Scientists develop "open source" model medical instrument design platform

With the advancement of science and technology, medical devices have also developed more sophisticated and high-end technologies, especially smart medical devices that help people save lives. But everything has a two-sided nature. The more sophisticated and high-end medical equipment, it can create miracles and save lives, and then it can be life-threatening if it goes wrong.

This is not a matter of anxiety. In fact, the vast majority of state-of-the-art medical devices, such as smart infusion pumps, automatic defibrillators, pacemakers, life monitors, and magnetic resonance imaging scanners, rely on computer software. Millions of source code. Once the software is wrong, it will cause fatal injuries to the patient. In addition, if the software is not careful when testing the software, it will also cause the "congenital deficiency" of the medical instrument software. However, because the source code of the medical instrument software is closed, the manufacturer holds the patent right, which makes it difficult to find actual loopholes before medical accidents.

To this end, scientists hope to be able to build a more secure medical instrument design platform and develop an "open source" model medical instrument design platform. In this way, the concept of open source technology can be used, viewed, modified, etc. If there are loopholes in the program, it can be improved in time to ensure that medical equipment is more secure.

At present, an attempt based on the open source model has begun, and the "GM Infusion Pump" project jointly developed by the FDA and the University of Pennsylvania is one of them. Other scientists also want to design more innovative instruments, and the open source model of the instrument is more innovative and sustainable.