Innovation – factors in Medicine and Engineering

I was reading an article in Co-design – “How one surgeon is reinventing the female breast”. The article talks about how a doctor in Sugarland, TX is re-inventing breast surgery and weight-loss therapy using ideas from engineering.

Gary Horndeski, went to medical school in order to avoid military service according to the article, but continues to draw upon his prior background in Engineering in his surgical practice.

The article illustrates one of the key concepts of innovation – that diversity is a great source for ideas and should be deliberately practiced.

Gary also talks about how the regulatory or governing environment within the field of practice, affects innovation:

Medical procedures in America change slowly because of the fear of malpractice lawsuits. “The medical establishment here wants small, not radical changes,” Horndeski says. “But in engineering, you design what you want to build to work, without the same fear of being sued. That’s why there’s more innovation in medicine happening overseas, where it’s less litigious.”

There are reasons why the regulatory environment in medicine is the way it is, but it is also interesting to note how, the lack of such inhibitors in other countries might enable them to leap forward in terms of innovation. Clearly there are implications for ethics here. Would we consider using innovations from sources where they might have used questionable practices?

One last observation has to do with the fact that it took ten years of experimentation and slow improvements in techniques for him to bring his approach to a reasonable level of satisfaction. Would this development have accelerated if it had been practiced by a group of doctors or several doctors in different places? Should engineering education be included in surgical training? Should engineers be a part of surgical staffs in hospitals?