Ureteroscopes Market Size, Share & Forecast 2026-2033

Overview

The Global Ureteroscopes Market size was valued at USD 1.34 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 1.9 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period 2026-2033. Rising adoption of minimally invasive urology procedures continues to support demand for advanced ureteroscopes worldwide, as increasing numbers of patients require minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for kidney stones, ureteral strictures, and urological cancers.

According to The Urology Foundation, roughly half the global population is expected to experience a urological condition during their lifetime. North America led the market with approximately 36% revenue share in 2025, flexible ureteroscopes held 57% product share, and Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region.

Manufacturers have responded to this demand with a wave of single-use and digital ureteroscope launches over the past two years, a shift reshaping product strategy across the industry toward disposable, HD-imaging-capable devices designed to eliminate reprocessing infrastructure entirely. Despite this rapid adoption of disposable ureteroscopes, reusable systems continue to dominate global installed bases because of their cost efficiency in high-volume centers, and remain the preferred option in markets where reprocessing infrastructure is already well established.

Drivers

Shift Toward Disposable Ureteroscopes Driving Market Innovation

The shift toward disposable ureteroscopes is significantly driving the growth of the ureteroscopes market by addressing key concerns related to infection control, device contamination, and costly reprocessing procedures. Hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers are increasingly adopting disposable ureteroscopes because they eliminate cross-contamination risk between patients and reduce the need for sterilization infrastructure and maintenance.

Favorable reimbursement for endoscopic stone procedures in developed healthcare systems is further supporting adoption, giving hospitals a more predictable revenue basis to justify the transition away from reusable instrument fleets. Clinical evidence is reinforcing this shift with direct performance data.

A multicenter study published in May 2025 comparing 6.3 Fr and 7.5 Fr disposable scopes logged stone-free rates of 95% and roughly 93% respectively, with the smaller device also shaving about 4.5 minutes off operative time, demonstrating that sterile ureteroscopes deliver clinical effectiveness alongside their infection-control benefits rather than a performance trade-off.

Growing Prevalence of Urological Conditions Driving Procedure Volumes

The growing prevalence of urological conditions, particularly kidney stones, urinary tract strictures, and urological cancers, is creating strong and sustained demand for kidney stone treatment devices and broader ureteroscopic procedures globally. Conditions such as kidney stones, urinary tract infections, ureteral strictures, and bladder disorders are becoming more common due to aging populations, lifestyle changes, obesity, dehydration, and dietary factors.

Urolithiasis ureteroscopy demand reflects this burden directly: according to the National Kidney Foundation, roughly 1 in 10 Americans will develop kidney stones during their lifetime, with the condition also becoming more common among women, whose prevalence rates have risen from around 6.5% to 9% in recent studies.

Technological advancements in minimally invasive surgery are further accelerating adoption. In fourth quarter 2024, Intuitive Surgical reported a 12% year-over-year increase in da Vinci surgical system placements, reflecting the broader industry trend toward advanced minimally invasive surgical technologies that positively influences ureteroscope adoption.

The growing shift toward ambulatory surgical center-based ureteroscopy, where single-use flexible ureteroscopes are particularly advantageous due to workflow simplification and elimination of reprocessing infrastructure, is expanding the addressable market beyond hospital settings into outpatient urology practices.

Restraint

High Device Costs and Capital vs. Consumable Cost Debate

A significant restraint in the ureteroscopes market is the tension between capital investment in premium reusable digital ureteroscope systems and the per-procedure consumable cost of disposable alternatives. High-end reusable digital flexible ureteroscopes from Olympus and Karl Storz can cost USD 15,000 to USD 30,000 per unit, plus USD 1,500 to USD 3,000 per repair event when scopes are damaged during procedures, creating substantial total cost of ownership that is partially offset by multi-year amortization over hundreds of procedures.

Single-use ureteroscopes eliminate repair costs and provide consistent per-procedure performance, but at USD 200 to USD 600 per device, can represent higher per-procedure costs for high-volume urology centers than properly maintained reusable alternatives. The evolving regulatory environment for medical devices, including potential reclassification of some single-use urological devices in major markets, creates compliance uncertainty that can slow hospital procurement decisions.

In developing markets, the high cost of both reusable digital systems and disposable endoscopic devices limits adoption of the most advanced ureteroscope technologies, with many facilities relying on older-generation fiber-optic instruments that provide lower imaging quality than modern digital alternatives.

As a result, healthcare providers across both developed and emerging markets continue to evaluate total cost of ownership carefully before transitioning from reusable to single-use platforms, a deliberative procurement cycle that slows adoption in cost-sensitive healthcare systems even where the clinical case for disposables is well established.

Ureteroscopes Market Trends & Opportunities

Digital Imaging Is Becoming the Standard for Flexible Ureteroscopes

Digital flexible ureteroscopes, offering HD imaging and improved ergonomics over legacy fiber-optic designs, now account for a substantial share of new institutional installations, reflecting a shift where digital capability is increasingly the baseline specification hospitals request rather than a premium upgrade reserved for academic medical centers.

