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Packaging and the growing mHealth device market

Nick Kurkjy, Research Associate, Lux Research, Inc., examines the significance of mHealth devices and their packaging needs.

Nick Kurkjy, Research Associate, Lux Research, Inc., examines the significance of mHealth devices and their packaging needs.
Nick Kurkjy, Research Associate, Lux Research, Inc., examines the significance of mHealth devices and their packaging needs.

Healthcare Packaging (HCP): What are mHealth devices, what is their significance to healthcare, and how long have they been on the market?

Nick Kurkjy, Lux Research, Inc.: Specifically, mHealth devices provide remote diagnosis and monitoring of patient conditions, which enables preventive healthcare approaches. This helps patients (and their physicians) track their health over time and intervene before a serious event happens. For example, a patient with a history of cardiac disease can use electrocardiogram (ECG) readings from a wearable device to alert him and his doctor when it detects the early warning signs of a heart attack.

mHealth technology developers ultimately aim to lower the cost of  healthcare. mHealth devices enable preventive and decentralized care, which combine to reduce the cost of care and increase patients’ quality of life.

mHealth devices have been on the market for less than 10 years. Initial adoption correlated with the rise of the smartphone starting in the mid-2000s, since mHealth devices often use mobile devices as a processing and communications hub.

HCP: Do mHealth devices need to be kept within specific temperature ranges? If so, what are those ranges?

Nick Kurkjy: Generally mHealth devices are used in the same temperature ranges that a human experiences, since the device typically directly interfaces with human skin, blood, etc. However, if a device is reusable and used by multiple patients, it could be exposed to high-temperature sterilization methods that can reach up to 132°C.

HCP: Beyond temperature considerations, what must packaging do for the shipment of these devices to the ultimate end user, and how might manufacturing and distribution challenges differ for mHealth devices as opposed to consumer mobile electronic devices?

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