Supporting medical technology development with the analytic hierarchy process

Abstract

This thesis aims to develop an adequate method of CTA to influence decision making about the development and clinical application of a medical technology. The adequacy of this method is related to the timing of its application, the information used in the assessment, the consensus formation about, and the quality of the assessment outcomes. This method of CTA should be applied before the clinical introduction of the medical technology. The timing of application during the development stage of the technology needs to attune to the dynamics of technological change. Furthermore, this method is to evaluate the quality of a technology based on a comprehensive set of criteria. This evaluation needs to reflect the perspectives about the quality of the technology of the various actors that shape technological development and clinical application. These actors need to be satisfied with the degree of consensus they attain about the outcomes, and the quality of the outcomes. In addition, the outcomes need to be of sufficient quality for these actors to derive practical guidelines that effectively enhance the technology's later quality in clinical practice.