Rechargeable Micra
Student: Becky Temple, 2019-2020
Sponsor: Medtronic, Dublin, Ireland
Medtronic recently disrupted the pacemaker market when they released a miniaturized lead-less pacemaker. Compared to traditional pacemakers, the Micra offers unique benefits in a minimally invasive implant procedure, no pacemaker pocket, and a discrete design. While these are great improvements, the Micra’s biggest challenge is the longevity of the battery, excluding many patients from the therapy. Medtronic discovered a solution to this problem by making the Micra rechargeable, allowing the patient to use the same device for the longevity of their life, and have the additional benefit of running diagnostics from the device due to increased capacity. While the technology is feasible, Medtronic’s challenge is in determining a viable business model and go to market strategy for this new form of patient care. The goal of this project is to assess the creative business models that can be implemented to commercialize this technology to ultimately improve patient outcomes.