Trends To Watch In The Medical Device Industry


To respond to the unprecedented challenges presented by the pandemic, medical device providers extensively implemented disruptive innovations like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, 3D printing solutions, and others. Hence, healthcare companies and public hospitals altered the way they manage data and treat patients. To help you keep pace with the emerging trends in the medical device industry, we compiled a list of the technology trends expected to grow in this specific market.

3D Printed Devices

Manufacturers of medical devices moved forward during the COVID-19 pandemic despite facing a number of hurdles. International supply chains were disrupted because of local lockdowns and reduced numbers of employees. For this reason, additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, started to grow at a rapid clip. By 2026, the global 3D printed medical devices market is expected to reach $4.5 billion at an annual growth rate of 13%, according to The Business Research Company report.

Additive manufacturing substantially simplified the supply chain in the healthcare industry. To substitute for imported medical devices, hospitals and medical facilities can produce necessary components and equipment within the hospital. Using 3D printers, doctors, together with biomedical engineers, digitally create customized prosthetics, implanting joints, and instruments for surgeries. These technologies  are expected to keep surging in coming years.



AI And Machine Learning

Among current trends in the medical device industry, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms also play a significant role. The necessity of these technologies grows with the increasing number of medical devices in health facilities.

The new AI and ML features provide healthcare workers with new and important insights deriving from the growing amount of data from medical records. Consequently, these tools lead to improved diagnostic decision-making while providing high levels of precision. Also, with the help of AI and ML, doctors can develop more efficient interventions.

During the last few years, medical device manufacturers have implemented AI technologies to rethink their product development. Mainly, this involves using software as a medical device (SaMD) for chronic disease management and medical care administration. In 2022, artificial intelligence is mostly applied to detect and treat diseases in oncology, cardiology, gerontology, and endocrinology, which includes diabetes.



Medical Robotics

With the global nursing shortage on the rise, medical device companies in developed countries started to invent robots to help nurses perform their tasks. The need for extra assistance has intensified after the pandemic. According to the COVID-19 Two-Year Impact Survey conducted by The American Nurses Foundation, 52% of U.S. nurses have considered leaving their jobs because of heavy workloads and burnouts. Such is also the case in many countries. 

Introducing robots in a healthcare facility frees medical workers from routine tasks such as performing venipuncture, monitoring patient vitals, lifting elderly people out of their beds, disinfecting patient rooms, and protocoling.

Targeting home-quarantined patients, Worcester Polytechnic Institute developed a remote-controlled medical robot in 2022. Such remote assistants protect healthcare workers against the risk of contamination from infected patients.

Also, robotics technologies are widely spread in the physiotherapy sector to help patients recover from injuries.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the medical device market to an unprecedented degree. The consequent digital disruption in the industry has redesigned healthcare delivery, data management, and the supply chain.

The current medical device technology trends stem from the major challenges the industry is facing, including the tight labor market, increased hacker attacks, logistics concerns, and risk of misleading diagnoses. Medical device innovations will continue to overhaul the market in the forthcoming years.


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