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Market Intel: Bioelectronics, Imaging Fortify Medtech's Defense Against Rheumatoid Arthritis

 
• By Jenny Blair

As rheumatoid arthritis treatment improves in the biologics era, patients need fewer joint replacements. Instead, they now require more closely monitored, agile care, in the face of a growing shortage of qualified rheumatologists. These demands help propel digital health applications, bioelectronic devices and novel imaging modalities into the medtech spotlight.

film x-ray both human's hands and arthritis at multiple joint (Gout,Rheumatoid)
X-ray highlighting inflamed joints

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a painful autoimmune inflammatory condition affecting joints and other body systems, afflicts some 1.5 million people in the US alone. In recent decades, with the advent of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), the disease has become more amenable to treatment, with fewer flare-ups, less joint destruction and lower mortality.

Yet managing RA remains challenging and patients need close monitoring, including frequent appointments and imaging studies. There are also issues with DMARDs that need to be addressed: they come with side effects, some of these drugs are expensive and not every drug works for every patient. At the same time, a growing shortage of rheumatology specialists makes focused care difficult

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• By Natasha Barrow

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