France's Technologies for Health Program.

The article describes initiatives to promote collaborative research between academics, clinicians and industrials in key areas of medical technology. Research and development spending in the medical technology industry is generally acknowledged to be between five and ten percent of sales. The European Commission and industry invest heavily in regular user training in medical technology. The five priority areas of medical informatics and telemedicine, medical imaging, biomedical instrumentation, biomaterials and techniques for disabled people have been identified and examined.