Introduction. Impact, as an intrinsic attribute of emerging technologies, plays a crucial role in their identification and understanding. Traditional citation metrics, while reflective of impact magnitude, fail to explain its nature. Method. Addressing this deficiency, this study categorizes the impact of emerging technologies into internal and external field, as well as impacts on basic versus applied development. With a focus on digital medical technology, this research investigates these four distinct impact patterns and their determinants. Using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression anal...