Frugal Innovation Framework for Sustainable Performance of Medical Device Micro-Entrepreneurs in India: A Design Thinking Approach

Abstract

The medical device sector in India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing components of the healthcare economy, yet micro-entrepreneurs in this field continue to face severe challenges, including high research and development costs, limited regulatory literacy, and restricted access to capital. Frugal Innovation (FI) offers a viable pathway for these entrepreneurs to develop affordable, sustainable, and contextually relevant medical technologies. However, there remains a lack of actionable frameworks tailored to the needs of India’s micro-scale medicaldevicemanufacturers.
This study develops a Frugal Innovation Framework grounded in Design Thinking (DT) and implemented through the Action Design Research (ADR) method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 micro-entrepreneurs across five Indian states and a collaborative DT workshop with 35 participants, including entrepreneurs, clinicians, and regulators. Findings reveal 20 active enablers of frugal innovation in healthcare, spanning mindset, financial resource optimization, ecosystem collaboration, and regulatory navigation. The proposed nine-element Frugal Innovation Model (FIM) offers a practical roadmap for micro-entrepreneurs to implement innovation within constraints, thereby enhancing sustainability and social impact.
This study contributes to the open innovation literature by demonstrating how user-centered, frugal approaches can enhance India’s healthcare ecosystem, thereby bridging the gaps between affordability, quality, and accessibility. The framework also offers policy implications for supporting the development of micro-scale medical device innovators within emerging economies.