How to Identify Crossover Technologies That Work for Medtech

Cross-pollination, the idea of taking something that has proven useful in one industry and applying it to another industry, has become an interesting trend in innovation-oriented fields like medtech. Sometimes borrowing seemingly-simple ideas from other corners of the technology world can lead to surprisingly impactful solutions to challenging healthcare problems. So how do identify and adapt technologies from other industries for use in medical devices? What level of maturity does a technology need to achieve in another industry before you can take it and consider it for medtech? And why is it so important for medtech professionals to stay alert to this trend? These are some of the questions that a panel of experts tackled at MD&M Minneapolis last week. New tech platforms like virtual reality is a prime example of a technology that is being used across industries, including in medtech to solve unmet needs, according to Alex Thaler, senior global product manager at Minneapolis, MN-based Smiths Medical. "Virtual reality is being used to take patients into another world entirely," Thaler said. "For example burn patients or children getting IV sticks. VR can take them and put them into an alternate environment where they can be happy and peaceful." As for maturity, that is the $64,000 question, said Dale Larson, director of commercial initiatives at Cambridge, MA-based Draper Laboratory. "How mature does it have to be? I don't have an exact answer," Larson said. "Obviously, ...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: MD & M Minneapolis R Source Type: news