Inclusive Innovation in Medtech – Assessing Ecosystems to Leverage Novel Technologies

Abstract

Medical devices save lives and improve the health and quality of life. The global market for medical devices has increased from $ 245 billion in 2005 to $ 368 billion in 2014 with an estimate of reaching $ 440 billion by 2018.1,2,3 Yet with ever increasing healthcare costs, the affordability of high quality treatment is becoming more expensive for all involved stakeholders – patients, doctors, hospitals and insurance companies – threatening to widen the gap between those that have access to the best treatments and those that do not. It is therefore of critical importance that we foster inclusive innovation in healthcare by leveraging novel technological advancements and by building a multi-stakeholder ecosystem. This project seeks to address the following two inter-related topics: (1) Assessing emerging trends in MedTech and their potential for increasing healthcare access of otherwise excluded communities; in particular trends in 3D printing. (2) Employing a multi-stakeholder ecosystem approach to study a variety of approaches for leveraging these new technologies and ensuring that otherwise excluded communities have equal access to these medical technologies.

Keywords: MedTech, Inclusive Innovation, Healthcare, 3D Printing, Ecosystems, Poster