Medical devices regulation within the EU centers on regulatory framework for market access, international trade relations, and regulatory convergence all with the aim of ensuring patient safety while promoting innovation and competitiveness. The current legal framework has hitherto been criticized for being too fragmented and difficult to follow; however, the medical devices market is truly a global one and alignment on this topic is essential in order to make the medical field as a whole more harmonized and efficient. This is particularly prevalent within Europe as Horizon 2020 emphasizes improved cross-cutting support technologies to facilitate the development of “new, more efficient, effective and sustainable treatments for disease and for the management of disabilities.”
Within the medical devices field, there have been large strides made with respect to the role robots play
in healthcare; yet there is still much debate around the use of robots in healthcare. With this increased role of robots comes the question: “Helping the infirm help themselves: when and where are robots an appropriate health care solution?” If the use of robots in healthcare can be agreed upon to create a
systemized and harmonized model across the union, this will lead to even larger developments in the medical field.
In this session, the panelists will look at some of the following questions:
