Priyanka Poddar
Research Mentor: Josh Herzog
Mentor Department: Mechanical Engineering, Engineering
Author(s): Priyanka Poddar, Joshua Herzog
Session: Session 5 (2:00 PM – 2:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 64
Abstract
More than half of the world’s population, approximately 4.5–4.6 billion people, still lack access to essential health services despite substantial global resources devoted to health systems and innovation. This gap is not due solely to limited resources but is reinforced by conflicts of interest and power imbalances embedded in medical diagnostic device development in which investors, clinicians, and regulators have different interests resulting in devices that prioritize profit over access. We develop here a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model of the medical device development and regulatory approval process that accounts for multiple stakeholders with competing interests and power imbalances. The model weighs patient-centered access criteria alongside clinical performance, cost, and regulatory requirements in early-stage diagnostic device design. This model directly captures the relative power and agenda-setting capacity of different stakeholder groups shift across the different stages of development. In particular, we show the relative lack of influence patients have over medical developments. By making these trade-offs and imbalances transparent, designers can better prioritize patient and clinician needs as a pathway towards more equitable diagnostic design.
