ANAHEIM, Calif.—An aging population, the increase of chronic diseases, and on-going efforts to better diagnose and treat health problems continue to drive innovation in the U.S. medical device manufacturing market—a dynamic industry expected to grow to $208 billion by 2023.
The forecast comes from SelectUSA, a program run by the U.S. Department of Commerce, which says the U.S. remains the largest medical device market in the world, representing $156 billion, or 40 percent of the global medical device market.
Industry experts say growth will continue to come in the form of:
- Wearable devices for fitness, home care, remote monitoring and treatment of some chronic diseases, especially as 5G technology supports new applications and miniaturization of electronics enables new designs;
- 3D printing, which continues to move from prototypes and low-volume runs to mass production;
- Advances in material science, which have led to antimicrobial silicones, materials suitable for long-term implants, and materials that can withstand hospital disinfectants; and,
- Robots with superior perception and mobility on the factory floor and in surgical suites.
These trends and others will be discussed and demonstrated at the 35th annual Medical Design & Manufacturing West—the world's largest medical design and manufacturing event, set for Feb. 11-13 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
About 20,000 executives and engineers are expected to join 1,900 suppliers at the three-day conference, which opens with a panel talk called "Tech Disruptors Transforming the Robotics Revolution" at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 11. Experts will cover topics about next-gen human-robot interfaces; surgical and smart manufacturing applications; top trends in mobility, manipulation, and programming using advanced sensors; funding from governments, academia, industry-led coalitions and private investment; and design elements important for new product development.
This year's trade show also features two innovation summits on 3D printing and smart manufacturing. The 3D summit gets into choosing the right tools and materials to support design strategies while the smart factory summit looks at artificial intelligence and machine learning to reduce product defects.
MD&M West is where professionals from across the globe converge "before going on to change the lives of patients," according to the event website.