The COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis like no other.  At the time of writing, we saw more than six million infected and more than 300,000 deaths according to WHO’s statistics. The challenges for economies across the world are especially clear on the frontlines of healthcare. In this article, we look at 5 MedTech trends and explore some changes we can expect in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Some trends to watch for

1) Nanotechnology

There has been a strong mix of government and private interest in nanotechnology in the last two decades. In the US, the cumulative federal funding since 2001 is approaching $29 billion. The medical applications for drug delivery using nanotechnology is an important milestone for pharmaceutical companies. The ability to use particles as small as a virus to deliver medication to cells could significantly reduce the amount of a drug needed.

Nanotechnology also promises advancements in wearable technologies. Flexible sensors can be easily attached to skin tissue, the largest organ in the human body, to measure a variety of patient details such as blood oxygenation, hydration, or glucose levels. The shrinkage in the devices’ size will also enable exploring new ways of powering the technology.

2) Wearables

Wearable technology is already a flourishing market. People using devices such as smart watches have dramatically increased in the last few years and with it, the amount of data generated. For example, Apple attempted to pivot the Apple Watch into a diagnostic tool for heart-related conditions. Subsequently, Apple announced that users can opt to allow their data to contribute to medical research. Three studies were announced, focusing on menstrual cycles and gynaecological conditions, heart rate and mobility, and everyday sound exposure’s effects on hearing.

According to Strategy Analytics, Apple shipped over five million smart watches in the second quarter of 2019 alone. Imagine the collective amount of data Apple Watch users can produce. It is little wonder why medical research institutions are collaborating with businesses, representing  a new kind of medical public-private partnership.

3) Robotics

As wearable technology becomes widely accepted and used, a related use might be seen in the advancements in robotics, such as exoskeletons. For instance, researchers from the University of Grenoble, France, helped a man to move all four of his paralysed limbs using an exoskeleton. This also showed a side of wearable technology that focuses on rehabilitation and human-centred design.

The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) reporting over 400,000 robot installations worldwide in 2018. As both information and mechanical technologies advance steadily, we may start to see more robotics with wearables.

4) Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Besides rehabilitation, innovation is central to diagnosis, maintaining and restoring health. Since 2011, cloud-based AI IBM Watson has been marketed as a revolutionary tool for healthcare. Researchers at the Hardin Memorial Hospital, US, partnered IBM Watson to improve the quality of its radiology centres by structuring data that would otherwise be ignored by doctors, into something helpful for diagnosis.

With wearable technologies, it is likely that always-on sensors will be in, on, and around us. Health data collected by these sensors may be joined with other data sets (e.g. population-health data and environmental data) to generate highly personalised and actionable insights, according to the future of health that Deloitte envisions.

Before COVID-19 was reported, we now know that there were AI algorithms that look at epidemiology and population, that had flagged the novel coronavirus. AI algorithms will only get smarter and better, sifting through massive amounts of clinical data and finding patterns that humans might miss. Technology that extracts valuable information will grow in popularity as the amount of data increases. Further implementations of AI in diagnosis will go hand in hand with the increased use of wearable technology.

5) Digital twins

A digital twin is a digital recreation of systems regularly informed by sensors. For example, simulated hospital wards can predict potential complications, allowing medical workers to prepare in advance. In Singapore, this technology has been used to predict energy consumption, minimise waste and maintain appropriate power across the city’s grid.

This technology can be used to predict when patient intake is likely to change. The tech will aid in staff scheduling, decreasing the downtime of machinery, enabling more efficiently hospital operations, and increasing the number of patients at a given time. In future, sensors can even be used on digital twins of individual patients to give doctors an updated, regular, and predictive simulation of their patient. This advancement will require an environment native to Industry 4.0, with high standards of cybersecurity, to protect patients’ health and data.

The fourth industrial revolution has swept through many industries including MedTech. Related to Industry 4.0, IndSights Research previously polled Singapore ICT companies on Services 4.0. Read our report here.

Changes in MedTech after COVID-19

We may still be in the early stages of the COVID-19 health emergency, but many MedTech companies have already shifted their attention to address the onslaught of demand for diagnostic tests, personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and other critical medical supplies. MedTech companies are also looking beyond their normal sector boundaries to explore innovative solutions to further supplement capacity, such as partnerships with companies outside the sector, e.g. a MedTech company may partner an automobile-parts manufacturer to produce ventilators, open-source equipment design, and deploying medically trained staff to support public-health needs.

The MedTech industry has nimbly recalibrated across the value chain to serve healthcare’s critical needs. The plans and actions taken now will have a significant impact for MedTech’s continued resilience in the crisis and shape its long-term recovery.