Feature Article

Writing for Medical Device Technology (MDT) magazine over the years has always been an opportunity to expand on my own views, transfer (hopefully) some new information and knowledge and “have a go” at various organisations. But now that MDT’s original simple printed format has multiplied into e-mailed and web-based media, and its audience has grown from a relatively limited UK readership to a multilingual pan-European community (Next year the world! Sorry, a little megalomania kicking in), I had better behave.

The progression of the magazine into a pan-European publication is natural and probably the best example of literary evolution around today. I am pleased—and greatly surprised—that closer links have been established with academia over the last 20 years. This has been evident year on year by the articles published, contacts established and the information disseminated (I am fully aware of the five-syllable word, but by now the readers should have evolved, as well). Discoveries and techniques necessary for medical advancement along with improvements in manufacturing methods, materials and processes have all been reported on, expanded upon and explained by Medical Device Technology, now European Medical Device Technology. I look forward to the next 20 years.

Not wishing to cause any kind of controversy (well, just a bit), but since we now have access to a wide audience, I would like to invite readers to comment—by e-mail, text, fax, phone or, even, letter—on the following two points:

• Component accessibility. Well, the access is OK, but it is becoming a little more limited all the time. Alternative suppliers appear to be drying up. Despite the advent of the Internet, where anything is available and searching is considerably easier than ever before, fewer and fewer options are advertised. With fewer options, you have less control over your designs and incur greater costs implementing them.
• The influx of new and more-draconian regulations and ever increasing necessity to generate paperwork (for whom to read?). New legislation that went into effect in March 2010 will mean additional time, money, personnel and resources before any of your new devices even leave the factory for clinical assessment.

Please communicate your views. A little heated debate in print will certainly improve your morning coffee. And now, you are invited to turn the page for a series of enlightening articles—or so I have been promised—reflecting on 20 years of medical device technology.

David Hill
Design Manager, Rocket Medical plc
www.rocketmedical.com