It is pretty exciting to see all the innovations coming through in health care, whether it is more targeted therapy or utilizing technology that simplifies workflow. Still, many of the devices used everyday come from inventive minds that have never had to use them. As a result, when these land at the feet of the end user, it just may be that certain improvements can make the product even more dynamic.

In my April “Up Front” column, I shared a statistic from Thomson Reuters Intellectual Property Solutions’ “2011 State of Innovation” report. According to the report, 58,592 medical device patents were filed worldwide in 2011 in categories that included diagnosis and surgery and medical aids. The medical devices industry’s greatest single source of new patent activity, according to the report, was from the category of diagnosis and surgery, with 22,864 global patents in 2011.

What probably were not covered in that report were three imaginative clinical/biomedical engineering departments that used their expertise to create better products. Check out 24×7’s November 2010 and February 2011 cover profiles and our March 2012 “Soapbox” to read how they came up with solutions to improve workflow and safety.

How about you or your department? Share your improvements or ideas by blogging with us here.