A new centre for Health and Technology at Arizona, US, is bridging nurses and engineers to address the issue of outdated technology in medical devices.
The University of Arizona is launching a new research hub for advanced medical technology using semiconductor infrastructure, called the Centre for Health and Technology (CHaT). It will focus on developing smarter, smaller, and more efficient and advanced health devices.
At the heart of the centre is a rare partnership, where nursing and engineering professionals work side by side. This collaboration is set to address a long-standing issue: medical devices often use outdated technology, lagging years behind what’s standard in consumer electronics like smartphones.
By combining hands-on nursing experience with cutting-edge engineering, CHaT aims to design wearable and implantable tools that reflect real clinical needs. These devices are expected to support remote care, provide real-time data, and ease the pressure on health staff amid growing workforce shortages.
That workforce challenge is a pressing one. Arizona is projected to face a shortfall of thousands of nurses in the next few years. Technology that can monitor patients at home or offer AI-driven triage could help fill that gap, if the tools are reliable and scalable.
That’s where CHaT’s access to semiconductor infrastructure comes in. Partnering with local tech firms, the centre will use cleanrooms and fabrication processes similar to those used for chips in electric vehicles and smartphones, and cut down production time and cost.
But it’s not just hardware getting attention. Researchers are also focused on integrating artificial intelligence to interpret the vast amounts of data these devices generate. Smarter analysis could improve patient safety, identify early warning signs, and even offer care suggestions.
With Arizona’s growing semiconductor ecosystem, CHaT is positioned to become a national model. By placing nurses at the centre of innovation, it’s aiming to ensure that tomorrow’s technology genuinely supports human care.
