Which medical devices are worth developing in the 21st century?

Business News Agency, July 28th For manufacturers, identifying the direction of product development is a top priority for the company's fate. According to the report of the United States "Medical Device Today" ("Today's Medical Devices"), not long ago, dozens of senior experts in medical devices in the United States and Europe form an expert group, combining global epidemiological trends and other factors, on the international market. A comprehensive analysis of the market development of existing medical device products and the future market trends of the products will be concluded, and ten categories of "the most worthwhile medical devices to be developed in the 21st century" will be summarized.

Medical electronic imaging diagnostic apparatus

At present, the medical electronic imaging diagnostic apparatus market is highly mature. With the rapid development of microelectronics materials science and the continuous advancement of computer technology, CT imaging, positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, and other electronic imaging diagnostic technologies will continue to be acquired. Improvements will continue to increase its diagnostic accuracy and operability. At present, China has the ability to produce high-end electronic imaging diagnostic systems such as CT scanners, and some products are exported to the European and American markets.

Among medical electronic imaging diagnostic instruments, a new product called "swallow endoscope" is particularly favored by experts. Its volume is only slightly larger than a capsule and can be used to diagnose digestive diseases. Some medical device companies in Israel and the United Kingdom have successfully developed and marketed this kind of endoscope.

New drug release device

In recent years, the foreign market for new drug delivery devices has grown rapidly. Such products include insulin pens, needleless syringes, transdermal patches, infusion pumps, and the like. Among them, the annual sales of insulin pens reached 100 million. Needle-free syringes have been developed to third generation products. And "longevity" infusion pump products such as insulin pumps have sold hundreds of thousands of units in the US market. The gap between the development of new drug delivery device products and the developed countries in China is still relatively large, and it is urgent to catch up.

Molecular diagnostic equipment

In recent years, molecular diagnostic equipment has developed rapidly abroad. Such products include biosensors, protein genome analyzers, nanotechnology diagnostic products, and the like. With the newly developed biosensor and wireless signal transmission technology, a variety of new medical instruments suitable for remote transmission can be developed. For example, the United States has developed a pocket-sized electronic device that can be attached to the chest of patients with coronary heart disease, and monitors its heartbeat, blood pressure, and electrocardiogram 24 hours a day. As long as the doctor is sitting in the office watching the computer, dragging the mouse, you can always know whether the patient is at risk. The use of molecular biosensor technology can also develop instruments for the continuous detection of blood glucose fluctuations in diabetic patients. This type of product has been put on the market in the United States. The protein genomic analyzer can accurately determine whether there are tumors and hereditary diseases in the patient.

Mobile rescue equipment

Due to the advancement of transport facilities, traffic is increasingly frequent in countries around the world. However, some patients may experience unexpected situations during their travels, such as taking a heart attack on a train or an airplane, especially acute illnesses such as atrial fibrillation and myocardial infarction. At this time, urgent need to use mobile rescue equipment for rescue. Therefore, medical equipment experts in Europe and the United States believe that it is necessary to develop small portable emergency medical devices such as pocket ventilators and atrial fibrillation defibrillators suitable for use in airplanes, trains, and the field. This type of product is small, easy to operate and has many functions.

Minimally invasive/non-invasive surgical instruments

There is no doubt that the minimally invasive/non-invasive medical device products have a broad market development space. At present, the most sold minimally invasive medical device products in the international market are blood vessel stents. These products have been developed to the third generation, namely long-acting sustained-release drug stents. China has also developed and marketed domestic vascular stents. Some products are not inferior in performance to similar foreign products, but they are cheaper.

It is worth noting that the research and development of minimally invasive/non-invasive surgical instruments for weight loss have received great attention abroad. According to statistics, the total number of obese people in the world has reached 1 billion people, of which at least 10% need to undergo weight-loss surgery. This is an opportunity for the medical device industry. China has started late in the R&D of bariatric surgical instruments compared with European and American families.

Another category of minimally invasive/non-invasive surgical instruments with broad development prospects is the "surgical robot." Surgical robots belong to new electronic medical device products that combine electronic imaging technology, manipulators, and endoscope technology. It to a certain extent represents the development level of a country's medical device industry. The United States is the leader in this area. Since China has mature aerospace (navigation) technology, it has technical advantages in the development of surgical robots.

According to reports, U.S. manufacturers have developed and marketed a variety of surgical robots, including the "Da Vinci Surgical Robot" widely used in our country and other national hospitals. Fortunately, a company in Shanghai, China, has developed a surgical robot with its own intellectual property rights. It fills the gap in our country's surgical robots.

Biochip

Developed countries only began to develop biochips in the late 1990s, including pocket medical pressure sensors, gene chips, and protein chips. With this kind of medical device, a patient can be tested for a certain disease (especially a tumor) by taking only one drop of blood. Protein chips can help doctors accurately diagnose patients with hidden disease genes. The development momentum of this kind of product in foreign countries is very strong, and it has formed a scale of annual sales of more than one billion US dollars. China has made breakthroughs in gene chip and protein chip technology, and related products have come out.

Non-invasive detector

Such products have been developed and marketed earlier in the western countries, and there are more new products. Among them, the earliest to market is a relatively simple wristwatch type electronic blood pressure meter. Because it can monitor blood pressure fluctuations 24 hours a day, prompting patients to take medications in time, it is popular among people with hypertension. Foreign manufacturers also introduced blood glucose detection watches. Diabetic patients can easily understand blood glucose fluctuations by simply placing them on their wrists.

New biological material

Biomaterials are also new types of medical devices being developed vigorously by manufacturers in Western countries, including biomimetic artificial limbs, biomimetic bone joints, bio-cement (bone cement), and hygienic materials for trauma. This kind of product will become one of the biggest sales products in the international market.

Bionic bone joints are hydroxyapatite materials similar to the basic components of bones and artificial bone joint products processed using new bone formation materials developed through bioengineering technology. They are also referred to as “bioceramic materials” in foreign countries. Good compatibility. The new type of aseptic wound packing material (sterile dressing) is also a product of great demand in the international market. At present, foreign countries have developed a variety of liquid bandages, carbon fiber bandages and other sterile dressings.

Implantable electronic biological therapeutic apparatus

The implantable electronic bio-therapeutic devices that have been developed and marketed include implantable electronic cochlea (cochlear implant), implantable urinary incontinence electric stimulation therapeutic apparatus, and implantable epilepsy therapeutic apparatus. The key part of the implantable electronic biotherapy device is a pocket electric pulse generator. Its size is usually only one bean size, can send a specific wavelength of electrical pulse signal to stimulate a part of the nerve in the patient's body, so as to achieve therapeutic effect. For example, the implantable bladder electric pulse therapy instrument developed abroad has only the size of peas. It stimulates the bladder nerves by emitting regular electrical pulse signals, which can treat common urinary incontinence symptoms in middle-aged and elderly women. Implantable electronic cochlea can help deaf children recover their hearing. In addition, an "implantable optic nerve electrical stimulation instrument" is being developed abroad.

Telemedicine system

The telemedicine system is an electronic medical device product that uses wireless communication technology to transmit hospital diagnostic data and visual images in real time. Using telematics, medical experts can sit in hospitals in large cities and direct doctors in remote areas to perform surgery on patients. Telemedicine systems have been widely used in the United States and Europe (especially in sparsely populated Nordic countries). Their advent has not only brought great convenience to patients and improved the medical level in remote areas, but also caused a drastic reduction in medical expenses in these areas.