Costa Rica has come a long way when it comes to the creation and development of medical devices. Going in a period of 15 years from designing devices class I (disposable devices such as catheters), to class III devices (those that are placed inside the human body).

Five of the ten main cardiovascular companies in the world and 6 out of 20 most reputable enterprises of medical devices in the world are located in Costa Rica.

Catheters that reach the heart and are able to run an ultrasound to reveal the size of possible artery blockages, mammary implants with an incorporated chip, devices to treat aneurysms and others to run mammary biopsies, all these are part of the medical devices that are designed and developed in Costa Rica.

The Vice-President of operations and general manager of Boston Scientific, Jorge Perera, explained that when the company first established in Costa Rica their objective was to establish and strengthen their manufacturing operations; however once that stage was achieved they focused their energy towards investigation and development, “from aspects related directly with the products being manufactured –since improvements are always being made to existing products-, to the invention of new products.

One of the most sophisticated devices is the intravascular visualization catheter, which is inserted through the femoral artery all the way to the heart; this catheter will generate an ultrasound image in the even that an artery is blocked. This provides doctors with vital information such as the size and thickness of the blockage, which allows them to provide a diagnosis and place a stent (a tube that is placed inside a blood vessel, canal, etc.

Another important area where Costa Rica is making progress has to do with the engineering of materials, an important area, since this represents half the cost of the devices that are created are a product of the material being used.

This sector of the industry is so huge that it includes the development of products for different industries such as the dental industry, the system of administration of pharmaceuticals, female health care, aesthetics and optical industry , among others.

This success has caused that many other companies related to this area announce their arrival in the county for 2017; among them Edwards, a company from California, U.S. dedicated to creating innovative devices for structural heart conditions.