In areas of the world that can't afford new technologies, there is progress in making them available, he says. Yock gives an example of how this is being done. Money is being invested in appropriate technologies as cardio vascular disease is spreading to other developed nations.
Yock emphasizes how dynamic the stent market is because the numbers are just so big.
Yock suggests that entrepreneurs pick a big idea. He gives an example of the smart needle. Pay attention to market assessment; time is a valuable resource, he adds.
Yock explains why MedTech is dominated by the importance of patents. People who don't patent their early ideas lose out.
Yock mentions a problem - there is a tremendous diseconomy because loss per stent has gone up. There will be serious economic trouble with this new technology, he says.
Yock talks about how over the years the technology improved and the problem of re-narrowing of blood vessels could be addressed. He shares the reasons of this re-narrowing - the blood vessels shrink. He further discusses the solution that he and other doctors have employed.
John Simpson, a Stanford trainee in cardiology, thought the catheter system didn't work so he worked in his kitchen in Menlo Park to develop a catheter that is easier to use. He used a guidewire to travel down into the coronary artery . With money from Fogarty and Ray Williams, an angel investor, he started a company called ACS, which grew into Guidant.
Yock talks about his company and his experience with the FDA and a Norwegian government official who approved their technology very quickly.
Yock continues the story about a non-invasive cardiac technique and how it quickly had a Stanford connection. Thomas Fogarty, a surgeon at Stanford, worked with Charles Dotter and soon developed another technology - the Balloon Angioplasty Catheter.
Yock talks about the interface between the universities and the industry. He talks about the rich MedTech environment at Stanford and other universities.
