The Future of Medical Device Design
By Rudrani Ghosh
While the rapid development of technological advancements has created a huge impact on the way medicine is being practiced, the medical device companies are also preparing themselves to adapt to the transitions in the market. The medical device sector is well aware of the market pulse and is trying to mould itself by collaborating agility into the business.
The futurist healthcare system needs to be patient-democratic, wellness-oriented and digitally connected. “To successfully implement futuristic designs in medical devices, professionals must be committed to bringing life-transforming innovations to the healthcare sector,” says Mr. Divya Joshi, Senior Director & Site Leader, Medtronic Engineering and Innovation Center. “The Med-tech industry is evolving, and innovation is crucial to support the changing global healthcare demands. One can anticipate the rise of next-gen medical devices with a mix-and-match of integrated technologies” he adds.
The Digital Spill-over
COVID-19 has brought in a new era for online consultation and remote monitoring. The spurring growth towards digital turn-over was already well on its way before the outbreak, but the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of the practice in the areas of telehealth, teleradiology, telepathology, and other remote workflows.
Dr. Akash Rajpal, Executive Vice President, Medikabazaar, notes that “online consultation was a savior in the strict COVID lockdown. For patients with internet access, these advancements have opened up countless new avenues to manage their health.” He continues, “however, the same isn’t universally accessible, many Indians can’t fully appreciate the impact of technology on health care day to day. There is a direct correlation to income levels and access of care which will get bridged with a new digital health mission program.”
By providing an example of Israel, Dr. Rajpal states that “Israel does a majority of derma and other first-level consults on the phone before the patient visits the hospital. It tremendously reduces the burden on health infrastructure, and most of the visits can be avoided and timely care can be given before it worsens. Simple government policy changes can make a huge difference for first-level care being encouraged through telemedicine and smartphones. The best part is this also keeps a digital health record in a streamlined manner for future reference”.
Shift of care
The days of simply manufacturing a device, and selling it to healthcare providers via distributors, have long gone. “Value” is the new byword for success, prevention of the preferred clinical outcome, and intelligence the new competitive advantage.
There is an increasing transition of care moving the hospital to home. And hence the medical products and devices need to be designed in a way that they will fit into the home environment and pay attention to the differences in the way they are used in the home as opposed to the hospital/clinic. Medical devices used in the home will achieve greater market acceptance if they have an aesthetic that is appropriate for that environment.
Dr. Rajpal points out the importance of smartphones in today’s world. He says, “A lot of health and fitness today is managed by phones and smartwatches. For instance, a lot of cardiac ailments like arrhythmia and even heart attacks or falls can be detected early through a smartwatch enabled by amazing software. Voice algorithms can also potentially identify chest conditions.” He gives the example of HD Stethoscope, an FDA-approved digital stethoscope that can detect ECG abnormalities especially in neonates where ECG leads are difficult to put.
In the same strain of thoughts, Mr. Divya suggested how Medtronic is developing engineering patient-centric healthcare solutions. He gives an example of “Cardiovascular portfolio where”, he says they “are building innovations for remote cardiac patient management. These are especially helpful in post-Covid recovery. One of the platforms enables support of implant from the control room, allowing for programming and testing from a distance, thus reducing direct patient interaction. Another platform network enables remote programming capability for device parameters via a secure communication from the platform network through a patient's monitor to their device. The patients can be anywhere for transmissions to occur and their smartphones capture data, so information is not dependent on transmissions—they are continuously occurring. Doctor receives patient data via a secure platform, reviews the information, makes any necessary reprogramming adjustments on the platform network, and sends it back to the patient’s device, reducing patient office visits and saving critical time.”
The “new-normals” in Medical Device design
According to Mr. Joshi, there is a tremendous scope in three core areas of the medical device sector:
Robotic-Assisted Surgery - Advancements like robotic-assisted surgery have immense potential in reducing the pressing burden on the healthcare workforce and can revolutionize the Indian healthcare landscape. Robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) has been identified as an emerging medical technology with the potential to help standardize surgical procedures and enable minimally invasive surgery (MIS) which may improve patient outcomes and reduce health system costs.
Remote monitoring and big data analytics - Remote monitoring helps hospitals by moving data instead of patients and enabling early notifications of important events. Smaller devices, more data, and connected healthcare lead to better patient outcomes. By using tools like data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and predictive modeling, we are personalizing care to make it more efficient, accessible, and equitable. Data is the key to creating therapies for people in real-time.
During the pandemic, remote monitoring has helped caregivers greatly to monitor patients remotely and deliver care safely. In September 2020, Medtronic launched the Azure™ pacemaker in India which is the world’s first pacemaker that can communicate directly with patients’ smartphones and tablets. The pacemaker communicates directly and securely with a mobile app - an important advancement in the ongoing quest to constantly monitor patient condition remotely by allowing patients to receive expert medical advice from their physician while at home or traveling instead of making multiple trips to the hospital, providing peace of mind and freedom.
Artificial Intelligence - By using tools like AI and machine learning, we gain new insights into the human body to create solutions that help patients and clinicians. Through developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics, medical devices are advancing disease management by empowering clinicians to personalize medicine like never before. These technologies provide revelatory insights into individual patients, in real-time.
Can Mental Health be far behind?
There is already a major push to understand how important it is to have access to smartphones at a patient level. The modern smartphone offers a promising hardware platform for pervasive healthcare applications.
Dr. Rajpal also believes in the same string of thought and states that “As per National institute of mental health mobile mental health support can be very simple and effective. For example, anyone can easily send a message to various SOS and crisis centers. These Apps are using various mobile devices’ built-in sensors to collect information on a user’s typical behavior patterns. If the app detects a behavior change, it may provide a signal that help is needed before a crisis occurs.”
“There are thousands of mental health apps available in iTunes and Android app stores, and the number is growing every year. For example, Wysa, a mental health start-up in India, has built an artificial intelligence-based chatbot that can empathize with the user and provide comforting responses – just as a human would! The company's AI model has analyzed over 100 million conversations to identify emotions and inputs from the user”- he adds.
How research in the Medical Device sector aligns with Atma-Nirbharata?
‘The MedTech industry is constantly on its toes to accommodate new technologies and increase access to healthcare solutions,” says Mr. Divya, “The pandemic has reinforced the fundamental role health plays in the global economy, and this has caused rapid change around the globe, requiring cross-sector partnerships and innovation to deliver on critical patient needs.”
Mr. Joshi further states, “Given this backdrop, there has been a surge in indigenous efforts in Medical technology development with multi-stakeholder collaborations involving government, academic institutions, med-tech companies and startups. Given the market size and availability of STEM professionals, India is transforming into a global R&D hub. Design in India and Developed in India can be great accelerators and the way forward for an Atmanirbhar Bharat.” “Last year Medtronic announced the investment of INR 1200 crores in scaling up and expansion of MEIC, R&D center in Hydercenternto a state-of-the-art engineering and innovation centre” – he concludes.