 Top 10 patent applications by technical field. Number of patent
applications registered with the European Patent Office in 2013
(1). Biomedical engineering is one of the fastest growing areas and the rates of
employment are growing year by year, particularly in the area of innovation.
For your information, in 2013, more than 10,000 patent applications were
registered at the European Patent Office in the field of medical technology,
more than in any other technical field. 41% of these patent applications
were deposed by European countries, while 38% by the United States. In the
biomedical engineering field the Innovation is so important that, on
average, a medical technology will be replaced by an updated version within
18-24 months since its introduction (2). The biomedical engineer can find
his place as the expert, project manager or project leader in the R&D
departments, consultancy firms and academic research groups to design,
develop and optimize medical devices for clinical or research use. There are almost 25,000 companies in the field of medical technology in
Europe employing more than 575,000 people, compared to the 520,000 people
employed in this sector in the United States. The pharmaceutical industry
employs 675,000 people in Europe (3). The demand for workers with a high
level of training is therefore important in the field of medical technology
in general and especially in our country. The training of a biomedical
engineer was developed following such requests. The biomedical engineer can apply in big companies renowned for a long time
for their development and design of medical equipment and also - and
especially - in the many SMEs (Small-Medium-sized Enterprises). Indeed, the
European medical technology industry is made up of 95% of SMEs (4). These
companies are driven by the considerable size of the medical technology
market. In Europe, it is estimated at around 100 billion euros (5). Europe
also has a positive trade balance of 15.2 billion euros (2013). The
destinations and the distribution of the import/export, according to the
different countries are specified below, and Belgium has the highest
rates.  Main export destinations of European medical technology
(2012) (6). |  Import and Export of Medical Technology for country
(2013) (6). |
Our country offers a wide range of employment opportunities for biomedical
engineers. To give an idea, in Belgium the medical device industry employs
about 18 000 people, the turnover of the medical devices sector on the
national market amounts to 3.4 billion euros, the medical devices sector is
growing at a rate of 4% per year (2010) and our country has more than 380
companies specialized in medical devices, 70% of SMEs (7). The interdisciplinary training of this field offers its graduates the spoilt
for choice with regard to its career, including, for those who wish, in
other fields than biomedical engineering. Indeed, depending on the
orientation chosen by the student during his course (which will provide him
an advanced technical level), the biomedical engineer will be able to apply
to other "More traditional” fields such as mechanics, electronics and
computer science. Finally, thanks to the odness of its training anchored in
the medical reality, the biomedical engineer can also claim to occupy
important functions in hospital services and in the management of hospital
structures. As an example of companies working in the field of medical technology in
Belgium, here is the list of members of the Belgian Federation of the
Medical Technology Industry, unamec.
(1) European Patent Office, Eucomed calculations. Medical technology as
defined by World Intellectual Property Organization (based on the WIPO
IPC-Technology) & Eucomed - medical technology industry in Europe
(2014). (2) Eucomed - medical technology industry in Europe (2014). (3) S. Tripp, M. Grueber, R. Helwig - The Economic Impact of the U.S.
Advanced Medical Technology Industry, Battelle Technology Partnership
Practice, March 2012. & EFPIA & The Pharmaceutical Industry in
Figures. Key Data 2013. Europe refers to EU + Norway, Switzerland. (4) Eucomed - medical technology industry in Europe (2014). (5) WHO Global Health Expenditure Database, Eurostat, Eucomed
calculations based on the data obtained from National Associations of 15
countries. (6) Espicom, Eucomed calculations and figures. Manufacturer prices.
Medical technology excluding in vitro diagnostics. (7) UNAMECs’ annual report, National Bank of Belgium, HUB-VLEKHO &
Le consortium de l’innovation MedTech.be, UNAMEC (2013).
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