As one of the most impactful regulatory updates to the EU medical device market in recent years, the European Union’s Medical Device Regulation 2017/745 (MDR) has been a hot topic of conversation since it entered into force in May 2017.

The year was 1969 and Robert Fischell was lying on the couch in his living room, reading IEEE Spectrum, a magazine published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, when he saw an advertisement that would lead to one of the world’s greatest medical device inventions.

Here are some of these technological advancements that are expected to have an impact

Currently, global healthcare systems are operating far over capacity, with many clinicians overstretched and under immense pressure from excess demand for their services — an issue that is only amplified by the rapid growth in aging populations and unhealthy lifestyle choices.

The use of virtual reality to combat anxiety, chronic pain, and cognitive decline is well established. Now, two recent pilot studies are extending the possible use cases of VR into the surgical theater, both intraoperatively and in post-operative recovery……