Refilling the Innovator's Prescription: The new wave of medtech

This report presents a snapshot of the early breakers making the most of the business opportunities presented by the new wave of medical technologies.

A new wave of medical technologies offers novel business opportunities. In this report, Silicon Valley Comes to the UK and Nesta present a snapshot of the early breakers.

  • The strongest vision of a new wave of medtech comes from those integrating new products and services into existing healthcare practices.
  • Real time feedback from patients and rich genetic data sets will help companies and researchers connect with all stages of the care continuum, from prevention to diagnosis and treatment.
  • New medtech is most successful when it gives doctors more knowledge to help them make decisions, and when these tools fit medical care around the demands of daily life.
  • Portable – both physically and in terms of data – personal healthcare is the promise of the next decade.

Healthcare technology evokes images of MRI scanners, paramedics’ defibrillators and intricate surgical kits. More recently, there are promises of medicines, based on the next generation of genetic technologies that will read, reconstruct and rewrite our genomes.

These are examples of hard to reach technologies that require highly skilled technicians and years of training to use. But there is another group of medical technologies arriving on the scene. Often more like games or toys, there is a growing group of accessible and portable consumer medical technologies - a new wave of medtech.

Author
Jessica Bland

Part of
Digital Health

Authors

Jessica Bland

Jessica Bland

Jessica Bland

Principal Researcher in Futures

Jessica was a principal researcher in the Policy and Research team. She explored how Nesta could best support responsible development of disruptive technology. She organised Hot Topics…

View profile