lt is imperative to understand the process of technological innovation in the health sector if we intend to act upon, and socially influence the development of new products in more desirable directions. Despite the growing interest in innovation theories, knowledge of the factors that interact within the technical progress in the medical area is still scarce. This article proposes the concepts of technological paradigm, technological trajectories and dominant design as a possible theoretical-methodological outline for examining the process of medical technology development. This choice is based on the vision of multi-determination of the technical progress, recognizing the interactions of several fields of interest, such as market, scientific progress and public policies.
Medical technology; technical progress; technological innovation; technological paradigm; technological trajectory; multi-determination