FUNCTION: A COMMENTARY

Material science was a natural outgrowth of the race to the moon in the 1960s. Biomaterials was also a burgeoning field. In addition, World War II injuries gave scientists new information about a soldier's ability to tolerate foreign bodies (such as windshield particles or shrapnel).

In reliability engineering, Weibull analysis let us predict when a product would fail. W. Weibull explained the distribution in detail in the 1950s but it was first documented in the 1920s and 30s.

With the improved understanding of wear out and manufacturing processes, the concept of reliability could take on a new function for the company as a revenue driver. This is how the extended warranty became popular in the 1960s and 70s.

In healthcare, are single patient use devices really better for patients? or is the issue of sterilization a pretext for driving greater consumption and higher profits?

Same form, same fit, same clinical function: suppose no new training is required for the speculum but a new innovation in material reinvigorates the profitability of an old idea through single patient use. The material allows an old design (the old form, the old fit) to serve an additional new function, not for the patient or the doctor, but for the company.