TECHNICAL APPLICATION'S MARKET
task one
Identify two companies and one product produced by each company that directly relate to the NCT technical application your team has selected.
- The company, Life Alert ®, produces a product called Life Alert. Life Alert is a personal emergency response and home medical alert system that allows users to quickly contact employees of the company so that they can dispatch medical help in case of emergencies. Life Alert is a small device worn by elderly people or people at risk of illness; when emergencies arise, users simply press a button on the device, speak with an employee via the device, and wait for help or an ambulance to come.
- The company, Greatcall ®, manufactures a product called Jitterbug 5. The Jitterbug 5 is a Samsung cell phone that includes a special 5star button; this button can be pushed by the user in the event of an emergency, and it will connect him or her to an NAED certified agent. This agent can then contact emergency authorities and send for help. The 5star service is provided on every Greatcall service plan, providing people with a greater sense of security. This product is much like Life Alert, except it can call for help while outside of the home and also has cell phone capabilities.
task two
Identify one professional association or trade organization associated with the products your team identified. Include: its name, a description of its mission, and the number of people/companies involved.
The Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) is the premier trade association in the US for providing education and assistance to medical technology companies. A group of medical-device company executives founded the company in Washington D.C. so that it could effectively propose and protest legislative policies. The MDMA's primary goal is "to provide patients and clinicians with timely access to safe and effective medical technologies that improve the quality of life". The MDMA is the largest medical-device trade organization in the United States; it has 270 members, and each member is one company.
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task three
Propose and describe a new product or new process based on your team's NCT technical application.
We want to create a product that will close the gap between patients and medical help. Our proposed product, Lifeline, would be a device that could bring patient-monitoring devices to the forefront of the medical market. Lifeline would be similar to a bracelet that patients would wear, except it would be equipped with the best medical technology available to monitor their status and call for medical help when needed. Lifeline devices would be worn at all times and would be catered to each patient's medical needs; one Lifeline device might be made to monitor blood pressure while another might monitor hormone levels. Because all symptoms cannot be monitored by a device worn around the wrist, the majority of Lifeline devices would also have a small chip that would be implanted in the patient at the location of their medical problem. For example, a heart disease patient would wear the Lifeline bracelet and have a small chip implanted next to their heart. Additionally, Lifeline devices would be equipped with a simple GPS system and a wireless transmitter that would allow the device to communicate with medical help teams (ie. hospitals) and transmit the patient's location. As soon as the Lifeline device detects an emergency, it would transmit the patient's location and medical information to local authorities, as well as family members and friends. It produces a sort of "all hands on deck" call. The combined emergency monitoring and emergency alert systems would save lives, save money, and allow for more freedom.
Why Lifeline is different from existing patient-monitoring systems:
We want to create a product that will close the gap between patients and medical help. Our proposed product, Lifeline, would be a device that could bring patient-monitoring devices to the forefront of the medical market. Lifeline would be similar to a bracelet that patients would wear, except it would be equipped with the best medical technology available to monitor their status and call for medical help when needed. Lifeline devices would be worn at all times and would be catered to each patient's medical needs; one Lifeline device might be made to monitor blood pressure while another might monitor hormone levels. Because all symptoms cannot be monitored by a device worn around the wrist, the majority of Lifeline devices would also have a small chip that would be implanted in the patient at the location of their medical problem. For example, a heart disease patient would wear the Lifeline bracelet and have a small chip implanted next to their heart. Additionally, Lifeline devices would be equipped with a simple GPS system and a wireless transmitter that would allow the device to communicate with medical help teams (ie. hospitals) and transmit the patient's location. As soon as the Lifeline device detects an emergency, it would transmit the patient's location and medical information to local authorities, as well as family members and friends. It produces a sort of "all hands on deck" call. The combined emergency monitoring and emergency alert systems would save lives, save money, and allow for more freedom.
Why Lifeline is different from existing patient-monitoring systems:
- Lifeline is worn on patients' wrists and allows for both manual and automatic emergency alerts. Basically, Lifeline can detect an emergency even before a patient realizes that one is happening, and it can alert authorities if the patient is unable to do so.
