Why my money’s on medtech

Head of content at MPN, Lu Rahman, looks forward into 2018 at some of medtech's biggest innovations.

We all know that this time of year prompts many of us to make resolutions. It also causes us to look ahead, particularly in business, and assess where new opportunities lie across the course of the next year.  

I have to admit, I love looking at what’s going to big. Often it’s no surprise – we see the emergence of a technology or type of products and their usefulness is overwhelming apparent. When technology emerges that creates discussion within the MPN team, it’s an odds-on bet that the rest of the population will find it just as interesting.

With this new tech in mind, I was really interested to read about Cleveland Clinic’s top ten breakthrough technologies for 2018. One of these is the hybrid closed-loop insulin delivery system. This type of system allows the patient to self-adjust and keep sugar levels safe.

Medtronic brought our attention to these devices with the MinMed 670G which was hailed by the Wall Street Daily as a “medical device with the potential to change the lives of more than 1 million Americans who suffer from Type 1 diabetes.”

This FDA-approved device has unsurprisingly attracted substantial media interest. It’s not hard to see why. According to WHO, the number or people with diabetes rose from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. In 2015 1.6 million deaths were attributed to the condition. With diabetes cases growing, technology that can improve the lives of the patient and allow them to live a normal, will be in high demand. We know that innovation us to access care in a remote setting became a target market for businesses several years ago. This is showing no signs of decline with companies still keen to take advantage of the opportunities available.

Linking into this, another technology on Cleveland Clinic’s list - distance health.

I have to admit I find this term a bit problematic and I’m struggling to work out what the difference is between distance health and telehealth / mhealth. My main interest in it however, is that we’re clearly looking at the connected devices market. If big names such as Cleveland Clinic are highlighting the ongoing effect these products will have on the medical device sector, I find that exciting. It shows the extent of opportunity still available.

Michael Roizin, Cleveland Clinic, spoke about these devices last year: “Due to an increase in connectivity through mobile technology and consumer demand, hospitals are getting ready for widespread adoption in 2018. 90 percent of healthcare executives reported to have or are currently building a telehealth program. Reports also predict seven million patient users in 2018, a 19-fold increase from 2013.

“These technologies are also expanding beyond the simple two-way video platform. More patients are now equipped with attachable devices that record and report medical information to doctors to monitor their condition. Over 19 million patients are projected to use these remote monitoring devices in 2018. With momentum building, the clinic believes that the emergence and acceleration of distance health technologies and services are assured in 2018.”

While this type of technology isn’t entirely new, its adoption is set rise, creating widespread business opportunities for device manufacturers. Technology is fascinating and combining that with the healthcare sector has always created massive interest. As we head in 2018 it appears that this partnership is showing no signs of slowing down. Given that life span is rising, we’re getting more illnesses, and we have advances in technology taking place at a rate of knots, who wouldn’t put their money on healthcare having a profitable 2018?