Consumers, Providers, and Caregivers Drive Diagnostic Wearables Market

Diagnostic wearable devices are an increasingly growing market in the medical industry. Molex Incorporated recently surveyed stakeholders worldwide to better understand the factors that drive the market of these devices. Design engineers value acceptance by consumers, providers, and caregivers.

"There's an interesting convergence taking place across the diagnostic wearables landscape as medical device companies and tech innovators strive to bring game-changing products to market," said Tyson Masar, global director, Medical, Molex, in the press release. "Emerging applications dictate new requirements, which is why design engineers must understand the needs of all stakeholders and how they affect decisions across the entire product lifecycle — from early-stage device design concepts to commercialization at scale, and every step in between."

The press release shared that approximately 61% of those surveyed believe that patients and consumers are the greatest advocates for wearable devices. Furthermore, 47% and 44% believe that medical professionals and in-home caregivers, respectively, are the greatest drivers for development.

The article outlines some hesitancy by insurance companies and certain medical professionals to adopt diagnostic wearables. Despite the hesitancy, design engineers believe there will be market growth in wearable devices for obesity control, posture sensing and correction, breath-based disease detection, reproductive health monitoring, and infectious disease monitoring.

While there is clearly potential for growth in the wearable device market, those surveyed identified some challenges. Challenges included expectations for easy use, simple user interfaces, design difficulties in homecare settings, difficulty obtaining regulatory approval, cost, durability, and connectivity.

The press release also stated, “according to 63% of those surveyed, strong collaboration among industry, government, and academic groups is expected to drive the most innovations in diagnostic wearables. While nearly three-quarters of respondents from China ranked group collaboration highest in importance, results from participants in the United Kingdom (52%), France (57%), and Germany (59%) were more closely aligned with participants from the US (61%).”

Understanding the factors that drive the wearable device market can help companies and researchers develop better products that can be used universally. With the prediction of market growth in essential areas and the projected availability of these devices, providers should consider getting comfortable using wearable devices as an additional clinical tool.