- Lifeline doesn't just send out a distress call, it transmits location and is able to send other information about the patient (age, previous incidents, etc.) and the specific current emergency.
- Lifeline doesn't contact some random caller in a medical device company's office, it contacts local hospitals, local authorities, and patients' family and friends: people who know and care about you.
- Lifeline is tailored to patients' specific medical illnesses so that it can focus on detecting that illness.
- Lifeline allows patients to integrate their bracelet-devices with their smartphones. Doing so would allow patients to transmit a more accurate location and speak over the phone with authorities.
Lifeline is to patients and medical help as the internet is to people and information: they provide the freedom of physical separation with the advantage of a wireless connection. Ideally, Lifeline should allow at-risk patients to not be confined to hospitals and to have the same freedoms as the rest of society.
task four
Via the Internet, locate a company that might be able to manufacture your team’s proposed product. Send the company an e-mail asking that someone in the company evaluate the product your team proposed. Provide on your website the e-mail request you sent, the names of manufacturers to whom you sent the request and include any responses received.
Medtronic: According to their company overview "Medtronic is the world’s largest medical technology company, offering an unprecedented breadth and depth of innovative therapies to fulfill our Mission of alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life. Last year, more than 10 million people benefited from our medical therapies, which treat cardiac and vascular diseases, diabetes, and neurological and musculoskeletal conditions." More Medtronic information can be found at:
http://www.medtronic.com/about-us/company-profile/medical-technology.htm?loc=MDTHomeRefresh_B_InPage_SubNav_Company_Line2_3
Medtronic: According to their company overview "Medtronic is the world’s largest medical technology company, offering an unprecedented breadth and depth of innovative therapies to fulfill our Mission of alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life. Last year, more than 10 million people benefited from our medical therapies, which treat cardiac and vascular diseases, diabetes, and neurological and musculoskeletal conditions." More Medtronic information can be found at:
http://www.medtronic.com/about-us/company-profile/medical-technology.htm?loc=MDTHomeRefresh_B_InPage_SubNav_Company_Line2_3
Phillips: Phillips is a company that focuses on the creation of devices with the aim of improving and extending life. According to their website Phillips "is a leader in cardiac care, acute care, home healthcare, energy-efficient lighting solutions, and new lighting applications, as well as personal care, domestic appliances, and oral healthcare." For more information on Phillips, visit:
http://www.philips.com/about/company/index.page
http://www.philips.com/about/company/index.page
Email sent to both:
[Medtronic:] [email protected]
[Phillips:] [email protected]
"To whom it may concern,
Hello, my name is Lauren Castillo, and I am working with a group of students at Winter Park High School in Winter Park Florida on a project to create a line of emergency-wear that can detect when a patient is experiencing an emergency and then transmit the patient's location to authorities and family members. For our project, we must find a company that can manufacture our product; it contains two components: an electronic microchip and a wearable wristlet.
During our research, we discovered your company because you manufacture medical devices with the aim of extending and improving life, much like ours. We believe that your company would be a perfect fit to manufacture our product. Please let me know if you think that your company would be a good potential fit as a manufacturer for our product.
Thank you for your time; I hope to hear back from you soon.
Lauren Castillo"
[Medtronic:] [email protected]
[Phillips:] [email protected]
"To whom it may concern,
Hello, my name is Lauren Castillo, and I am working with a group of students at Winter Park High School in Winter Park Florida on a project to create a line of emergency-wear that can detect when a patient is experiencing an emergency and then transmit the patient's location to authorities and family members. For our project, we must find a company that can manufacture our product; it contains two components: an electronic microchip and a wearable wristlet.
During our research, we discovered your company because you manufacture medical devices with the aim of extending and improving life, much like ours. We believe that your company would be a perfect fit to manufacture our product. Please let me know if you think that your company would be a good potential fit as a manufacturer for our product.
Thank you for your time; I hope to hear back from you soon.
Lauren Castillo"