Issue link: https://resources.mouser.com/i/1499865
Molex 2023 29 Cohesive Approach Works Best As remote patient monitoring and digital drug delivery become more widespread, so does the need to carefully design all key elements of the measurement and communications technologies. As a case in point, measurement of patient vitals is not simply a matter of getting the hardware and mechanical elements of the measurement process refined and compliant with regulations, as it might have been in the past. Today it requires alignment of cohesive and qualified software and electronics design to ensure efficient process control, consistency, training, revision controls, and risk mitigation. Respondents Share Their Concerns The Digital Health and Future of Pharma Survey indicated concerns on the part of respondents, 96% of whom reported adoption challenges. First among them is high device and connectivity costs, cited by 39% of those surveyed. Cost drivers within the electronics industry are well known, with chip design and fabrication well in the lead. Pandemic shortages, plus regional trade frictions and supply chain logistical challenges, have also been enormously challenging cost factors. The survey results, however, revealed a common theme: Making patients the top priority improves adherence and patient outcomes while simultaneously reducing costs. Bending the Technology to Meet Needs Connected digital healthcare demands communication between patients and their providers. At first glance, this may look like simply another case of a smartphone app and a connection to the cloud; but of course questions arise as to how this will be achieved, given regional and local variations in factors such as internet access. Indeed, the communications platforms involved for remote patient access will impact how costs are negotiated and shared. Further, in many cases, patients may not even have a smartphone or may have inadequate patient access to the internet, and this is a very real barrier to the efficient adoption of digital healthcare. Technologically, this implies a need for low-cost gateway solutions—possibly embedded within the drug delivery devices themselves—and possibly for access to what some in the industry are calling the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). Then, of course there are the vexed questions of privacy and the security of medical data; within a medical context that may call for high-level encryption systems. The databases informed in the digital health vision detail which medications were taken by whom, at what dosage, and at what date and time. Who should have access to this highly personal data though? Put bluntly, it invites attack at a very sophisticated level, and medical device designers need to always keep this top of mind. In fact, 40% of respondents to the survey cited data security risks as a possible barrier to the adoption of digital healthcare, while 52% thought data privacy and security would require "external expertise." Moving Digital Healthcare into the Mainstream Fifty-eight percent of the survey respondents believe networking and connectivity would require the input of external expertise. There are opportunities and benefits to overcoming this hurdle. Likewise, the constantly escalating integration of advanced sensing technologies prompted 42% to say that this fast- evolving field would also require external expertise. This 42% of respondents clearly sees that Medtech is at an inflection point, where the ability of tech to deliver a digital ecosystem for healthcare demands and integrates all the possibilities of internetworking. Medical wearable design goals are already being reached, and industry innovation in critical areas such as printed circuit processing capabilities, advanced material selection, and flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) integration, are making them possible. It will be intriguing to see how the convergence of technologies will meet the digital health requirements to support profound new levels of value in digital drug delivery and healthcare overall. n " " Designing devices that are lightweight, flexible, and easy- to-use, but which also balance patient safety and adherence is no small feat.