Purpose
Properly functioning health systems globally require medical devices and equipment for vital care. Despite promising innovations, many medical devices face adoption barriers such as regulatory issues, interoperability and data exchange challenges. In low-resource settings, contextual factors influencing adoption and diffusion have not been synthesized into an overview to guide future medical device and equipment suppliers. Our study provides a scientific inventory of frameworks, theories, models, and guidelines describing the adoption and diffusion of medical devices and equipment in low-resource settings.

Methods
We searched both the PubMed and Scopus databases to identify studies within the health and broader non-health domains. Our search yielded 2.124 results after de-duplication. Extended attributes on the type of the paper, adoption and diffusion focus, medical devices and equipment use cases, and country settings revealed patterns of underpinning and emerging frameworks for adoption and diffusion.

Results
We included 28 studies in our review. The most researched device types were telemedicine, telehealth, m-health, and e-health. Among a larger variety, the most utilized underpinning frameworks were the Diffusion of Innovation Framework, and the Technology Acceptance Model. These frameworks led to the development of emerging models, such as a modified version based on Kifle’s Adoption Model or the Intervention-Context-Actors-Mechanism-Outcome Model.

Conclusions
Our findings offer initial insights for further research in identifying mechanisms for improving access to and utilization of medical devices and equipment in low-resource settings. Researchers can use this comprehensive review to guide continued research, addressing gaps in theoretical understanding and empirical evidence on medical device adoption and diffusion in low-resource settings.