It is now possible for people to participate more actively in maintaining their own health as a result of co-operation between medical devices, products and technologies that aim to revolutionize home- and self-care health systems. These self help systems are designed to adopt a prevention-oriented, consumer-driven model for health care that includes innovations such as "smart devices" that can "think" for themselves, customized wearable devices, electronic patient records and wireless Internet-linked systems--all expected to deliver convenient, user-friendly, intelligent health care in the home according to Carol Lewis. For consumers, this could mean convenience in time and travel and reduced health-care costs. This is also expected to result in home-care systems that teach people to monitor themselves so as to enable timely warnings of illness so that they can turn to their physicians at an earlier stage when intervention will do the most good. The rapidly growing home health industry has raised new safety concerns about devices being used in the home setting and is leading FDA to reassess its regulatory oversight of such products.
Telemedicine is a steppingstone to a more sophisticated home health-care future. Telemedicine connections bring high-resolution images and audio through a telephone line and a computer monitor, and allows a nurse to complete the examination without the patient leaving home. Products in the development stages will improve pacemakers, cochlear implants (for hearing), and medicine delivery systems. Some of these devices will incorporate nanotechnology and other state-of-the-art technologies, such as microprocessors and miniaturization. The ability to bring these kinds of tools into the home adds a dimension of health care that people never had access to in the past. The list of planned and imagined medical devices includes:
• A toothbrush with a biosensing chip that checks your blood sugar and bacteria levels while brushing. Optimally, the brush would come with a holder that would transmit information to a database containing the person's medical file.
• Computerized eyeglasses with a tiny embedded display that can help the wearer remember people and things.
• Skin surface mapping to enable people predisposed to melanoma to detect malignant moles as soon as they begin to develop.
• Hand-held biosensors.
• A "smart" bandage could be made of fiber that could detect bacteria or virus in a wound, and tell the wearer if treatment with antibiotics is warranted and which to use.
• Heart monitors that can be connected to personal computers could make it convenient for people to track their own heart rates and other vital information at home and then transmit it to their health-care providers.
• A device that allows people with disabilities to operate machines and perform routine tasks is a hands-free instrument that is controlled by small muscle movements.
For doctors, it could mean more efficient and effective health care driven by patients who take greater responsibility for their own health. Home-care systems are currently the fastest growing segment of the medical device industry. All these developments will lead to a rise in use of plastics in medical devices. As per Freedonia, US demand for medical plastics to increase 2.6% pa until 2012 to 5 bln lbs valued at US$6.55 bln. Growth will be driven by the greater use of disposable plastic medical devices and supplies, as well as plastic packaging products. An ageing populace will entail a rising incidence of acute and chronic conditions and an increasing volume of patient activity. Plastic medical products and packaging have advantages compared to competitive materials such as glass, metal and ceramics. These include light weight and the ability to be cost-effectively molded into ergonomic shapes.
Commodity plastics will remain dominant with better opportunities anticipated for engineering plastics as a result of greater needs for higher performing materials. Leading commodity resins include polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene. Thermoplastic polyester and polypropylene will exhibit the best growth due to opportunities in pharmaceutical and medical product packaging. Demand for engineering plastics will be boosted by growing needs for higher performing materials in surgical, diagnostic testing, drug delivery, geriatric care, self treatment and preventative medicine. Best opportunities are expected in the surgical and medical instrument segment. Polycarbonate will remain the dominant engineering resin and exhibit the best growth prospects based on the resin�s clarity and impact resistance. Thermoplastic elastomers will also present above-average growth due to their moldability and good tactile properties. Packaging will remain the leading market for medical plastics and present the best growth opportunities. Advances will be driven by plastic�s low cost and excellent protective capabilities in pharmaceutical and product packaging uses. Product component markets will rise at a slightly slower pace, stimulated by opportunities in areas such as prosthetic devices and invasive surgical instruments, which are currently dominated by metal. Further growth will be threatened by decelerating growth in surgical procedures and advances in minimally invasive surgical techniques.