This transition is reinforcing the broader single-use trend, since most recent single-use flexible ureteroscope launches have paired disposability with digital HD imaging rather than reverting to simpler fiber-optic construction, giving buyers both benefits in a single device rather than forcing a choice between them.

Sustainability-Conscious Materials Are Entering Single-Use Device Design

Manufacturers are increasingly exploring bioplastics and reduced-material designs to lower the environmental impact of disposable ureteroscopes while maintaining the infection-control advantages that support their adoption.

Devices built from bioplastic materials represent an early attempt to address this tension directly, offering a lower-impact disposal profile without requiring hospitals to sacrifice the infection-control and workflow advantages that make single-use devices attractive in the first place.

Ambulatory Surgical Center Expansion Is Creating a Structurally Favorable Channel for Single-Use Devices

The continued shift of uncomplicated kidney stone procedures from hospital operating rooms into ambulatory surgical centers is creating a distribution channel structurally favorable to disposable endoscopic devices specifically, since ASCs typically lack the dedicated reprocessing infrastructure that hospitals maintain for reusable instruments. Single-use ureteroscopes are particularly well suited to ambulatory surgical centers because most ASCs lack dedicated reprocessing facilities. As outpatient stone procedures continue to expand, disposable devices are becoming the more practical choice for many centers.

Segment Analysis

The global ureteroscopes market report is segmented based on product, usability, application, end user, and region.

Flexible Ureteroscopes Market: Dominant Product Segment at 57% Share

Flexible ureteroscopes held the largest product segment share at 57% in 2025, driven by their clinical superiority for kidney stone management and urinary tract intervention through complex renal anatomy. Flexible ureteroscopes allow physicians to navigate difficult-to-reach areas of the urinary tract, including upper and lower pole calyces where rigid instruments cannot access, making them essential for laser lithotripsy, stone retrieval, and biopsy of upper urinary tract lesions.

Digital flexible ureteroscopes reflect the broader digital ureteroscope market's superior HD imaging and compatibility with modern digital OR systems. Olympus's RenaFlex, cleared by the FDA in April 2024 as the company's first single-use flexible digital ureteroscope, represents one of the most advanced products currently available in the market, offering a 120° field of view and 270° tip articulation, specifications that continue to widen the performance gap between digital flexible instruments and older fiber-optic or semi-rigid alternatives.

As digital visualization, improved deflection capability, and single-use compatibility become standard purchasing criteria, flexible ureteroscopes are expected to strengthen their dominance throughout the forecast period. Semi-rigid ureteroscopes maintain relevance for distal ureteral procedures and in budget-sensitive hospital settings, growing at roughly 8.3% CAGR because budget-conscious hospitals regard them as a reliable, lower-cost entry point to ureteroscopy serving the majority of distal stone and stricture cases at significantly lower per-procedure cost than flexible instruments.

Single-Use Ureteroscopes Market and Disposable Ureteroscopes Market: Fastest-Growing Usability Segment

Single-use ureteroscopes are the fastest-growing usability segment. North America leads adoption, reflecting the U.S. healthcare system's strong preference for infection control certainty and workflow simplification over capital asset management.

In the first quarter of 2025, Ambu signed a multi-year supply agreement with a major U.S. hospital network for disposable ureteroscopes, a landmark commercial win demonstrating institutional-scale commitment to single-use ureteroscopy at the health-system level rather than isolated departmental adoption.

Reusable ureteroscopes maintained approximately 67% global usability market share in 2025, reflecting their continued dominance in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and emerging markets where lower per-procedure costs are prioritized and reprocessing infrastructure is well established.

The reusable segment is growing more slowly as single-use adoption expands, particularly in North American and European markets where infection control investments and facility compliance with healthcare-associated infection reduction programs make the cost of single-use flexible ureteroscopes more acceptable.

Hospitals: Dominant End-User Segment

Hospitals held the dominant end-user share for ureteroscopes, with hospital-based procedures accounting for over 55% of global volume, driven by higher case complexity, the requirement for general anesthesia, and specialized equipment infrastructure, including fluoroscopy and laser lithotripsy units, that concentrate complex stone management and upper tract oncology procedures in hospital settings.

Teaching hospitals and academic medical centers are also the primary sites for advanced ureteroscope technology evaluation, driving clinical adoption of new digital and disposable endoscopic devices that subsequently diffuse to community hospitals and ASCs. Hospitals are expected to remain the primary procurement channel for premium digital and reusable ureteroscope systems, while ASCs continue to drive incremental demand for disposable platforms.

Ambulatory surgical centers are the fastest-growing end-user segment as ureteroscopy for uncomplicated kidney stones progressively shifts to outpatient settings, where single-use flexible ureteroscopes are particularly operationally advantageous. The growth of urology-specialty ASCs in North America and Europe is creating a significant new commercial market segment for disposable ureteroscopes.

