Special Journal Issue to Highlight Healthcare Technologies for Disadvantaged People and Populations

The ASME Journal of Medical Devices is currently accepting manuscripts for a special issue focusing on healthcare technologies for socioeconomically disadvantaged people and populations. The deadline for authors to submit a paper for the issue, which will be published in March 2020, is Aug. 15, 2019.

Although many agencies and foundations are trying to address problems related to poor quality health services in underserved communities, there is an abundance of anecdotal evidence of well-intentioned, but failed attempts to do so. For example, in the aftermath of a major earthquake in one developing country, a new ultrasound device was delivered to the earthquake site but there was no one who could operate it. In another developing community, electrical devices for diagnostics were delivered to a rural clinic that had no electricity to power them. Sporadic attempts have been made by scientists around the world to develop new medical technologies for the socioeconomically disadvantaged people and populations throughout the world, but clearly more work needs to be done.

The special issue of the ASME Journal of Medical Devices is intended to bring together in one volume a broad range of novel medical device technologies that recognize the specific needs of the medically underserved populations of the world. Topics to be addressed in the special issue, which will also feature relevant public policy analysis, will include medical imaging; medical diagnostics; medical device public policy analysis; cellular phone and wireless-based medical technology; large data medical repository and analysis; surgical instrumentation; MEMS and nano-medical device technology; orthopedics; and pharmaceuticals and drug delivery. The editor for the special issue is Boris Rubinsky, Ph.D., professor of mechanical engineering, University of California, Berkeley (USA); brubinsky@gmail.com or rubinsky@berkeley.edu; www.me.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/boris-rubinsky.

Papers should be submitted to the ASME Journal of Medical Devices by Aug. 15, 2019, through ASME Journals Connect. Authors who already have an account should log in as an author and select “Submit Paper” at the bottom of the page. Authors who don’t have an account should select “Submit Paper” and follow the step-by-step instructions. Authors should then choose Journal of Medical Devices when they reach the “Paper Submittal” page and select “Healthcare Technologies for Socioeconomically Disadvantaged People and Populations” from the dropdown menu. Papers received after the deadline or those not selected for inclusion in the special issue may be accepted for publication in a regular issue.

For more information on the ASME Journal of Medical Devices, visit https://journaltool.asme.org/home/JournalDescriptions.cfm?JournalID=22&Journal=MED. To learn more about the ASME Journal Program, visit www.asme.org/shop/journals/journals.