Currently I am working in a medical device company that focuses on vision electrophysiology. The overall purpose of these vision testing systems is to aid optometrist and ophthalmologist diagnose their patients and use these devices for early detection. The two modalities we currently use is vision evoked potential (VEP) and electroretinography (ERG). While working in this company, i took part of their quality control and technical support for these devices. As the professor mentioned in the prior lectures, it is key to provide support to a medical device once it is released to the market, it plays a huge role when it comes to the customers.

Two years ago, I was working in a human performance lab that was gathering data on neuromuscular activity from patients after chemo treatments. The focus of the research was to see how chemotherapy from breast cancer survivors has affected neuromuscular activity. While working in this lab I realized the 3D printing trend which was occurring also within NJITs biomedical engineering labs. I mainly worked on designing and building force sensor cases for ankle and wrist flexion testing. Instead of sending the designs to a vendor to print, I would 3D-print the models using the creo parametric software and MakerBot printer. Not only would I 3D print for the human performance lab, but also within Dr. Foulds lab at NJIT. I worked on creating a 7 degree of freedom controller for the iARM within Dr. Fould’s lab. Initially, the plan was to give our designs to the machinist at NJIT to build the controller but instead I was able to print all the components using the 3D printers in the BME department. 3D printing components within research laborites has been on the rise because it saves a tremendous amount of time and money.

I work in the orthopedics industry, specifically in the spine industry. Most of the devices that my company develops are used in spinal fusion surgeries. By far the biggest trend in spinal implants is 3D printed implants. Many companies are marketing spinal implants with unique features which can only be achieved by 3D printing. My company has a huge investment in 3D printing technology. We launched our first 3D printed implant about 2 years ago, and since then, it has evolved into our platform technology. Looking at competitor's products I have seen the same trend. It opens up a world of possibilities for companies, and makes it easier for companies to develop differentiating features that would have been impossible with traditional manufacturing techniques.

I am not working in the industry but my related field is vestibular rehabilitation. Currently, the focus of the field is toward automated systems and incorporating VR into physical rehabilitation. On the software side, the devices are made so that it relies on as little on human/physicians input as possible. Deep learning/AI are introduced to make the rehab tasks personalized to specific patients at a specific progress. About the "hardware" aspect, the devices are made incorporating VR so that patients can use these phone-sized devices at home or at doctors' clinics.

I work in the office of technology development at Sloan Kettering and oversee the medical device portfolio. The trends I see that Investors/companies are looking for: 1. DATA and 2. AI

1. The number one trend I'm seeing is interest on DATA, BIG DATA. I work at an oncology hospital that has tons of medical records and patient data going very far back and we collecting new data daily. I would say in the medical space, DATA is the number 1 thing that companies are looking to license and or have a collaboration to have access to patient data.

2. AI. You have a combination of Big data and AI with companies like IBM with IBM Watson, Apple, Google etc. All of these companies know that the future of healthcare/technologies needs data/big data in order to generate these novel products to solve healthcare needs and revolutionize healthcare.

I agree that 3D printing is also a huge trend. We have multiple 3D printers at Sloan that we use to create prototypes of devices and to create personalized items for patients for particular surgeries, tests, etc. I'll be interested to see how bio-printing takes off and the regulations that will go along with it. Overall, I think it is very exciting time in the medical device field and I think we will be seeing a lot more BIG DATA collaborations and AI processes and products in the pipeline.

I currently work for a Point of Care medical device company. My company focuses on the hand held type instead of the larger models. Based on my understanding of the market, PoCT is slow to launch new test types because the amount of overhead and the new product would have to offer substantially different capabilities than what is on the current market. However, I do understand there is future direction in the field to make products that will test for infectious disease. This product would need to be extremely sensitive molecular techniques and would be marketable in both the developed and developing world. Additionally, there is also interest in other clinical applications such as diagnosing traumatic brain injury.

I currently work for a group at Edwards Lifesciences that is focusing on a minimally invasive mitral valve repair device. Edwards main goal is to make every cardiovascular device are minimally invasive as possible, and they try to reuse the same or similar transport systems for these devices so that physicians are comfortable and learn how to perform these operations easily. Some of the trends that I am seeing in this field are similar to what Dr.Simon stated in his post. We are planning on going to EU first because it is easier to get approval there, but from what I am learning at work, the US is actually getting easier and EU is getting harder so this might switch soon. We 3D print everything. If you aren't proficient in SolidWorks or Creo it will be very challenging to keep of with the demand of developing new devices or improvements to an exciting one. These are just some of the trends that I see at work.

As an engineer that currently uses 3D printing, most 3D printing applications have been used toward manufacturing equipment and fixing parts as opposed to 3D printing actual devices. Most items I am 3D printing are used to help fix a faulty part on the manufacturing line and this in turn helps prevent the company from having to order a new part. Machining parts for medical through CNC Machining is the closest thing to 3D printing for medical devices. As much as the field wants to move toward 3D printing medical devices, I don’t foresee machining going anywhere any time soon.