Sustainability in MedTech Design. Methods, Tools and Practice

Healthcare systems aim at meeting the health and care needs of people by providing services to preserve and restore good health and enable them to live independently. There are different types of healthcare systems worldwide, but they all tackle radical challenges: from the ageing population to the increase of chronic diseases, from new patient-centred paradigms to the need for more distributed organisations. Overall, healthcare systems are called upon to seek new ways to increase their economic sustainability, reduce their impacts on the environment and promote a new social perspective to care. In a word, our health systems are slowly but steadily moving towards Sustainable Healthcare. Policy- and decision-makers are implementing new strategies and policy frameworks to foster a sustainable transition in the healthcare sector as well. However, this transition cannot take place without a practical and active response from the industry players that provide products and supplies to the sector. The demand for sustainable products and services is set to increase, especially in Europe. For businesses, playing in advance is crucial to be responsive to new market trends. However, sustainable innovation in this sector requires rethinking products and services in a systemic way, moving between new products and new business models. Specific design and management competencies are essential to cope with this paradigm shift in production. The book “Sustainability in MedTech Design. Methods, Tools and Practice” builds on this context to provide MedTech practitioners with the opportunity to acquire new knowledge and skills to cope with the ongoing sustainable transition. Three main sections comprehensively introduce the topic of sustainability in MedTech design and strategies to address it.