Companies typically pursue open innovation programs with the goal of collecting new ideas more quickly than internal resources can accommodate. Medical device companies share this same goal, but due to fears of intellectual property issues, they too often shy away from open innovation. If medical device companies want to do more than solely incremental device improvements, however, open innovation provides an invaluable opportunity to discover breakthrough products.
I went to the dentist today and had annual x-rays taken. I hate when they stick those stiff plastic plates, called periapicals or bitewings, in my mouth. They are painful and cumbersome and I can’t be the only person that has these feelings. So, why hasn’t a more patient-friendly bitewing been marketed?
In the short life of this blog, I have made a big deal about the difference between needs and ideas. The reality is that for a need to be more than pointing out the obvious, it has to provide sufficient definition or a problem statement. Or, as the very successful Dr. Josh Makower, CEO of ExploraMed, says “decide what you want the end result to be before you invent it”.
Years ago I attended a unique conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for physicians and invited guests from the medical device industry. The conference’s theme was to expose the worst clinical case train-wrecks with the goal of catalyzing development of improved medical device tools that could avoid these mishaps. Since everyone was exposing his or her dirty laundry, there was a refreshing sense of openness and sharing. Read More
