You can read a lot about MedTech. There are websites (like disrupting healthcare), news resources, and companies focused on one thing. MedTech. But what is MedTech? What does a MedTech company do? Is Medtech in a hospital or can you have it at home, on your wrist, or inside your body?
To make your journey into the world of MedTech easier, let’s discuss basic facts about MedTech.
What is MedTech?
It is just an ugly abbreviation. MedTech stands for medical technology. And as you can guess there are very many technologies in the medical sector.
What are medical technologies?
MedTech is a very wide subject, but it can be categorized into three categories.
- Medical Devices
- In-vitro Diagnostics (IVDs)
- Digital Health Solutions and Digital Therapeutics (DTx)
What are Medical Devices?
Medical Devices is yet another very wide term in the MedTech world. It covers any product, service, or solution used to prevent, diagnose, monitor, or treat people. As you can now understand, it can be literally anything, an instrument, appliance, software, implant, reagent, material, or even a service for processing some vital data. Under Medical Devices, you will find all known gadgets of the medical profession, syringes, needles, stethoscopes, big machines to perform X-Ray or MRI, or the special chair in your dentist. Wheelchairs and canes, and hospital beds are also medical devices. And of course, everything that can be put on or in your body in medical procedure – sensors, cardiac pacemakers, and so on.
To become a Medical Device and be used in a healthcare setting, an object or service has to meet certain regulations to ensure its safety and reliability.
What is In Vitro Diagnostics?
In vitro means literally in the glass. In vitro diagnostics (IVD) is any diagnostic procedure taken outside of the patient body. It is a non-invasive test made on a sample taken from your body, used to determine the status of a patient’s health. The sample can be blood, urine, tissue, or saliva. COVID-19 tests are IVDs. IVD never comes into direct contact with a person, they provide information based on scientific measurement of the sample. IVDs are not used for treatment, they are supposed to inform patients and healthcare professionals to make decisions.
What is Digital Health?
Digital Health covers all tools and services that combine information and communication technologies in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Digital Health plays an increasingly important role in healthcare. It allows for gathering and analyzing health data on an unprecedented scale, allowing scientists to discover patterns and insights. Digital Health speeds up and facilitates research and development of new therapies. It also allows remote monitoring of vital signs, early prevention and diagnosis, and at-home or ambulatory treatment. Finally, there are specific Digital Health solutions called Digital Therapeutics (DTx). Digital Therapeutics is usually Software as Medical Device – or in layman’s terms software application, that can be prescribed and used as medicine. There are more and more such DTx available, we have been covering examples such as Deprexis and NOCD.
What is MedTech – summary
Now, you know what is MedTech! It is any technology that is used in healthcare. MedTech covers Medical Devices, In vitro Diagnostics and Digital Health Solutions. On disrupting.healthcare we discuss MedTech with a focus on Digital Health on the exciting journey to improve the health and well-being of patients around the world.
