Repurposing medical devices for LRCs — Sustainability considerations

The design, development, and production of medical devices is increasingly becoming an arduous endeavor, not only due to intensifying global competition and tightening regulatory oversight, but also due to ever-diversifying users needs around the world. The surmounting regulatory hurdles and prohibitive costs for developing and bringing new medical devices to markets, pose a strong detriment to adoption and care provision for healthcare users, particularly the ones in low resource countries (LRCs). The idea of repurposing existing devices for new geographical regions - not just for better global access to healthcare but also to increase profitability - warrants further consideration. We explore sustainability considerations and propose a method for implementing the repurposing initiative.