ARTICLE FOCUS:

• Key design drivers
• Future product characteristics
• Innovation sources

What are the key drivers of medical design for 2012 and beyond?
Aidan Petrie (AP): Medical care is shifting and becoming less provider-centric and more patient-centric, which means a shift towards more human-centric design.

Jessica Willing-Pichs (JWP): I think the Internet has been a key driver. People are way more informed today. The patient-provider relationship has changed quite a bit. Typically a patient would go to the doctor for a sick visit, but now there is a real emphasis on being well and what can be done to remain in better health. These are the questions doctors are now being asked and the result is the increase in self-monitoring and the need for devices to actually do this.

Tom Varricchione (TV): We are seeing customized drug development for narrowly defined groups of patients; why not for medical devices too? Today we see a lot of these independent craftsmen and small "shops" designing customizable prosthetics, but I’d say it’s only a matter of time before we start to see larger manufacturing companies move in this direction.

As for more screening and diagnostic OTC products hitting the shelves, I’d definitely agree that this is a huge trend. When I go to my local pharmacy they have shelves full of OTC medical products right there by the pharmacy counter. And now we’re even seeing next generation versions of these products. I noticed there’s one that monitors glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), as well as others like home cancer screening products, ovulation prediction kits, etc.

JWP: Not only will patients want to remain in their home or continue with their usual day-to-day life while treating themselves with these monitoring devices, but there’s also an increase in Telehealth applications-mobile apps and electronically transmittable records and the like. A factor that continues to push this trend is the decreasing number of clinicians expected to be available per 1,000 [persons]. Telehealth devices can be expected to provide a mechanism for adapting to this market dynamic, enabling more care to be provided remotely, and perhaps open opportunities for intermediary software-based diagnostics.

AP: Many of the emerging technologies we are seeing continue to shift away from hardware towards software. There’s going to be all this capability on a chip. Diagnostics, therapies, and monitoring systems all becoming smaller, less intrusive and more specific to user and use environment.

An example of a particular area we see in our hospital work is the need for faster diagnostics. There is a real bottleneck when it comes to diagnostics. Patients are being delayed care while they wait for their scan or blood work results. There is an increased need for faster, easier diagnostics to be performed at the patient bedside.

JWP: Another consideration is going to be the disposable, reusable discussion. It’s widely understood that disposable is simply not sustainable ongoing. We’re going to see a lot of design consideration in terms of rethinking the lifecycle of the device and whether or not it can be increased for second use, despite manufacturer’s original recommendations.

What do these products actually look like?
JWP: We are going to see a mimicking of consumer trends. Take GUI’s for example; the expectations around these interfaces is that they will be touch-screen, simple, and perhaps, even gestural. Just like an Apple computer that you can take right out of the box and use immediately, there is an expectation that these medical devices will be usable without even the existence of an IFU (Instructions for use). The device itself provides the instructions and education, and through extended use becomes smarter, more aligned and personalized to its users.