medtech design
in november, the medical technology industry meets again in düsseldorf. an occasion for f/p design to explain the role of medical design in the product development process and to outline new strategies. feel free to download the brochure with examples of our work.
in the following interview fritz frenkler also takes up the most important aspects concerning new perspectives, tasks and approaches in medical design.
medical equipment by f/p design:
“convincing design results can only be achieved by dedicated and qualified teams”
prof. fritz frenkler, professor of industrial design at the technical university of munich (tum) and managing director of f/p design with offices in munich, berlin and kyoto, discusses new aspects of the development of medical technology and the role of medical design.
how important are ai and robotics for the future of medical technology?
fritz frenkler: both developments offer enormous opportunities for the further development of medical technology and medicine. the often quoted fears will play an increasingly subordinate role. if, for example, one goes only out of the manual aspect of surgery, then it does not actually matter to the surgeon whether he works on the screen or in the operating theatre. on the one hand he works as if in a cage with his team and on the other hand he operates a digitally controlled device. the qualitative and mental burden is probably lower here. absolute precision is certainly easier to achieve with the use of robotics.
and digitalization for example makes it easier to manage and archive data, as well as x-ray documents, and thus relieve the doctor and medical staff. this works especially if the interfaces are designed with the focus on the user. an intelligent interface design ensures that people from different cultural backgrounds can operate software and devices intuitively or archive data correctly.
a particular challenge for medical design is to keep an eye on at least two user groups – doctor / medical staff and patient. do both groups need to be involved even more than before in the development of new medical devices?
fritz frenkler: of course. we call this participatory design. actually, there are even four target groups in medical design, which we have to keep in mind when developing new products and services: doctor, assistant, patient, and now relatives. in the us, and probably soon in europe, greater emphasis is being placed on comprehensive information on examinations and the individual treatment steps. everything must be transparent and self-explanatory.
we know that only quantitative surveys and qualitative research can optimize medical technology for all users. without a scientific approach involving psychologists, sociologists, and even ethicists, one can no longer develop a state-of-the-art medical device that meets all needs.
read the whole interview, in which fritz frenkler also talks about the current international market situation for medical devices, efficiency and the importance of interdisciplinary teams for the product development process.
