Scanning the Future of Medical Imaging

The medical device industry is undergoing rapid change as innovation accelerates, new business models emerge, and artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things create disruptive possibilities in health care. On the innovation front, global annual patent applications related to medical devices have tripled in 10 years, and technology cycle times have halved in just 5 years. Connectivity has exploded-by 2021, the world will have more than three times as many smart connected devices as people-and more and more medical devices and processes contain integrated sensors. In this article, we report on recent McKinsey (McKinsey & Company, New York, New York) work to map start-ups and trends shaping the future of medical imaging. We identify technology clusters with prospects of future growth, look at some of their cutting-edge practices, and consider what the implications may be for our specialty.