Medical Technologies Of The Future At A Glance

Medical technology will continue to be characterized by a very high innovation potential in the future. The futurologists of the Future Management Group will present the most important trends and technologies up to 2030. The global population growth, the increasing proportion of elderly people and the growing middle class around the world mean that the demand for medical technology continues to rise. In an increasingly tough global competition and in view of ever shorter development cycles, in the future it will be more important than ever to bring innovative products and solutions to market quickly and to be able to react flexibly as a company at all levels and in all directions.

Future researchers from Future-Management group AG, Eltville, have determined and summarized the trends in medical technology that will occupy the industry in 2030. In her opinion, the Internet of Things will revolutionize healthcare. Doctors, patients, relatives and nursing staff benefit equally from the comprehensive networking of medical devices. Numerous processes can be simplified and accelerated and medical care improved overall. The data obtained are also an important resource for significantly advancing medical research.

Secure competitive advantages with big data solutions

With the increased use of networked medical devices, the amount of available health data is growing rapidly. Big data analytics makes it possible to recognize patterns even in unstructured data. Medical technology companies can use big data solutions to secure competitive advantages, generate savings potential and open up new business areas. Patients benefit from personalized medicine in diagnosis and therapy based on similarity analyzes.

Virtualization is the basis for ever more realistic insights into the inside of the human body. Advances in imaging, 3D simulations and virtual and augmented reality applications make it possible, among other things, to make better diagnoses, to plan and train processes, treatments and interventions, for example operations, in more detail through simulation, and to make treatment steps more understandable for patients close.

Sensors improve medical care

Sensors are also playing an increasingly important role in medical technology. Sensorization enables new forms of medical care, for example in the field of remote monitoring, such as telemedicine, ambient assisted living, body area networks and in-body systems. New and ever smaller sensors are also improving the portability, precision, performance and range of medical devices. Another important area of ​​application is prosthetics. Automation and robotization also enable numerous fields of application in medical technology, from the assembly and production of medical devices themselves to the automation of processes in the medical sector, such as sterilization, laboratory analyzes or the manufacture of prostheses, to the use of Robots to relieve hospital and nursing staff. Highly specialized robots are also increasingly being used in the operating theater, especially in the field of minimally invasive surgery.

Even the smallest products are getting smarter

Digitization and miniaturization are the basis for the increasing dematerialization of medical technology devices. So-called embedded systems make even the smallest products 'smart' and enable completely new fields of application, such as highly portable devices for areas with poor medical infrastructure. With inexpensive devices that allow a growing number of health-related tests to be carried out at home, medtech companies can tap into the mass market or can be carried in the body. Examples are contact lenses that measure blood sugar levels, smart textiles that monitor vital parameters, and implantable chips that monitor medication intake or release substances themselves, such as contraceptive hormones.

A perfect example of the smart technology on small devices is certainly the hearing aid. Bluetooth makes it possible for modern hearing aids to be easily connected to one's own smartphone - a technology that already offers every hearing aid wearer countless possibilities: Many hearing aids can be conveniently controlled using special apps on the smartphone: from volume setting to fine adjustment. Whether for business or pleasure, life takes place right in the ear thanks to Bluetooth technology. The latest in high-tech hearing aids available on the marImprove patient care and improve the performance of the health system. Medical technology solutions are individualized prostheses and implants (for example using 3D printing) or electronic tablets that release active ingredients in the body in a targeted manner and tailored to the real-time state of the patient. The individualization of medical technology goes hand in hand with the need to cope with considerable amounts of data.