David Chapin, CEO of Forma Medical Device Design, will be honored as Life Science Consultant of the Year by the Triangle Business Journal. David has been active in medical device product development for 25 years. In fact, 2013 marks Forma’s 25th anniversary. As named inventor in over 40 patents, David has contributed great value to [...]
Video in Medical Device Product Development 05/29/2013
Medical device product development will be utilizing advanced video technology and analysis algorithms to eliminate invasive methods of medical testing and vital sign monitoring. A clue to this future comes from the world of video gaming. The latest generation of Microsoft’s Kinect motion sensing system incorporates technology that allows it to measure your heartbeat via [...]
Intelligence Medical Devices 05/23/2013
Here is a story from Medgadget about a device that helps people perform perfect chest compressions when performing CPR. We are seeing sensors being incorporated into many devices. Mostly they’re being used to monitor various processes and collect data for later analysis and feedback. The Physio-Control device suggests ways that sensors in devices can give [...]
Brain Work 05/14/2013
The trend in medicine is away from the heart and toward the brain. We are seeing significantly increased interest and research into how the brain functions and how we might be able to repair neurons and nerve pathways to restore abilities lost to injury or aging. The Obama Administration’s proposal to map the brain is [...]
Get Motivated 05/07/2013
You’re starting a medical device design project. Do you know what your goal is? It’s not what’s spelled out in the design spec. It’s not what the marketing group thinks your customers want. It’s not what’s been summarized from focus group research. Your goal is to satisfy motivations. Do you know what motivates the people [...]
Medical Device Design and Aesthetics 05/01/2013
Jawbone has acquired Body Media. Both companies utilize industrial design to a significant extent to brand, differentiate and make their products compelling. With the combination of these two companies, we are sure to see even more high design in the wearable health device space. Predictions are for the wearable health device market to grow. Health care [...]
Medical Product Development and Users’ Hidden Needs 04/30/2013
Medical product development efforts are often undertaken with the objective of introducing a new technology or implementing improvements to an existing one. Companies spend a lot of time and resources on the functionality, aesthetics and ergonomics of their solution, confident that their product will be a winner. And yet, most new products fail in the [...]
Powering the Future of Medical Product Development 04/24/2013
In medical product development, one of the most vexing problems is that battery technologies have not kept pace with advances in electronics and computing power. We have been able to pack an immense amount of function into medical devices that are miniscule. But the battery required to power these devices remains heavy and bulky. Often [...]
Medical Product Development and the Aging Population 04/17/2013
It’s no secret that older individuals consume the bulk of health care resources. It’s also no secret that the US population is aging, as the baby boom enters its senior years. Medical product development is not addressing this phenomenon adequately. This article from Medcity News highlights that many companies are focusing on digital solutions. I fear [...]
The Hits Keep On Coming 04/12/2013
I have written on a number of occasions about medical device technology being coupled with smart phones to provide their functionality. Medgadget has a story about a device that turns an iphone into a fluorescent microscope or flow cytometer. Scientific technology piggybacking on smart phone functionality is one of the strongest trends I see in [...]