Exploring the future of medical devices at Med-Tech Insights Expo 2026

After the Single Use researchers Alice Street and Millie Marriott Webb participated in Med-Tech Insights Expo 2026, engaging with professionals across healthcare, medical device manufacturing, design, regulation, and sustainability.

Their presence at the event combined an Innovation Stage presentation with an interactive display of the Deconstructing Devices project. Millie Marriott Webb presented ‘What Comes After the Single Use for MedTech’, sharing research into the material composition, regulation, and environmental impacts of single-use medical devices. Alongside this, Street and Marriott Webb used Deconstructing Devices to open up common medical technologies, making visible the complex plastics, polymers, packaging, and assemblies contained within everyday healthcare products.

The stall became a focal point for conversations about sustainability in medical technology, generating over 100 engagements with people working across the medical device lifecycle. Discussions ranged from product design and polymer production to regulation, clinical use, sustainability strategy, and manufacturing leadership.

Many visitors asked the team for advice on how to embed sustainability into their own products and reduce the harms associated with single-use systems. These conversations highlighted a clear appetite within the sector for research that can support better understanding of material choices, product lifecycles, carbon impacts, and the challenges of reuse and material recovery in medical contexts.

The event also generated 13 potential collaboration opportunities. Several manufacturers expressed interest in contributing to sustainability case studies, while nine stakeholders expressed interest in participating in ongoing research through interviews and further engagement. The team were also invited to deliver a guest lecture at Newcastle University, creating an opportunity to share research on material lifecycles with future engineers.

For After the Single Use, Med-Tech Insights Expo offered a valuable opportunity to bring research on single-use medical plastics into direct conversation with the people involved in designing, producing, regulating, and using medical devices. It also demonstrated the role that research and public engagement can play in making the hidden material systems of healthcare more visible.