Why Systems Medicine and Medical System?

Systems Medicine may be considered as a development of Systems Biology into the field of medical applications. Similar to Systems Biology, Systems Medicine deals with the application of concepts coming from (complex) systems sciences. Especially the focus on the dynamic interaction in a system (cell, organ, patient, population, hospital, health care systems, society etc.) may help to get a deeper insight of the development or spread of diseases, or to gain a better understanding therapy outcomes: Clinical trials produce knowledge (e.g. therapy A is better than therapy B); the systems medicine approach may generate an understanding beyond this knowledge. Since – more and more – medical devices become complex (technical) systems, biomedical engineering should incorporate this system approach to optimise devices and treatments regarding the dynamic interaction of the patient.