Geographical Penetration

North America Ureteroscopes Market: Largest Market with 36% Revenue Share

North America led the global ureteroscopes market with 36% revenue share in 2025, driven by high kidney stone prevalence, advanced healthcare infrastructure, widespread adoption of minimally invasive urology, and the world's highest per-procedure single-use ureteroscope adoption rate.

The U.S. healthcare system's strong emphasis on infection control, favorable CMS reimbursement for ureteroscopic procedures, and the presence of leading manufacturers including Olympus, Boston Scientific, Stryker, and Dornier MedTech create a favorable commercial environment for premium ureteroscope technologies.

Continuous product launches and FDA clearances by these leading manufacturers further reinforce North America's leadership position in the category. Canada's well-developed public healthcare system and emphasis on evidence-based clinical practice creates secondary demand for clinical effectiveness data demonstrating single-use ureteroscope value relative to reusable alternatives.

Europe Ureteroscopes Market: Mature Market with Strong Single-Use Adoption

The European Association of Urology's guidelines for urolithiasis management recommend flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy as a primary treatment option for kidney stones up to 20mm, creating a large addressable clinical procedure market across the region's aging populations and directly shaping clinical adoption patterns in European hospitals.

Building on that clinical foundation, Europe is the second-largest ureteroscopes market, with approximately 27% regional share, driven by mature urology practices in Germany, France, the UK, Italy, and Spain and growing adoption of disposable ureteroscopes supported by infection control regulatory requirements and EU MDR device quality standards.

The EU Medical Device Regulation, effective since 2021, has raised the bar for ureteroscope clinical evidence and post-market surveillance, creating compliance advantages for major established manufacturers while increasing barriers for lower-cost device entrants. Karl Storz, Pentax Medical, and Richard Wolf are European-based manufacturers with strong domestic positions and global distribution networks.

Asia-Pacific Ureteroscopes Market: Fastest-Growing Region

Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing ureteroscopes market, driven by growing kidney stone prevalence across the region's aging and high-risk demographic profile, expanding healthcare infrastructure, and increasing physician training in minimally invasive urology techniques. China's large urology market and growing private hospital sector are creating strong demand for advanced ureteroscopic technologies, with domestic manufacturers including HugeMed now competing directly in the single-use device category rather than the market remaining the exclusive domain of established Western and Japanese manufacturers.

India's rapidly expanding private hospital network and growing urological disease burden are creating significant additional demand growth, while Japan and South Korea maintain sophisticated urology markets with high technology adoption. Olympus's dominant regional position in endoscopy and urology devices, combined with growing competition from regional manufacturers, is creating price pressure that is accelerating access to high-quality ureteroscopes across hospital tiers.

Middle East and Africa: Growing Healthcare Infrastructure

The Middle East and Africa region represents a growing ureteroscopes market, driven by high kidney stone prevalence in the Middle East, linked to climate, dietary factors, and dehydration, expanding hospital infrastructure in GCC countries, and growing investment in minimally invasive surgery capabilities. GCC countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait, have invested significantly in world-class hospital facilities equipped with advanced urology suites, creating demand for premium ureteroscope technologies, with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 healthcare expansion program substantially increasing hospital capacity and procedural volume.

South America: Brazil-Led Growth

South America's ureteroscopes market is led by Brazil, where a large and growing private hospital sector, high kidney stone prevalence linked to dietary factors and dehydration, and increasing physician training in minimally invasive urology are driving market growth. Brazil's SUS public health system performs significant ureteroscopy volumes for kidney stone management, while the growing private healthcare sector is adopting advanced digital and disposable ureteroscope technologies at increasing rates. Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico represent secondary markets with growing minimally invasive urology adoption.

Key Developments

• In March 2026, Cook Medical announced the commercial launch of two products from its Urology specialty. The Syfonix® Suction Ureteral Access Sheath and the 7.5 Fr Ascend™ Single-Use Flexible Ureteroscope are available in the United States and Canada.
• In October 2025, Dornier MedTech America launched the Dornier Axis II Slim single-use ureteroscope, featuring a 5.6 Fr distal tip, alongside the Dornier Hoover FANS suction ureteral access sheath, both following U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance.
• In April 2025, HugeMed officially launched its ultra-slim 6.3 Fr single-use flexible ureteroscope at the AUA 2025 conference in Las Vegas, designed for patients without stents and offering improved access and enhanced maneuverability.  In the first quarter of 2025, Ambu signed a multi-year supply agreement with a major U.S. hospital network for disposable ureteroscopes.
•  In July 2024, Ambu's aScope 5 Uretero, the company's latest single-use ureteroscope made from bioplastics, secured FDA 510(k) clearance and began rolling out across select U.S. medical centers ahead of a global launch.
•  In April 2024, Olympus Corporation received FDA 510(k) clearance for RenaFlex, its first single-use flexible digital ureteroscope, featuring HD imaging, a 120° field of view, and 270° tip articulation.