SWEDISH firm Elekta Instrument is optimistic China will be a large market for its neuro-surgery equipment as the country's medical facilities upgrade their technological capabilities.
Director of corporate communications Sverker Littorin said yesterday six hospitals in China had bought its US$3 million Leksell Gamma Unit, which is used to treat brain tumours and abnormal blood vessels.
A treatment, using 201 cobalt gamma rays, takes five to 20 minutes and does not involve opening the skull.
Medical experts believe one Gamma unit will service 2.5 million people. Using conservative estimates, Elekta could sell more than 100 units in China if hospitals in major cities made purchases, they said.
Mr Littorin said China had been quick to adopt Elekta's high-technology products because of its long medical tradition and extensive efforts to treat cancer.
Five of the Gamma units were paid for by the hospitals while the sixth was financed by the Nordic Investment Bank.
Shanghai's Hua Shan Hospital has bought a Gamma unit through a joint venture with a US company owned by mainland-born Americans.
