Around the world, respiratory diseases—ranging from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia to the long-term effects of COVID-19—remain among the leading causes of death. The growing prevalence of respiratory issues, coupled with advancements in treatment options, has led to a surge in demand for effective respiratory care solutions.
Addressing this global burden requires prioritising solutions that not only leverage cutting-edge technology but also directly respond to the practical challenges faced by clinicians, patients, and healthcare systems. These challenges—spanning resource constraints, care complexity, and the need for adaptability—present opportunities to transform barriers into breakthroughs, fostering innovation, enhancing impact, and setting new standards in respiratory care.
From IDE Group’s experience, innovations like AI-enabled ventilators and IoT-driven monitoring systems are enhancing patient outcomes and improving operational efficiency, showcasing how technology can address these critical challenges.
In this article, we examine how user challenges are reshaping the respiratory care industry, driving a shift toward practical, need-driven innovation. By aligning technological advancements with the realities of healthcare delivery, leaders can create lasting value for both patients and providers:
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical shortages in respiratory equipment, with many healthcare facilities still grappling with limited access to essential devices. Portable ventilators and wearable technologies have emerged as key solutions, allowing patients to move beyond hospital settings, allowing home treatment, and enabling healthcare systems to optimize the use of their resources.
Going forward, as healthcare increasingly shifts to home-based care, medical products are becoming more patient-centric. Much like health trackers that monitor steps, future respiratory devices could allow patients to easily track their respiratory health.
This evolution places a greater emphasis on user experience and interface design, ensuring that devices are accessible to a broad range of patients, regardless of their technical expertise or education. For that reason, at IDE, we embrace a human-centered design approach to respiratory devices, challenging assumptions and incorporating diverse perspectives to develop solutions that meet both the needs of healthcare providers and their patients.
Respiratory care requires specialised knowledge. Keeping staff up to date with the latest techniques and technologies is challenging, especially in smaller facilities. New technologies make way for innovative, interactive patient education platforms that go beyond simple information delivery.
Here, Virtual Reality (VR) will open new avenues for immersive, hands-on training in respiratory care, allowing professionals to refine their skills without risk to patients. Some training programs now incorporate VR or augmented reality (AR) to demonstrate correct inhaler techniques and illustrate the impact of treatments on lung function, providing respiratory care teams with valuable, interactive learning experiences.
The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of telemedicine platforms. Remote monitoring systems for respiratory conditions, for example, are projected to grow at a CAGR of 18.6% to 27.55% from 2024 to 2032. Integrating telehealth features into respiratory devices—such as built-in video conferencing capabilities in home ventilators— is becoming standard, with the potential to significantly enhance patient compliance.
IDE Group has invested and prioritized user-centred design capabilities and processes, crafting intuitive and user-friendly interfaces to meet the needs of both patients and healthcare providers.
In this context, digital technologies like virtual reality (VR) and gamified apps can play an essential role in tracking medication adherence and symptoms, showing promising results in enhancing patient engagement and adherence to treatment.
Another approach to improve compliance involves increasing the comfort of respiratory products, making patients more likely to use them consistently. Drawing from years of experience designing facial interfaces, IDE understands that creating respiratory products is uniquely complex, as each patient has different facial features and skin sensitivity varies. IDE engineers have tackled extensive 3D modelling and material selection challenges to develop CPAP masks that ensure an airtight seal without compromising comfort. Building on this experience, IDE has partnered to develop 3D-printed custom-fit respiratory devices which could revolutionise patient comfort and treatment effectiveness.
High-quality respiratory care equipment and treatments often come with significant costs, creating a constant tension for healthcare providers striving to balance budget constraints with high standards of care.
Innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) are offering a promising path forward, with AI algorithms now capable of interpreting chest X-rays and CT scans at a level of accuracy comparable to radiologists. AI is also being leveraged to analyse breath sounds, like crackles and wheezes, potentially allowing for early detection of conditions like COVID-19, asthma or other exacerbations.
