“Biomedical innovation lessons learned during the MCAMS discovery process”

The remote sensing device developed by noninvasive medical technologies, Inc. (NMT), and the integration of several other innovations that create the multiple casualty assessment management system (MCAMS) is a modern day example of technology created to transform physiological data into valuable medical knowledge. Spanning the course of four years, the MCAMS project has yielded multiple innovations and patents. The lessons learned from the discovery process; conceptualization through implementation present an example framework for biomedical system innovation. The Multiple Casualty Assessment Management System is the integration of remote biosensor monitors reporting objective data to redundant receivers that can seamlessly move across the care continuum. The conceptualization process was the most protracted phase of this innovation. Each development stage, from proof of concept to prototype, evaluation, reconceptualization, and finally implementation has been fraught with its own challenges. The key to assuring success in the innovative biomedical process has been focus on the central concern: the patient - the need. While the conceptualization stage was focused on defining relative advantage, throughout the course of the discovery process it was important to reflect on this definition, reevaluate and redefine it. During the development phases of proof of concept and prototype important innovation characteristics were addressed in regard to innovation compatibility and complexity. For example the innovation idea may be compatible with saving lives however the concept of operations was so complex or arduous that it became incompatible with innovation success. Challenges as complex as radar design offer huge advances in biomedical science, however it is simply the ldquoon/offrdquo switch that the end user references the most frequently. Using the MCAMS development process as an example of how to utilize Roger´s theory of innovation diffusion, each diffusion characte- ristic will be considered as a part of the biomedical development process; relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observability and trialability. The author also asserts that current technological tools should include innovation adaptability as a predictor of successful diffusion.