As aging society and chronic illness become more prevalent worldwide, health care also sees surge in demand. As a result, the medical device industry has become a welcoming, emerging industry in many countries.
However, Taiwan medical device companies are mostly low-value-added. The platform for the integration between clinical medicine and engineering is also lacking. Apparently there is a gap in the value chain of medical device industry in Taiwan.
In the past, the research and development of medical device in Taiwan were mostly steered by engineers. The drawbacks are that “clinical needs” are not the major concern of engineers, and engineers don’t usually have opportunities to observe the needs in clinical medicine on a long-term basis. The communication between medicine and engineering are also poor. Furthermore, conventional education system in Taiwan tends to be specialized in an early stage, which results in the lack of interdisciplinary human resource. The products created by the conventional approach couldn't meet the requirements of clinical medicine, and therefore the value they could bring remains problematic.
Collaborate with Stanford University to foster interdisciplinary medical-engineering talents
Stanford University and its adjacent Silicon Valley are famous for being the power engine of global IT industry. Less well known is that this area is also the cradle of medical device industry. It harbors more than 300 new medical device companies. Among the new medical devices appROVed by FDA in 2008, more than 50% originated from this area.
The Biodesign program ran by Stanford University had helped to delivered more than 25 new companies in the past 10 years, and 4 of them underwent the acquisition process with major companies (with total value higher than 30 millions in USD). In the program, entrepreneurs learn how to design practical medical devices by observing clinical needs, how to develop new ideas and techniques for the new design, and how to articulate a business plan and obtain funds for starting their own business.
30 years ago, a group of Taiwan young talents were sent to RCA, US by Taiwanese government, and in return they helped Taiwan to create the IC industry worth millions of million dollars. 30 years later, the government collaborates with Stanford University to foster Taiwan’s entrepreneurs in medical device industry, in hope for opening the new era of the industry in Taiwan. Each year the STB Program selects a few Taiwanese talents and sends them to Stanford University for one year’s training.
The Fellows undergo interdisciplinary trainings across medicine, engineering and business. They come to understand that, a successful medical device is ba
