Medical electronics has been identified as a major knowledge transfer theme for the Electronics KTN. The adoption of electronics technology in the medical devices market has already had a significant impact on the capability and effectiveness of medical devices, and there are still many opportunities to further enhance the effectiveness of healthcare through the use of medical electronics.
The adoption of electronics technology, however, cannot be achieved in isolation from other technologies (such as nano-technology, materials, power sources, sensors, microfluidics, etc). The successful development of future medical devices will require a multi-disciplinary approach.
The Electronics Knowledge Transfer Network is stimulating the transfer of knowledge in the UK electronics industry and encouraging the multidisciplinary collaborations that may lead to highly successful developments.
The Medical Devices Market
The ageing UK population, coupled with the rising consumer demands in relation to health, and pressure from global government to tackle major areas such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, will all contribute to growth in the medical devices sector over the next few years.
Already the global medical device market is valued at over $140 billion. Of this total, the European market represents around one third – the second largest market after the USA. The UK market is the fourth largest in Europe, with an estimated total market value of £4 billion – around 5% of all healthcare expenditure in the country.
A Multi-Disciplinary Approach is Essential
The ‘Medical Devices’ market encompasses a vast range of products, and utilises expertise from a diverse range of technology areas. Materials science, chemistry, photonics, mechanical engineering, polymer science, electronics, nano-technology, biochemistry microfluidics and are just some of the technology areas that will play a vital role in achieving innovations in medical devices.
Although joint endeavours might be expected to arise naturally between these disciplines, clinicians seldom have an opportunity to explore their ideas for new devices with the researchers and engineers who can create them.
To improve the chances of successful market entry, UK companies will need to consider building cross-disciplined strategic partnerships and collaborations with existing players and academic research institutions will need to seek the inclusion of industry partners.
The Electronics KTN “Call to Action”
The Electronics KTN recognises that the medical devices market represents a significant opportunity for the UK electronics industry and we are determined to ensure that UK electronics companies are well equipped to participate strongly in this market.
We have identified this sector as one of our key themes for Knowledge Transfer and we are planning a series of “Silicon Meets Life” national conference/seminar events designed to share knowledge, whether that be access to market, identifying collaborative partners to develop a project, or learning about breakthrough technologies or best practices through special interest groups or forums.
Working closely together with other KTNs (such as the Health Technologies and the Sensors KTNs) and the appropriate trade associations, professional and academic institutions, we will bring together many networks to optimise our innovative capacity in this market area. We will build better knowledge transfer links between academic institutions and industry and between the vast numbers of highly innovative SMEs in all the regions of the UK facilitating a rich flow of knowledge and innovation.
Play Your Part in this Opportunity
If you think you or your company has a role to play in designing, developing or marketing innovative products in this area, then we’d like to hear from you. Registration to the Electronics KTN is free, and we will deliver immediate value if you also register your details onto our capability directory.
We want to encourage thought leaders from innovative electronics companies to interact with the medical and clinical practitioners with the deep understanding of the application domain and the unmet needs of the medical device sector. We would like to encourage large medical device manufacturers to talk to more small electronics companies and inform them about their technology needs. So don’t miss out on this opportunity, register now with the Electronics KTN and participate in this series of events and special interest groups.
You will find more information on the electronics KTN website over the coming months.