“New fibers can deliver many simultaneous stimuli. Implanted into the brain or spinal column, they can transmit drugs, light, and electrical signals.” MIT scientists have developed a process by which they can produce flexible, multi-channeled polymer fibers that could simultaneously deliver […]
Medical Product Design: Uncovering Unmet User Needs 01/23/2015
When doing product user research, a lot of designers make the mistake of assuming the problem to be the first thing their users articulate. Henry Ford is purported to have said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they […]
What Will Drive the 21st Century? 01/14/2015
I have written on a number of occasions about Optogenetics and its promise for medicine. Here is another story, via Medgadget, that reports on advances in the field. In summary, scientists were able to use optogenetic techniques – which allows light to […]
The Patient Experience 01/07/2015
I recently experienced today’s health care system first-hand from the patient’s perspective. One of the things that struck me was the amount of improvisation that took place in order to devise solutions for which a dedicated product wasn’t available. For […]
Designing the Experience in Medical Devices 12/02/2014
“Experience Design” has been a methodological approach used in the consumer products industry for some time. Apple pioneered the practice, deliberately designing not only the product itself, but every aspect of the user’s interaction with it, from opening the package […]
Medical Device Industry Growth 10/21/2014
MedCity New reports on a study by A.T. Kearney that has some interesting findings for medical device design: The analysts say that the “emerging markets will save us” theory is false. Executives they interviewed have not figured out how to make […]
EY Medical Technology Report: a Critique 10/14/2014
Ernst & Young has been taking the pulse of the medical technology industry for several years, and has issued a report annually that discusses their findings. The 2014 report highlights the shift toward valuing better patient outcomes over other criteria. […]
MedTech: Differentiate With Design 10/07/2014
“Global Medtech industry needs to better differentiate products or face commoditization.” That is the conclusion of MedDevice Online in reference to Ernst & Young’s 2014 report on the industry. The ramifications are significant for medical device design. Indeed, in a commoditized […]
Medicine’s New Frontier 10/01/2014
There is increasing activity involving research into how the brain works. The knowledge we gain as this research proceeds will have significant implications for medical device design and development. The latest news on this front is from Lawrence Livermore National […]
The Essence of Design 09/24/2014
Industrial design is not about products. It’s about visual information. The job of the designer is to provide the user with information that they understand, organized in a way that makes interacting with the product intuitive, executed in a manner […]
