Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this survey was to investigate utilization, intended use, problems with and demand for medical devices by surveying members of the traditional Korean medical society. Methods: We distributed questionnaires to 13,957 traditional Korean medical doctors via e-mail, and received replies from 1,225. The questionnaire consisted of 4 multiple-choice questions for survey respondent information, 8 multiple-choice questions about the status of medical devices utilizing, and a short answer question about the demand for medical devices. Results: Use of medical devices in traditional Korean medical clinics is common. Diagnostic medical devices are mainly used to assess the patient's condition and to establish a close rapport with clients. In case of therapeutic medical devices, they are usually used for secondary treatment. Issues with traditional Korean medical devices currently in use were ineligibility for national health insurance, low reliability, uncertain validity, and high price. In development of traditional Korean medical equipment, the need for diagnostic medical devices was greater than for therapeutic, and the need for the recording and analysis of medical image data and visualization of medical information was great. Conclusions: There is growing demand for facilitating the development and commercialization of traditional Korean medical devices. To satisfy this demand, research on evaluation indicators that reflect functional and structural clinical information and how to clinically assess the indicators should proceed.