Demand for data is driving sensor innovation

At Plextek Consulting we have witnessed a major drive in electronics within the medical sector, particularly within systems that are being added to new and existing technologies. This drive is primarily caused by two reasons; the reduced cost in solutions (particularly COTS) and the miniaturisation of systems that can be integrated into medical systems.

Sensors are one of the biggest areas of growth in medical and this has been caused by the cost reduction of the systems from markets outside of the medical sector, and the requirement for more intelligent datasets; those that can give us more knowledge about a condition than we already know. For example, in diabetes we look at blood glucose, diet and exercise to monitor the condition - however additional sensors, such as hydration, might give us more information about a patient’s condition and therefore a more intelligent approach to treatment and management of the disease.

We see this not only as a growing area in healthcare but also in the consumer space. This will be a rapid increase and within the next two years we should expect to see sensors developed in hydration and nutrition monitoring, including those with more sophisticated algorithms that utilise audio technology.

Another key driver for advanced medical technologies has been the medical compliance and adherence needs for drug delivery system, particularly in the delivery of biologics. These systems can range from sophisticated dose counting systems to fully bespoke wireless systems to ensure functionality, device use and also disease related data collection from integrated sensors.

Another trend within the market that we are witnessing is a growing drive in imaging systems. This is due to increasing miniaturisation of camera systems and the reducing cost of the technology and ability to integrate this into the system. This was once an area that was expensive to develop within and was carried out as no other technology could achieve clinically relevant results. Over the next 12-18 months, we will expect to see a lot of developments in this area, in particularly with widespread applications in diagnostics, trauma and anaesthesia.