The geriatric population around the world is growing at a swift pace; as per the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of people aged 65 years or above across the globe is projected to double from 703 million to 1.5 billion between 2019 and 2050. The WHO has also stated that the rate at which the aging population is growing has quickened in the past few years. Since the aging population is more susceptible to several chronic diseases, it often needs medical intervention. One such device, which is used for medical intervention, is a wearable injector.

Bolus injectors were introduced in 2016, but have grown extremely popular due to their various advantages, including their ability to treat several diseases, including infectious diseases, blood disorders, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and autoimmune diseases. The treatment of these diseases requires the patient to be administered with multiple, repeated doses of drugs at frequent intervals, and because bolus injectors are low-cost and easy-to-use disposable devices, which allow for the at-home self-administration of drugs, their demand is rising rapidly. Apart from this, these injectors are projected to have the capability of delivering more than 900 biologics and biosimilars in the coming years.

When the geographical scenario is taken into consideration, North America has been the most productive wearable injectors market in the past. The reasons for this are the surging prevalence of chronic and lifestyle-associated diseases, growing requirement for self-injection and advanced drug delivery systems in the region. With the focus increasing focusing on reducing patients’ stay at the hospital and decreasing the healthcare cost, manufacturers are engaging in developing advanced drug delivery devices. Among these, wearable injectors have emerged as one of the most suitable solutions for people suffering from chronic diseases and aged people. Therefore, with an increasing number of people contracting various diseases and the demand for constant and regulated drug delivery increasing, the usage of wearable injectors would also rise.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) forecasts that nearly 22% of the global population will be aged 60 years and above by 2050. Furthermore, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) predicts that the population of individuals aged 65 years and more will surge from 727 million in 2020 to 1.5 billion by 2050. This age group is often affected by vision problems as they experience a variety of age-related stressors. To deal with this challenge, old people are creating a huge requirement for contact lenses, globally.

Moreover, the mounting healthcare expenditure is also expected to fuel the contact lenses market growth during 2021–2030. Owing to these reasons, the market revenue is projected to surge from $7.5 billion in 2020 to $16.0 billion by 2030. For instance, the World Bank estimated that 9.86% of global gross domestic product (GDP) was spent on healthcare in 2018. The increasing healthcare expenditure is attributed to the soaring public awareness on advanced medical products and escalating disposable income of people. Nowadays, companies operating in the contact lenses market are introducing new products to help more people suffering from sight problems. For example, in August 2018, Bausch & Lomb, a branch of Bausch Health Companies Inc., launched expanded parameters for Biotrue ONEday to boost the toric parameter range by more than 60%. The expansion ranges from +4.00D to -9.00D power will provide eye doctors and their astigmatic patients with multiple parameter options for daily disposable toric lenses. According to P&S Intelligence, North America has consumed the highest quantity of contact lenses in recent years, due to the increasing usage of smartphones, computers, and televisions, and the surging prevalence of vision ailments, owing to the booming elderly population. For instance, the Government of Canada estimates that, by 2030, over 9.5 million people in the country will be aged 65 years or more. The government also forecasts that the average life expectancy at birth for women and men of Canada will be 86.2 years and 82.9 years, respectively, by 2036. Thus, the escalating aging population and the soaring healthcare expenditure will fuel the usage of contact lenses, worldwide.

Smart Home Healthcare Solutions Becoming Increasingly Popular among Elderly Gone are the days when people had to visit the doctor every time they wanted a consult or get themselves tested for routine stuff, such as heart rate, blood glucose, and blood pressure. With connected devices and the internet of things (IoT), such things can be done at home. Connected devices, such as smartwatches and multiparameter monitors, track several aspects of health and fitness and automatically transmit the data to the doctor via the internet. This way, people don’t even have to visit the doctor to get their lab results analyzed.

With the increase in the adoption of these devices, the smart home healthcare market, which generated $8.7 billion in 2019, will grow to $96.2 billion by 2030, at a 26.2% CAGR between 2020 and 2030, says P&S Intelligence. As per reports, compared to 14.2 billion in 2019, more than 41.0 billion connected devices will be in use around the world by 2027, with many of those being used for healthcare purposes. Moreover, with the rapid expansion of the 5G network, the average speed of data transmission is increasing, which is imperative for a smoothly operating IoT device network. Smart home healthcare solutions are especially useful for older people (65 years and above), 1.5 billion of whom would inhabit the earth by 2030, compared to 703 million in 2019, as per the United Nations. Not only do the elderly suffer from more diseases than younger people, but they are also physically weak, which is why it is not possible for them to make repeated doctor visits. In addition, having their health and fitness parameters monitored and delivered to the doctor right from their home also helps them in saving on healthcare expenditure. Another ingenious application of smart home healthcare solutions is personalized medicine. Extensive R&D has revealed that no disease or drug affects two people similarly, which is why the need for treatments tailored to individuals has risen substantially in recent years. IoT devices can help in monitoring the progression of diseases, with the use of various biomarkers, so that doctors get a better overall picture and can design treatments and prescribe drugs accordingly. Furthermore, a number of mobile apps are now available that enable the implementation of a personalized treatment regimen. Fall detection and prevention, health status monitoring, safety and security monitoring, nutrition/diet monitoring, memory aids, and several other smart home healthcare solutions are available presently. Among these, health status monitoring solutions are the most popular, as these are easy to deploy and give a basic idea of a person’s health. With the increasing consciousness about personal wellbeing, people are increasingly tracking their heart rate, number of steps walked and calories burned, and sleep quality.

For many people in Europe, especially emotionally disturbed teens, drugs are their best friends! But, as everyone knows, whether an addict or not, drugs are not good. Though they help people escape their troubles for a while, they lead to long-lasting ill-effects, such as risk of AIDS and hepatitis C. Due to the increasing concerns among relatives and friends about drug abuse by their loved ones, they are rapidly using methods to test the presence of such substances in the body of suspected users. Thus, with the rising prevalence of drug abuse in the continent, the European drug of abuse testing market is predicted to grow to $3.0 billion by 2023, from $1.7 billion revenue in 2017, at a 9.6% CAGR during 2018–2023. Such kits and products can be used to determine the presence of a number of toxicants in the body, including amphetamines, opiates, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and ecstasy, commonly known as MDMA, which is short for its chemical formula 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine. Such tests are done at laboratories, hospitals, homes, and workplaces, among which hospitals account for the largest volume. This is because as drugs lead to serious health issues and overdose is potentially fatal, users often end up in hospitals. At such places, advanced equipment and trained professionals are deployed, who undertake the testing. Moreover, in Europe, efforts are on to better the healthcare infrastructure, which include procuring modern medical devices and equipment, including those which are used for the determining the presence of DOA in the body. The testing volume is rising in other settings too; for instance, laboratories generally offer more cost-effective services than hospitals, which is why an increasing number of people are preferring such centers for DOA testing. Moreover, the rules in workplaces regarding drug usage are becoming stricter, and many companies are implementing testing programs for their employees, to track any risky behavior. Similarly, concerned parents are using these tests at home, especially on troubled teenagers, among whom the usage of drugs is rising fast. As per the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Abuse (EMCDDA) in 2019, 17.5 million people in the 15–34 age group were cannabis users. Similarly, 2.6 million used cocaine, 2.1 million were MDMA users, and 1.2 millions used amphetamines. People in this age group, the younger ones especially, go through all kinds of mental stress, caused due to parent and peer pressure, relationships and break-ups, bad grades, childhood trauma, and sexual abuse, which often drives them to drug addiction.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the U.S. Department of Commerce, states that the personal disposable income of the U.S. populace increased from $17,595.7 billion in the third quarter (Q3) in 2020 to $18,174.1 billion in Q3 of 2021. Likewise, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) states that the gross national disposable income of the people of India grew from INR 1,92,62,652 crore in the financial year (FY) 2018–2019 to INR 2,06,30,319 crore in the FY 2019–2020. The soaring disposable income of people is encouraging them to use advanced technologies to improve their physical experience.

Thus, the rising disposable income along with the growing geriatric population will help the facial skin ablative treatment market exhibit a CAGR of 7.8% during 2020–2030. According to P&S Intelligence, the market was valued at $4,134.6 million in 2019 and it will generate $8,394.3 million revenue by 2030. As aging causes wrinkles and fine lines, old people are one of the prominent users of facial skin ablative technology. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) predicts that the global population of adults aged 65 years or more will reach around 1.5 billion by 2050. Currently, companies providing facial skin ablative technology-based products are primarily engaging in product launches to meet the needs of baby boomers, generation X, generation Y, and generation Z. For instance, in August 2020, Cutera Inc. unveiled its Fraxis PRO progressive dermal remodeling technology to improve traditional skin revitalization procedures. This technology combines RF microneedling and fractional CO2 technologies used for skin resurfacing and total dermal remodeling, respectively, in a single device. Fraxis PRO is used to treat fine lines, burn scars, stretch marks, wrinkles, and persistent acne scars by layers of the CO2 laser energy with RF microneedling. Globally, the North American region led the facial skin ablative treatment market in the preceding years and it is expected to retain its dominance in the foreseeable future as well. This can be attributed to the rising incidence of skin disorders such as scars and acne, surging public awareness about advanced technologies, and growing concerns among individuals about their physical appearance in the region. According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), around 85% of people within the age group 12–24 years in the U.S. experience at least minor acne. Furthermore, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is also expected to emerge as one of the prominent users of facial skin ablative treatment technologies. This will be on account of the soaring healthcare spending, rising burden of skin diseases, escalating disposable income of people, booming population, and flourishing aesthetic tourism industry in the region. For example, the RBI states that the net national disposable income of India grew from INR 1,72,83,028 crore in the FY 2018–2019 to INR 1,85,11,719 crore in the FY 2019–2020. Thus, the growing disposable income of people and the soaring geriatric population will create a huge requirement for facial skin ablative treatment devices in the forthcoming years.