. These advantages of organic scintillators are expected to fuel the market for scintillators under this segment.
The healthcare industry is expected to propel the market growth for scintillators during the forecast period.
The scintillators market is segmented into healthcare, energy and power, manufacturing, defense, and others based on the end-user industry. During the estimated period, the healthcare industry is expected to propel the market growth for scintillators. The healthcare industry mainly utilizes the capabilities of scintillators in order to detect or analyze cardiovascular and neurological diseases. It is expected that the rising number of patients requiring the assistance of cardiovascular care will propel the market for scintillators in the forthcoming years. As per the datasheet of the World health organization, cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks, and strokes are the leading cause of death globally. In 2019, a total of 17.9 million people died of cardiovascular diseases, estimated the WHO. The total number of deaths represented an overall global population of 32%. And it is anticipated that unhealthy dietary patterns, lack of physical activity, and rising alcoholism among the world population will further increase the need for cardiovascular care. Consequently, the demand for scintillators is expecting positive growth during the forecast period.
According to analysts, the North America is expected to hold a dominant share of the scintillator market during the projected time.
Based on Geography, the scintillators market is divided into North America, South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Geographically, the analysts projected that the Americas would account for a sizeable portion of the market during the anticipated period. Research in the Americas is anticipated to increase because of the rising investments in the space sector and the expanding security concerns in the region. Furthermore, the GE research demonstrated the applications of radiation detectors for homeland security operations in the US in the Radiation Awareness and Interdiction Network (RAIN) program which was funded by the Department of Homeland Security and Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO). This program demonstrated a system that can detect real-time radioactive materials concealed in vehicles moving at highway speed. Such advanced technology with the support of the US government to aid the rising security concerns in the region is expected to propel the market for scintillators in this region. Moreover, the demand for scintillators is also rising in the European and Asia Pacific areas as a result of the expanding imaging modalities which are made possible by the booming medical industry. The Asia Pacific region’s market growth is anticipated to be driven by the expansion of nuclear power plants and other infrastructure in China, India, and Japan.
