PENTAX Medical’s Harald Huber and Michael Unger discuss key trends and innovation in endoscopy, with The Clinical Services Journal. They highlight some of the key developments that are expected to advance endoscopy in terms of safety, productivity, and clinical outcomes
There are a number of key trends shaping the endoscopy market – patient safety and hygiene, artificial intelligence (AI), and the need to balance a degree of single-use provision with sustainability. These trends are fuelling innovation in endoscope design and PENTAX Medical has been working closely with clinicians to understand and respond to these drivers.
“Our main objectives are to minimise the risk of infection, improve clinical outcomes, and enhance the professional’s experience and healthcare productivity within endoscopy. With this in mind, we are looking further ahead at what endoscopy could look like in 5-10 years,” explains Michael Unger, general manager marketing, product and business development. “Through our Blackbox Innovations programme, we work closely with physicians and invite them at an early stage into our R&D processes. It is our aim to learn about challenges in daily clinical practice and then brainstorm with physicians on the development of solutions,” he explains.
Since its introduction in 2016, the Blackbox Innovations programme has become an important part of the company’s approach to R&D. The dedicated workshops take place at one of four global R&D sites which provide the ideal environment for innovation. An integral function of these sessions is to provide a forum for detailed discussion of unmet needs and challenges in clinical practice and collaborative exploration of potential solutions. Finally, the users have a chance to try out early prototypes and provide real-time feedback during a hands-on session. To date, a number of new developments have resulted from this approach. One of these has been the the PENTAX Medical Video Duodenoscope ED34-i10T2 which features a sterile disposable elevator cap (DEC) for single-patient use and simple disposal. This was developed to address the increasing incidences of cross-contamination with different types of pathogens that may be linked to improper cleaning or disinfection of the elevator mechanisms of duodenoscopes used in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures. Feedback from key opinion leader customers at these workshops was instrumental in the development of the final concept
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