Open-source medical design: can it improve patient safety?

Medical device design is heavily regulated for obvious safety reasons. But a number of researchers–including those with support from the Food and Drug Administration–are developing “open-source” healthcare equipment. The idea is to offer completely transparent, shared software code and mix-and-match interface and hardware designs. While this might seem risky, the goal is to spark faster and more effective innovation in the medical device field, while making it easier to spot potential programming bugs and other device failures.

As The Economist points out in an insightful overview of this burgeoning field (”When code can kill or cure,” in the June 2 issue), software-reliant devices have also brought on new types of potential risks for patients...Below is a summary of the projects in The Economist’s report worth noting. The overview offers a helpful round-up that clearly illustrates a trend–and a thought-provoking one at that...