Force Sensors Make Medical Devices Smarter

The practice of medicine has always been an art as well as a science. But, in the age of value-based care, the balance between those two is shifting in favor of the latter. Sensor-enabled medical devices are playing an important role in the trend.

The Flexi Force sensor from Tekscan is an example of a product that can help make medical devices smarter.

In healthcare in the 21st century, data is king. Number crunchers in hospitals’ procurement departments now wield considerable influence in the healthcare landscape. And group purchasing organizations (GPOs) are emerging as the Costco of healthcare—buying products in huge quantities and then selling them at discounted rates to members.

But healthcare needs more than hawking medical products at discounted rates; it needs a way to gauge their efficacy. It needs smarter medical devices.

A growing number of sensor-enabled medical devices are hitting the market, providing metrics for diagnoses and helping systematize how doctors deliver treatments.

Surgical tools are one example that could benefit from such technology. In the past, surgeons relied heavily on their training and experience to guide them in a procedure. Whether they squeezed a surgical instrument with the correct amount of pressure was determined largely based on experience.

Now, force sensors can be integrated into surgical grippers to help surgeons get a sense of the force they are applying. "The sensors can provide a surgeon with the feedback during a procedure that helps them avoid cutting a vital organ or vein," says Lisa Jones, marketing specialist, FlexiForce at Tekscan (South Boston, MA).

iSweek（http://www.isweek.com/）- Industry sourcing & Wholesale industrialproducts