Technology Advisor – Trends shaping medical devices
March 17, 2017
By Bipin Thomas
Global advancements have changed the way we provide and receive health care. Early diagnosis, quick surgical procedures, reduced postoperative hospital stays, painless treatments and various innovative solutions have become norms of providing health care. These developments and solutions have been crafted by many players such as health experts, technology experts, research houses and consumer communities. The following are trends shaping medical devices today, and will continue to do so in the years to come.
Home is the health care hub
The very atmosphere of home cures many. This common mind-set of patients has triggered the need for easy-to-use home health care devices. The wireless home-care device segment alone is expected to touch $6 billion by 2017 in the U.S. This market is growing in the form of various new applications of smart medical devices such as remote patient monitoring, miniaturized ultra-low power devices, zero-defect reliability, and all-in-one devices are some of the most popular advanced device traits and technologies addressing the home health care market.
Noninvasive devices
People don’t want to spend countless days in the hospital. But after surgery, they don’t have a choice because their bodies need time to heal. It is circumstances like this that led organizations in the health care industry to conduct research and develop treatment procedures, and devices to enable them, and to offer minimally invasive treatments to patients. Drug-eluting stents and capsule endoscopy units are some of the well-known devices that enable doctors to perform surgeries in a minimally invasive manner. Simple home health care devices, like a blood glucose meter, are becoming noninvasive. You don’t have to prick fingers every time you want to measure blood glucose levels.
Reverse innovation
In the developing world, expensive devices leading to expensive treatments may be frowned upon. This has encouraged organizations to think outside the box and develop products and solutions that bear the same functionality, but can be produced and sold at lower price points. Reverse innovation refers to an innovative development first seen or developed and used in the developing world, and then taken to the developed markets. An excellent case is GE Healthcare India’s portable ECG machine. Originally targeted at and developed for the rural Indian market, it is now being marketed in the Western world. Reverse innovation is set to become a revolution, so much so that GE says that it has “disrupted itself.”
Acquiring intellectual property
Usually, patented “path-breaking” innovations take shape in small organizations. Concurrently, large organizations hold intellectual property ownership in high regard, as it can offer a big competitive advantage. A key strategy the big players have adopted is to acquire patents and IP rights from the innovators in the market. The big guys are on an IP buying spree. They’re forging long-term partnerships for R&D-related purposes. New business operational models like co-ownership of IPs and knowledge sourcing are making an entry, especially in the health care industry, in a big way.
Drug-device combination products
Just under five years ago, patients would go to a hospital to get diagnosed for some illness, and receive treatment under the supervision of the best doctor in town. More recently, we’re starting to see that people are obtaining home health care services, as they don’t want to spend a lot of time in a hospital. The new buzzword that can be heard in medical device circles today is "theragnosis," a combination of therapy and diagnosis.
Theragnosis is made possible by combination products — products that are essentially devices, and also contain some form of treatment drugs, depending upon the targeted usage. Drug-eluting stents and continuous glucose monitoring are two of the most noted developments in this area. Developments in this area are so rapid that within five to 10 years, we might be looking at health care in a drastically different way. Technology is becoming a critical enabler in turning new care delivery models into reality.
When developing medical devices in the 21st century, technology must be leveraged to address the pressing needs of people (hospitals, physicians and patients alike) and not the other way around. On the communication technology front, we will see more wireless devices offering round-the-clock health care and seamless health status monitoring, thus enabling timely treatment. Convergence of wireless health care and mobile phones is no more a dream, with regulatory bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration and Federal Communications Commission considering the implications of using mobile phones as medical devices, among other technological advancements in the health care arena.
It is also worth noting that these trends all focus on reducing the overall cost of health care, while ensuring patient convenience at all times. The stakeholders have already taken this seriously and are striving to develop solutions that enhance the quality of life, and add a few more years to our average life span.
