Sharing knowledge from our medical device development

At the heart of our efforts is a belief that the best health solutions are co-created and put patients first. This belief extends to our device development, where we're not just creating solutions, but also sharing some of our intellectual property for free.

But why are we doing this? In the video, Nuno Pires and Holger Bartos showcase two of our initiatives, VisualR and our device development blueprint, and explain how we're working together towards a common goal: better health for everyone.

VisualR: overcoming hurdles in retinal health with an open source project

Over 300 million people worldwide are at risk of vision loss due to retinal disease. We want to make a difference in the lives of those affected by transforming the retinal health landscape: imagine being able to monitor your retinal health in the comfort of your home using your smartphone.

Built on this vision, one of our retinal health initiatives is VisualR, a smartphone app that performs visual tests for retinal diseases. With just the app, a smartphone and a simple headset, anyone can easily conduct eye tests in an immersive virtual environment. By open sourcing the tool and thus opening it up for everyone to use or change it, even more people will become aware of retinal health and be able to benefit from this digital solution.

Device development blueprint: early and systematic involvement of patients

Have you ever noticed how medical devices often seem more focused on tech than on the people using them? We're changing that. We're putting patients at the heart of the process because we know these devices will have a big part in their health and wellbeing.

Our colleagues from Patient Engagement created a "blueprint", or a guide, to make sure patients are involved from the get go in developing medical devices. This isn't just about the device itself, but also about understanding what they need from our packaging and how the instructions for using the device should look like.

In co-creation with a group of patient experts we were able to make this happen. Together, we've identified what's important – things like ease of use, size, and even how the device looks. And from there, we created our blueprint.

We're already using the blueprint in our work, and it’s part of our official guidelines. On top of that, we've shared it with the industry so everyone can use it as the standard for device development. Take a look here.