The Institute for Health Technology Studies (
InHealth) has reportedly awarded three new research grants worth more than $1.4 million to investigators at the University of Southern California, Northwestern University, and Stanford University. The grant is to support three studies that will investigate the social and economic impact of therapeutic medical devices, and device innovation process.
InHealth's research mission will develop objective data and study the impact of medical technologies on patients, healthcare professionals, and the healthcare sector at large. The research will be conducted for medical technologies such as impact continuous glucose monitoring and how insulin pumps affect diabetic patients' quality of life and productivity; how to measure the effectiveness of medical technologies used to treat chronic wounds; and the roles of clinicians in the innovation process for medical technologies.
In a release, Martyn Howgill, executive director of InHealth, said research into the socioeconomic impact of medical technology sheds light on the future of medical innovation and is invaluable in an era of healthcare reform.
"Examining the innovation process from beginning to end—from the roles of clinicians in developing new products to the technology's long-term effects gives physicians and policymakers the knowledge and evidence they need to make the best-informed decisions for patients and the public," Howgill said. "It also feeds information back into the innovation process, allowing for the development of even more effective medical technology.”
InHealth has allocated more than $8 million toward research grants, this being the fourth set of grants awarded by InHealth since 2005.
Some of the other grants from InHealth are, University of Southern California to develop registry, examine effects of devices for diabetics, Northwestern University to develop conceptual model of impact of wound care technologies, and Stanford University to examine the roles of clinicians in medical device innovation.
InHealth-funded research is currently under way at Johns Hopkins University, Medical College of Georgia, Northwestern University, Tufts University, the University of Houston, and the University of Pennsylvania. The research is going on hearing aids, insulin-delivery therapies, medical technologies used to diagnose and treat obstructive sleep apnea, in vitro diagnostics, genomic diagnostics, and carotid stents, respectively.
