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By Tom O’Dwyer

The vision of the newly-formed Medical Device Realization Center (MEDRC) is to transform the medical electronic device industries: to revolutionize medical diagnostics and treatments, bringing health care directly to the individual; and to create enabling technology for the future information-driven healthcare system. Specific areas that show promise are wearable or minimally invasive monitoring devices, medical imaging, laboratory instrumentation, and the data communication from these devices and instruments to healthcare providers and caregivers.

Spending on medical research is enjoying a record boom throughout the world. Both government and industry are investing heavily to find new ways to fight healthcare costs, and the looming threat of an aging population. This research is making very important advances, but its translation into real change at the delivery point of patient care is proving painfully slow. MEDRC is a new collaborative center which has recently been formed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to bridge the chasm between important academic discoveries on the one hand, and practical solutions for medical clinicians on the other. MEDRC aims to accelerate the commercial deployment of novel medical devices and systems.

“The key is to bring together the different disciplines involved”, says Prof. Charles Sodini, the director of MEDRC. “Innovation in medical systems requires a fusion of knowledge in diverse fields such as medicine, semiconductors, software and materials. The greater Boston area is renowned for its worldwide leadership in these technologies individually, and the challenge for the new center is to synergize them to achieve genuine breakthrough”.

The founding industrial partners include Analog Devices Inc., who supplies high-end semiconductors, and General Electric, a lead in the medical imaging field.

The aim of the center is certainly a worthy one. Despite decades of innovation in areas such as electronics and biotechnology, many areas of medical practice have remained largely static. Take for example the field of patient monitoring.

“If you look at current clinical equipment in this area, it looks quite dated in design and capability” states Tom O’Dwyer, Director of Healthcare Technology at Analog Devices and visiting scientist at the new center. “The venerable stethoscope, and blood pressure cuff, for example, have a distinct ‘last century’ feel and look almost comically out of place these days in a world of ubiquitous smart phones and tablets. The whole area of patient monitoring seems ripe for a high-tech overhaul, and we see a lot of potential for miniaturization, continuous on-body sensing, as well as totally new measurement classes which can be put at the disposal of clinicians to improve their diagnosis and patient outcomes. We view the MEDRC as an ideal forum for achieving this”.

Changing existing practices will not be easy, though. The medical profession is well known for its conservatism, driven understandably by litigation concerns. But there are hopeful signs. The current young generation of doctors who have grown up with high tech gadgets, are completely comfortable with advanced technology and a recent report claims that 62% of them now routinely use tablet PCs in their professional duties. Can adoption of more modern instrumentation and measurement systems be far behind?

Another area of focus for MEDRC is ultrasound imaging. While other areas of medical imaging such as CT, MRI and PET continue to make steady progress, ultrasound has enjoyed a very vigorous burst of growth in various directions such as miniaturization, image quality, and new imaging modalities. The fact that it does not use ionizing radiation is a distinct advantage. But important problems remain to be solved. Its operation requires a highly-trained operator to both obtain a clear image and interpret the result. This has slowed down deployment, especially in third world countries where clinicians with the required skills are often in short supply.

The MEDRC has set itself the challenge of addressing this problem. How can the system be designed so that a doctor could use it without exceptional training? Can automation be employed to control pressure, directionality, sensitivity and the myriad of other parameters which currently require adjustment by a skilled clinician? These are certainly difficult problems to solve, but researchers in MEDRC are confident they can be conquered.

If the potential of MEDRC can be realized, the future of medical device technology is indeed bright, and the profession can finally experience the orders of magnitude improvement which other technology areas have been enjoyed over the last few decades.