Digital Medical Device Design is Being Developed

A new patient-centric approach to developing Digital Medical Device has clinical effects and drives value by encouraging patients to engage in their own treatment. According to Jennifer Miller, MD, PhD, physician consultant at McKinsey & Co. “Design & Product Development Principles for Connected Devices,” a panel discussion moderated by MD&M BIOMEDigital, featured Miller. Industry experts addressed all aspects of agile product creation during the workshop, emphasising the importance of including and understanding the needs and weaknesses of all users in the design of Medical Device.

According to Miller, the first step in this agile product design approach is to frame your problem and design, as well as describe your customer. She said, “You then develop out your user journeys to really understand in an end-to-end manner what the product that you are developing is going to be doing.”

The next step, according to her, is to put together an agile team to design the initial concept, prototype it, and test it with a small group of customers, integrating their feedback to create a minimally viable product, which is then introduced to a larger group of customers to incorporate their feedback to develop a product program.

Protection is a top priority, she said, because medical device defects can result in death. According to Miller, companies must develop a quality control system early in the product life cycle and maintain it throughout. Other factors to consider are regulatory enforcement depending on the specific authorities that would dictate a product, as well as identifying potential cyber security threats and incorporating data privacy safeguards.