4. Digital health — and AI hype

More than a decade after the launch of the iPhone and Amazon Web Services, the greater access to ever-increasing computer power is rapidly transforming medtech. A cell phone with a camera has the potential to replace a bulky diagnostic machine. Health providers are also increasingly embracing telehealth.

“Hospital systems are setting up telehealth departments and reimbursement codes are being added and refined. The next decade will see us all receiving healthcare over our mobile devices,” Scott Thielman, CTO at Product Creation Studio (Seattle), told MDO.

It’s little wonder that this year’s CES has companies touting 546 digital health and 635 wearable devices.

Traditional medical device companies are also seeking ways to package sensors into a host of implantable medical devices in order to glean insights. Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), for example, has its HeartLogic heart failure diagnostic sensors packaged into implantable CRT-Ds and ICDs.

Next on the horizon is artificial intelligence — with the open question of whether AI can deliver on what companies are promising when it comes to improving healthcare. – CN

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