Medical Device Manufacturing Trends and Adaptable Content

Over the past two decades, the world’s technology has changed more rapidly than at any other time in human history. Technological innovations have brought massive advancements in almost every area of business and life, and nowhere have the effects been more profound than in medicine.

Today, physicians and patients have access to biomedical technologies that earlier generations could never have imagined. Here are three of the most amazing biomedical technologies that are taking the medical world by storm:

1. 3D Bioprinting

Perhaps the most exciting biomedical technology being developed at the moment is 3D bioprinting. Like standard 3D printing, bioprinting makes use of precision equipment guided by a computer blueprint to lay down layers of material, eventually creating a three-dimensional object.

However, while standard 3D printing deals with plastics, metals and ceramics, 3D bioprinters print living human tissues.

Bioprinting uses materials called bio-inks, which consist of cultured cells of the specific tissues that are being printed. These bio-inks, combined with inert materials that are usually used for support and shaping, can be printed into real human tissues with all of the functions of their natural counterparts.

2. Surgical Robots

Another revolutionary biomedical technology that is shaking up the healthcare industry is the surgical robot. The first surgical robot, named the da Vinci, was introduced in 2000.

Since then, robotic surgery has become an integral part of the modern surgeon’s toolkit. Surgical robots are, in most cases, still guided by a highly trained human surgeon using a computer console. Because of the greater precision that can be achieved with machinery, robotic surgeries require smaller incisions and are more accurate than traditional surgeries executed by human hands.

Some newer surgical robots are even able to operate autonomously for very specific tasks. The best example of this latter kind of surgical robot is STAR, a suturing robot that in 2016 outperformed human surgeons in suturing intestinal incisions.

3. 3D Medical Imaging

Since the early days of X-rays, imaging techniques have played an important part in medicine. Today, medical professionals have access to many imaging technologies, including:

• MRIs
• CT scans
• DXA scans
• Sonograms

For some time, computer software has been used to render the images from various scans into 3D graphics. Newer innovations, however, are bringing this existing ability to new levels and making it a key component of modern health care.

By combining enhanced 3D images with virtual reality technology, scientists have been able to create interactive representations of tissues and organs. These visualization techniques can help doctors diagnose conditions by displaying all of a patient’s data in an interactive graphic. Data from other patient cases with similar conditions can also be used to visually predict the course of progressive diseases such as cancer.

Surgical planning, too, has benefited from these developments, as fully interactive 3D models of a patient’s body allow surgeons to plan operations more quickly and with greater precision than traditional 2D images. Because they can be used to show real human body structures in an easy-to-comprehend way, immersive 3D images are also becoming common teaching tools in medical schools.

These are just three of the hundreds of biomedical technologies that are changing medical science and health care in the 21st century. As technologies such as these continue to progress and come into mainstream use, they bring with them the potential to increase the quality of health care while decreasing the risks of medical operations for patients.

Every day, these technological wonders become better, more affordable and more accessible for use in real-life patient care.

Siemens Medical RFP Team and Mimeo

How are med device manufacturers updating their content to adapt to the rapidly advancing medical device industry? Siemens medical healthcare division uses Mimeo to create high-quality proposals with updated content. Read more here.