About the author: Bipin Thomas is a renowned global thought-leader on consumer- centric health care transformation.
Global advancements have changed the way we provide and receive health care. Early diagnosis, quick surgical procedures, reduced postoperative hospital stays, painless treatments and various innovative solutions have become norms of providing health care. These developments and solutions have been crafted by many players such as health experts, technology experts, research houses and consumer communities. The following are trends shaping medical devices today, and will continue to do so in the years to come.
Home is the health care hub
The very atmosphere of home cures many. This common mind-set of patients has triggered the need for easy-to-use home health care devices. The wireless home-care device segment alone is expected to touch $6 billion by 2017 in the U.S. This market is growing in the form of various new applications of smart medical devices such as remote patient monitoring, miniaturized ultra-low power devices, zero-defect reliability, and all-in-one devices are some of the most popular advanced device traits and technologies addressing the home health care market.
Noninvasive devices
People don’t want to spend countless days in the hospital. But after surgery, they don’t have a choice because their bodies need time to heal. It is circumstances like this that led organizations in the health care industry to conduct research and develop treatment procedures, and devices to enable them, and to offer minimally invasive treatments to patients. Drug-eluting stents and capsule endoscopy units are some of the well-known devices that enable doctors to perform surgeries in a minimally invasive manner. Simple home health care devices, like a blood glucose meter, are becoming noninvasive. You don’t have to prick fingers every time you want to measure blood glucose levels.
Reverse innovation
In the developing world, expensive devices leading to expensive treatments may be frowned upon. This has encouraged organizations to think outside the box and develop products and solutions that bear the same functionality, but can be produced and sold at lower price points. Reverse innovation refers to an innovative development first seen or developed and used in the developing world, and then taken to the developed markets. An excellent case is GE Healthcare India’s portable ECG machine. Originally targeted at and developed for the rural Indian market, it is now being marketed in the Western world. Reverse innovation is set to become a revolution, so much so that GE says that it has “disrupted itself.”
Acquiring intellectual property
Usually, patented “path-breaking” innovations take shape in small organizations. Concurrently, large organizations hold intellectual property ownership in high regard, as it can offer a big competitive advantage. A key strategy the big players have adopted is to acquire patents and IP rights from the innovators in the market. The big guys are on an IP buying spree. They’re forging long-term partnerships for R&D-related purposes. New business operational models like co-ownership of IPs and knowledge sourcing are making an entry, especially in the health care industry, in a big way.
Drug-device combination products
Just under five years ago, patients would go to a hospital to get diagnosed for some illness, and receive treatment under the supervision of the best doctor in town. More recently, we’re starting to see that people are obtaining home health care services, as they don’t want to spend a lot of time in a hospital. The new buzzword that can be heard in medical device circles today is "theragnosis," a combination of therapy and diagnosis.
Theragnosis is made possible by combination products — products that are essentially devices, and also contain some form of treatment drugs, depending upon the targeted usage. Drug-eluting stents and continuous glucose monitoring are two of the most noted developments in this area. Developments in this area are so rapid that within five to 10 years, we might be looking at health care in a drastically different way. Technology is becoming a critical enabler in turning new care delivery models into reality.
When developing medical devices in the 21st century, technology must be leveraged to address the pressing needs of people (hospitals, physicians and patients alike) and not the other way around. On the communication technology front, we will see more wireless devices offering round-the-clock health care and seamless health status monitoring, thus enabling timely treatment. Convergence of wireless health care and mobile phones is no more a dream, with regulatory bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration and Federal Communications Commission considering the implications of using mobile phones as medical devices, among other technological advancements in the health care arena.
It is also worth noting that these trends all focus on reducing the overall cost of health care, while ensuring patient convenience at all times. The stakeholders have already taken this seriously and are striving to develop solutions that enhance the quality of life, and add a few more years to our average life span.
About the author: Bipin Thomas is a renowned global thought-leader on consumer- centric health care transformation.