Company insight
Changing the paradigm: Wearables become the future of medicine
The healthcare industry is adapting rapidly to cope with ageing populations and increased demand on its resources, so pushing care out of the clinic and into the home is becoming essential. Philip Hart, European segment manager, medical, at Microchip Technology, tells us why the ‘wearable internet of medical things’ is the key to making this transition work.
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he wearable internet of medical things (WIoMT) is changing the game in healthcare. The future of better management for chronic diseases will depend on WIoMT devices, which are already enabling real-time care, meaningful analytics and lower overall costs. As providers of medical care seek a value-based healthcare model, they will increasingly turn to smart, connected and secure wearables, which raises key technical challenges. To provide meaningful data and enable monitoring processes that improve patient outcomes, wearable devices must be robust, easy to use, affordable and reliable.
These devices include everything from familiar tools such as hearing aids and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) to multi-molecule patches to assess cholesterol and other physical factors, and a host of innovations soon to come. “We are all about enabling innovation, which means making existing devices smaller, more wearable, more comfortable and more unobtrusive, while helping to bring new devices to market faster,” says Philip Hart, European segment manager, medical, at Microchip Technology. “That brings many challenges. Miniaturisation is one, but there is also power consumption, flexibility of electronics, communication and the cybersecurity issues that this raises for device safety and personal data privacy. “One big advantage with wearables is better compliance with treatment programmes, but smart drug delivery is also happening, and there are some really interesting areas like smart orthopaedics,” he adds.
www.medicaldevice-developments.com
After a hip replacement, patients will be given a set of exercises for rehabilitation. Some people will do too little, others too much. If the new hip implant can communicate data to healthcare practitioners directly, the rehabilitation programme can be expertly monitored to get the best long-term outcomes.
Rising to the challenge Microchip Technology has worked with major healthcare clients for 30 years, handling miniaturisation and specialist packaging for medical devices, particularly implants such as neurostimulators and pacemakers. It draws on extensive expertise in its manufacturing centre in Wales to tackle everything from quality assurance and functional safety to cybersecurity. “You have to be more than a supplier of components,” Hart explains. “Our advanced packaging division will get involved early – at the feasibility study stage – using our experience to get real insight into a client’s product, help to design the optimal solution, and reduce the risk of a product recall.
“Our cybersecurity group in France has a deep understanding of all potential issues and can do threat analysis early, which is important for wearables that communicate data,” he adds. “This kind of unified platform approach is crucial for the development of medical devices.” With this approach, the client can focus on what it does best – innovative science or component design – and leave other elements to an experienced technical advisor that understands data transmission, cloud security, privacy, miniaturisation and manufacturing efficiency.
“We can deliver the platform and help them to mitigate risk, reduce costs and reduce time,” says Hart. Those are always the big three items on clients’ lists of priorities.”
From the start to the finish line WIoMT is an area of constant innovation, be it smart orthopaedics, brain implants, continuous monitoring, or the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML). AI must be rigorously understood, as it can alter the functionality of a device as a patient’s needs change. Also, data communication is a major drain on battery power in wearables, and AI can make low-level decisions about when to send data to optimise power use. That said, longevity still counts. Microchip
Technology guarantees a consistent supply of components for the lifetime of a device. “We work hard to move people onto new devices and platforms while making sure the old ones remain available,” says Hart. “Longevity is a big pain point in this industry, so we make sure we provide extended long-term support. We call it client-led obsolescence because the client decides when they don’t need the components.” Wearable devices are constantly evolving, but that does not mean valuable ideas are left behind. WIoMT will only thrive with the right blend of experience, manufacturing heritage and an appetite for innovation. ●
See how Microchip Technology is advancing medical technology and shaping the future of healthcare at MEDICA 2025, Hall 16, Booth J03.
www.microchip.com 71
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