Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Project
planning and
specifications
Necessity and
market analysis
Conceptual
design
Prototyping and
testing
Detail design
Project Leader
Developm. team
Market analyst
Medical doctors
Nurses
Technicians
Patients
Decision makers
Fig. 4
Simplified product development cycle for the laboratory-stage development of medical
devices and involvement of different actors along the development cycle. Circle size represents
the level of involvement in each stage
interesting that only about one third of second phase PDS can be left open during
the first stage, while the others must be at least preliminarily considered in the first
stage. Finally, about three fifths (circa 60%) of the PDS fall in the second phase,
which means they can only be fully set during that stage of the development process.
3.5
The Product Development Cycle
Within the laboratory development stage, a full product development cycle will take
place. In the framework of this chapter, the important aspects to consider are the
involvement of end-users early and throughout the process, as represented in Fig.
4
.
4
Multidisciplinarity
4.1
Multidisciplinary Integration Within the Development
Te a m
Working in multidisciplinary teams offers several advantages to the researcher. One
of these is the quick access to expertise in complementary areas of knowledge.
Another is the possibility to debate decisions with colleagues that have different
perspectives (and possibly, conflicting opinions). Equally important is the ability
to tackle much more complex challenges than those which could be handled by a
single individual, even if highly gifted.
