Mystic medtech: How true were 2015’s industry predictions?
This time last year a range of predictions were made for the medtech sector. Lu Rahman looks at some of the trends that made it big and what they mean for the market going forward
Digital health was tipped for huge success in 2015 and it hasn’t disappointed. With key players such as Philips, Samsung and Apple making headway in this sector, the digital health space has become increasingly relevant to the medtech market.
Apple – one of the most influential names in recent years – took a stance on digital health stance as it launched its ResearchKit to aid research on asthma, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s. The technology’s latest devlopment is that it can also turn the iPhone into a tool for medical research on autism, epilepsy and melanoma.
ResearchKit software was designed for medical and health research, helping doctors and scientists gather data more frequently and more accurately from participants using iPhone apps.
“iOS apps already help millions of customers track and improve their health. With hundreds of millions of iPhones in use around the world, we saw an opportunity for Apple to have an even greater impact by empowering people to participate in and contribute to medical research,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of operations.
With digital health so prominent in the life science sector, MPN launched a sister website www.digitalhealthage.com into this market and its growth has highlighted the relevance digital health has in medtech. Not only has the concept of smart phone diagnosis become widely acceptable but we have seen a rise in digitally-enabled devices in order to address the growing needs of the healthcare sector. As the pressure on the NHS in the UK becomes apparent, the need for devices that allow the patient to self-administer new drug formulations and for healthcare professionals to be able to track medication adherence are growing significantly. In the UK alone we are hearing discussions on connected communities and cities that take digital health into account as a positive way to tackle the growing needs of the healthcare sector.
While digital health was a prediction that came true, it would be fair to say that the increasingly significant role of medical plastics wasn’t stressed enough. With the new wave of devices for use in homes and hospitals came a new role for materials. Rumours rumbled that Blackberry was launching an anti-bacterial device and companies such as FutureNova highlighted the growing relevance digital products had in the hospital setting with the launch of a medical-grade iPad case – the FlipPad – that helps reduce that risk of infection transfer between patients.
While medical device science and the materials these products were made from became key in 2015, so too did manufacture and the technology bringing the products to the market faster and more efficiently.
For some time now the growing importance of 3D printing has hit the headlines and 2015 saw no let up in the significance of this technology.
At the end of last year MPN reported Dr Michael Patton, Medical Innovation Labs, claiming that 3D printing had made medical devices cool again. Additive manufacturing advances included companies such as Carbon 3D offering its CLIP technology that claimed to provide an innovative approach to polymer-based 3D printing with a game-changing speed, commercial quality and material choice.
Developments in this field continue at a pace – recent breakthroughs included scientists at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands who have invented a 3D printed plastic that can kill 99% of bacteris – it is thought this could have far-reaching consequences for the medical device sector.
3D printing technology has become widely recognised in device manufacture and we are beginning to hear more news about its sister technology, 4D printing having a valid role in the medical device space.
2015 has been an exciting time for the medical device sector. As health technology gains ground offering new opportunities for both the patient and healthcare professional, so too do the opportunities increase for the device manufacturer, making the market for 2016 look equally if not, increasingly attractive and interesting.