Design and Delivery of Medical Devices for Home-use: Drivers and Challenges

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number and types of medical devices used in the home environment by lay-users such as patients and their carers. Apart from an awareness of this increase and growing concern in some areas about the safety and effectiveness of using devices in the home, very little is known in this area. This talk specially attempts to answer two fundamental questions: what factors are driving the move towards the increasing use of medical devices in the home environment, and more importantly, what the challenges are for product developers who want to design and deliver medical devices for the home-use marketplace.