Felip Miralles, director of Health Technologies at the Eurecat technology centre, today underscored “the upsurge in initiatives by start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises, and also with the backing of the technology and pharmaceutical industry, for novel medical devices which enable early diagnosis, prognosis and therapy management” for patients.
He unpacked trends and opportunities which are opening up in this field at a technical session on the methodologies which can fast-track designing, prototyping and producing medical devices which was held at the Health Revolution Congress hosted by the Barcelona Health Hub at the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site in Barcelona.
Nowadays medical devices can be harnessed for numerous purposes ranging “from collecting samples, identifying biomarkers or processing biomedical signals to rolling out artificial intelligence techniques to predict the evolution of a patient’s condition or disease” although he acknowledged that the field poses “complex technological challenges.”
From the industrial standpoint, developing a medical device may call for the application of innovative designs, microelectronics, photonics, microfluidics, new forms of manufacturing or 3D printing in some cases and even robotics.
From the digital perspective, medical devices may involve the application of signal analysis, data analysis, advanced artificial intelligence, e-learning and generative artificial intelligence to enable them to perform their distinct roles.
However, processes for clinical validation and meeting the requisite regulations in European CE markets and for the FDA in the United States are also essential to ensure these devices can be rolled out successfully in clinical practice in compliance with patient safety and data privacy guidelines.
This means that “tapping agile methodologies to get to feasibility analysis and a proof of concept as soon as possible and from there move on to a prototype and a minimum viable product is the preferred approach,” he added, noting that Eurecat’s knowledge as a technology centre “can help businesses and organisations throughout the lifecycle of medical device innovation.”