With AI-based machines supporting disease diagnosis, healthcare providers can achieve quicker diagnosis, saving both time and resources. IDE has thus invested in advanced AI capabilities, applying them in projects like an AI-guided maternal & foetal diagnostics device and a breath detection device used in veterinary applications to determine livestock pregnancy status. These innovations highlight how AI can extend beyond conventional healthcare, enhancing diagnostic efficiency across diverse settings.
For smaller facilities, where cost barriers are often highest, suppliers are introducing alternative models to help democratize access to advanced respiratory technology. Equipment leasing programs and ‘pay-per-use’ models allow facilities to access high-end technology, such as high-flow oxygen therapy devices and specialized ventilators, without significant upfront capital investment.
Respiratory infections pose significant risks in healthcare settings, where their rapid spread can jeopardize patient safety and strain resources. This underscores the necessity of balancing rigorous infection control protocols with the seamless delivery of high-quality patient care—an ongoing challenge for healthcare providers, requiring innovative solutions for infection control practices.
For example, UV-C light disinfection systems integrated into ventilator circuits and copper-infused plastics in device components leverage antimicrobial properties to reduce contamination risks. Additionally, closed-system suctioning in advanced ventilators minimizes pathogen exposure during routine care.
These innovations are improving the safety and quality of respiratory care, making it more accessible and efficient across diverse healthcare environments.
How Technology Partnerships Drive Impact to Turn Innovation into Reality
The rising complexity and cost of healthcare delivery mean that respiratory care players need to prioritise risk mitigation and value creation, ensuring impactful solutions with the right combination of clinical effectiveness and commercial viability. IDE Group addresses this need through our proven Product Development methodology: Discover-Develop-Deliver.
This structured approach identifies and mitigates key risks while delivering innovations that create tangible value for patients, clinicians, and health systems. By evaluating commercial, technical, and project risks at every stage of development, continuously refining strategies, and embracing creativity and critical thinking into the whole process, allowing for agile pivots, IDE ensures a clear pathway to commercially viable and impactful outcomes.
Delivering impactful innovation requires solutions with tangible benefits for patients, clinicians, and healthcare systems, alongside actionable strategies for implementation. These benefits include improving survival rates, enhancing quality of life, reducing clinical workloads, and addressing escalating healthcare costs.
Creating a realistic plan involves building a strategy that evaluates Desirability, Feasibility, and Viability to identify and address commercial, technical, and project risks both at the project’s outset and throughout its development. This approach enables the creation of a clear, adaptive roadmap that guides progress in the right direction while allowing flexibility to pivot as needed, maximizing the potential for a commercially successful outcome – achieving a unique and valuable solution.
In our experience, collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem—patients, clinicians, hospitals, universities, startups, and multinationals—is crucial to designing devices that address real-world needs. For instance, IDE’s work on nasal masks for adults and 3D-printed facial seals exemplifies how integrating deeply with client teams can yield transformative outcomes.
“Our work on a nasal mask for adults and 3D printed facial seals were stand outs. These projects involved deep integration with client teams, shared activities, and leveraging advanced technologies to reduce costs and improve outcomes. These collaborations further demonstrate our commitment to innovation and client partnership.”
– Eric Siu, Industrial Design Technical Lead, IDE Group
Agile development in MedTech requires a nuanced approach that balances speed, quality, and regulatory compliance while navigating its inherent complexities. At IDE Group, we’ve spent over 20 years refining our Discover-Develop-Deliver process.
This process is not just about technical execution—it’s about collaboration. By bringing together expertise across technology, clinical practice, and regulation, we help our clients navigate the uncertainties of MedTech development.
It’s through this deep, ongoing partnership that we ensure the solutions we create always maintain a clear focus on the ultimate outcome: a practical and innovative product that achieves meaningful clinical impact—whether it’s in respiratory care devices, connected wearables, or Class III implantables.
Healthcare leaders are at a pivotal moment, facing the opportunity to reshape innovation in respiratory care. But as the industry evolves, entrepreneurs, researchers, and leaders in both startups and multinational organisations must drive more efficient, cost-effective, and adaptable solutions to enhance competitiveness.
In this context, a collaborative approach is essential – ensuring that innovation not only takes place but is translated into sustainable value for patients, clinicians, and health systems alike.