The Library
Sustainability across the medical device lifecycle : a scoping review
Tools
Montesinos, Luis, Checa Rifá, Pedro, Rifá Fabregat, Mireya, Maldonado-Romo, Javier, Capacci, Stefano, Maccaro, Alessia and Piaggio, Davide (2024) Sustainability across the medical device lifecycle : a scoping review. Sustainability, 16 (4). 1433. doi:10.3390/su16041433 ISSN 2071-1050.
|
PDF
WRAP-sustainability-across-Medical-Device-Lifecycle-scoping-review-2024.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (2096Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su16041433
Abstract
Medical devices are instrumental in servicing the healthcare sector and promoting well-being in modern societies. However, their production and use contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, thus causing indirect harm to global health. With a share of approximately 4.4% of global emissions, the healthcare sector exhales CO2 throughout its value chain; sources of this range from direct electricity consumption and water heating in healthcare facilities to the supply chains delivering healthcare services and products. Within this context, the environmental impact of medical devices is present across their production, distribution, usage, and eventual disposal. Each step in the lifecycle of medical devices consumes energy and natural resources, and the end product, after its often single use, is discarded, generating plastic or electronic waste. This study aims to present the key findings from a scoping review of academic research on the topic, which focuses on reducing the environmental impact of medical devices and equipment. The review, conducted according to the PRISMA checklist for scoping reviews, examined 41 studies and categorised them based on the lifecycle stages of medical devices (design and development, manufacturing, usage, and end of life) and the sustainability aspects (economic, environmental, and social) discussed by the authors. The findings suggest that while efforts have been made to enhance economic and environmental sustainability throughout the design, development, and usage of medical devices, there is still room for improvement in mitigating their ecological impact at the end of their lifecycle and maximising their social impact by design.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering |
||||||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Engineering > Engineering | ||||||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Medical instruments and apparatus, Biomedical engineering, Medical care -- Environmental aspects | ||||||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Sustainability | ||||||||||||
Publisher: | MDPI | ||||||||||||
ISSN: | 2071-1050 | ||||||||||||
Official Date: | 8 February 2024 | ||||||||||||
Dates: |
|
||||||||||||
Volume: | 16 | ||||||||||||
Number: | 4 | ||||||||||||
Article Number: | 1433 | ||||||||||||
DOI: | 10.3390/su16041433 | ||||||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 29 April 2024 | ||||||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 29 April 2024 | ||||||||||||
Funder: | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Health GRP and Innovative Manufacturing and Future Materials GRP, University of Warwick | ||||||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
|
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year