Health Tech Lab provides support for health technology

Health Tech Lab provides support for health technology product development

Digital health connects and empowers people and populations to manage health and wellness. It is complemented by service provider teams that utilise digital tools, technologies and services to transform care activities.

Text | Elina Kontio, Principal Lecturer, Leader of Health Technology Research Group and Health Tech Lab, and Tero Vahanne, Health Tech Lab Project Engineer and member of the Health Technology Research Group, Turku University of Applied Sciences Photos | Martti Komulainen

There is no simple definition for health technology. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Inc. (HIMSS) has just published a new definition of digital health, which states that digital health connects and empowers people and populations to manage health and wellness using digital devices and methods. Digital health content is augmented by different service provider teams that leverage digital tools, technologies and services

Health technology is a very broad sector that has traditionally produced solutions for measurement, imaging, treatment and rehabilitation. Today, the sector increasingly uses artificial intelligence and robotics as well as the industrial internet.

Health technology creates new opportunities, strengthening citizens' independent lives and self-determination while simultaneously providing professionals with new technology solutions to improve the efficiency and quality of health care.

Good growth prospects

Health technology is one of the fastest growing high-tech sectors in Finland, and an ageing population makes it even more significant. The value of product exports reached a record level of EUR 2.4 billion in 2019. Total health technology exports increased by 3.6% to EUR 2.52 billion in 2021. Coronavirus represented a real challenge in terms of exporting medical devices, which decreased by 0.6% to EUR 1.52 billion. On the other hand, laboratory diagnostics (In vitro diagnostics) continued to grow. Exports increased by 10.5% to EUR 0.92 billion, including equipment and reagents. Health technology continues to be one of the fastest growing high-tech export sectors in Finland.

Product development in health technology is very strictly regulated, and most products are within

The venous scanner helps hospital staff to find patients’ available veins using infrared light.

the scope of medical device regulations. In other words, products used in health care are classified as medical devices and they can be devices, equipment, software, various materials or supplies.

A medical device is always intended for one of the following purposes: 1) diagnosis, prevention, monitoring, treatment or alleviation of disease, 2) diagnosis, monitoring, treatment, alleviation of, or compensation for, an injury or disability, 3) investigation, replacement or modification of the anatomy or of a physiological process or state, or 4) control of conception.

In Finland, Finnish Medicines Agency Fimea oversees the manufacturing, marketing and use of medical devices. Medical devices are classified on the basis of the risk associated with their use. The higher the risk class of the device in question, the stricter the requirements for its manufacture. A health technology device must always be CE marked when placed on the market. By using CE marking, the manufacturer confirms that the device meets the essential requirements set for it.

Test bed environment

The Health Technology research group and Health Tech Lab at Turku UAS provide support for useroriented product development of medical devices and health care services development. The operations focus on health technology product development in a regulated operating environment, utilising artificial intelligence and data analytics in knowledge management, and developing digital products to support living at home and physical activity. Health Tech Lab offers companies and researchers a test bed environment for testing ideas, products and services. The environment utilises sensor technology, virtual reality, machine learning and robotics.

The Health Tech Lab is equipped with measurement devices, such as patient monitors and various biosensors. Data collected from laboratory sensors and software can be sent to the laboratory database for analysis and machine learning exercises. The data is used to create a better understanding of how physiological signals and psychological status are connected to health and medicine. The laboratory's information systems make it possible to simultaneously collect multiple data streams on a single platform and provide researchers with an easy-to-use way of implementing new research methods.

The electrical activity of the brain can be measured as part of functional performance measurements.

The testing services produced by Health Tech Lab include functional usability testing of products, which can be performed in the laboratory environment and also in actual operating conditions. The testing services are not limited to researching health technology solutions, and the usability tests produced by the lab are also suitable for consumer research, studying experienced situations, or as part of service design.

A usability study performed by the laboratory can identify unfiltered and subconscious human reactions, thus reducing the impact of conscious decisions on the research results. Monitoring facial expressions, pulse, pupils, brain and muscle activity, and skin conductance makes it possible to measure a person's initial reaction to something even before that person becomes aware of it. For example, the data that is collected can be used to identify happiness, pain or anxiety in different situations.

Learning environment

In addition to testing environments, product development in health technology requires good training – something that is very much accessible in this region. At Turku UAS, health technology is part of engineering education in the area of information and communications technology. People who have been working for a longer period can earn a master's degree in health technology in a normal degree programme or in a health technology research group. Health Tech Lab serves as a learning environment for this training, a laboratory for the health technology research group, and an expert partner and testing environment for product development conducted by companies and researchers.

The Health Tech Lab is equipped with measurement devices, such as patient monitors and various biosensors.