Market opportunity for a novel PCNL endoscope
Delivered a comprehensive market opportunity assessment for an early-stage MedTech startup, enabling informed investment and commercialization decisions for a novel endoscope designed for PCNL procedures.
- Disease Epidemiology / Procedure Volume Estimation
- Healthcare Infrastructure Mapping
- Reimbursement Landscape & CMS Data Analytics
The brief
Case study for opportunity assessment of the US PCNL market
- Estimate procedural volumes
- Map clinical workflows
- Assess reimbursement dynamics
- Track adoption trends in kidney stone management
The client was a France-based startup developing innovative endoscopic technologies for urology applications.
The problem
Highly fragmented, limited and inconsistent data available in published literature specific to PCNL procedural economics and infrastructure
- Estimate annual US PCNL volumes, benchmarked against URS and SWL
- Map PCNL-performing urologists and facilities
- Assess clinical practice and nephroscope usage
- Evaluate reimbursement across all three procedures — pathways, coding and procedure economics
Published PCNL-specific figures disagreed with each other, so no single source could be taken at face value.
Our approach
Highly targeted secondary research and data triangulation, complemented by an in-depth KOL interview with an experienced urologist
- Medicare datasets and CMS reimbursement databases (DRG, CPT, ICD)
- Clinical literature, claims-based studies and urology society publications
- Triangulation on physician-level data and retreatment rates
- In-depth interview with a high-volume US urologist
The urologist interviewed performs roughly 120 PCNL procedures a year.
Key outcomes
Enabled the client to better assess commercial opportunity and future product positioning within the US stone management market
- Comprehensive estimate of annual US PCNL volumes
- Nephroscope market sized on replacement-cycle modelling
- Rising adoption of Mini-PCNL and ambulatory, same-day-discharge procedures
- Scope efficiency identified as the core unmet need
Of the two shifts, the move to same-day discharge proved the more consequential for positioning.
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