Medtech Steering the Patient-Centric Healthcare Revolution – Behind the Breakthroughs

The medical devices sector is undergoing a seismic shift towards a preventative model of care by marrying MedTech with the internet of medical things (IoMT). Medical device manufacturers are revamping their R&D models by integrating emerging technologies like AI, IoT, and 3D printing into the development phases of medical equipment. The rise of the industry has encouraged the medical device companies to adopt automation technologies like AI, IoT, and robotics into their day-to-day manufacturing operations. This is not only automating their individual processes to improve throughput time, productivity, and safety of workers, but also assisting in the inspection of finished goods, packaging, and supply chain to adhere to quality requirements.

AI-powered platforms are fused with high-end medical scanning devices like MRI, CT, and 3D mammography to improve image clarity and clinical outcomes, as well as enable technicians to reduce exposure to harmful radiation, that helps for rapid and accurate diagnosis of a disease. The highly regulated medical devices sector, which once majorly catered to hospitals and diagnostic centers, has shifted its focus towards the end consumer who is increasingly demanding more preventative, personalized and ‘hospital at home’ kind of care delivery. Companies are also offering DIY medical devices by leveraging mobile apps to help users monitor, diagnose, and manage their health in the comfort of their homes.

What are the key challenges faced by the medical devices sector?

Rising price pressures from health care providers coupled with lower returns from maturing products is challenging medical device companies to remain competitive and at the same time improve their bottom line. Key sector challenges include increasing costs of international business, ensuring product quality, increasing regulatory hurdles, rising healthcare costs, device pricing and reimbursement concerns, lack of innovation and data protection.

Which technologies are helping the sector?

Emerging technologies are making a profound impact across the value chain of medical devices, from improving equipment design during R&D to instant diagnostics at the point of care.

Product development / R&D

Medical device manufacturers are embracing technologies like AI, IoT, and 3D printing to create advanced medical devices with a human-centered approach that can solve some of the complex problems in healthcare.

Preclinical & clinical trials

Medical device manufacturers are increasingly eager to take cues from the pharma sector and replicate the tech-enabled processes to streamline clinical trials, improve patient recruitment, and decrease costs.

Manufacturing

Medical device companies have quickly adapted to automating every aspect of the manufacturing process by leveraging emerging technologies. They are using 3D printing to produce innumerable designs, robots to improve turnaround times and minimize errors, while AI-powered predictive maintenance is helping them to reduce machine downtime.

Supply chain & distribution

Technologies such as AI, blockchain, and IoT are found enabling end-to-end supply chain visibility to help the medical device companies reduce counterfeit products as well as simplify inventory management.

Marketing & sales

Medical device companies are found gradually replacing the traditional methods of providing machine or equipment demos with digital machines. Sales reps are equipped with virtual training to quickly enhance their knowledge with hands-on training in an immersive environment.

End users / payers

Emerging technologies are digitizing the way how hospitals, labs, and patients diagnose and manage diseases. While some companies are directly catering to end patients with DIY medical devices accompanied by a mobile app, others are offering advanced diagnostics to hospitals to shorten the turnaround times.

Technology applications for patient centric healthcare revolution

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Market report scope

Scope

• Theme Exposure Map: presents the top themes impacting the sector over the last three years compared to other sectors.
• Patent Filings Chart: displays the top ten themes in the sector with the highest number of patent filings over the last three years.
• Innovation Map: key real-world innovation use cases of emerging technologies implemented by enterprises and startups in the sector.
• Innovation Insights: innovation examples by each value chain segment of the sector to present key trends.
• Vendor Map: represents a sample list of vendors in each use case highlighted in the report

Key Highlights

Innovations: presents real-world innovation use cases and examples related to the implementation of emerging technologies by companies as well as startups in the medical sector. It casts light on how tech-enabled innovations are transforming every segment of the sector value chain.

Reasons to Buy

• No surprise that technology has been a driving force in business transformation for years, but the term ‘emerging technologies’ has all of the sudden became the key catalyst to drive the next wave of innovation across sectors.
• The sense of urgency weighs different across different sectors, where the direct customer-facing sectors are at the forefront compared to other capital-intensive sectors. Companies in one sector can take cues from successful innovations in other sectors to either draw analogies with existing products, services and processes or transfer strategic approaches for a revolutionary transformation.
• Against this backdrop, enterprises need to understand which emerging technologies are impacting their sector and how various companies are implementing them to meet various challenges.
• The innovation landscape report in medical devices, published by GlobalData as part of an ongoing series, covers some of the key trends, use cases, and real-world examples related to the implementation of emerging technologies across the medical devices sector value chain.