Shining a light on healthcare trends and innovations

This week, the Medica and Compamed 2024 tradefairs are once more welcoming visiting professionals from all fields of the international healthcare industry. The events "offer an enormous variety of innovations and exciting programme formats with a host of highlights, innovations and top-class speakers,” says Christian Grosser, Director Health & Medical Technologies at the organizers from Messe Düsseldorf. From November 11 to 14, 5,800 exhibitors from 72 countries are expected to fill the entire hall space on the trade fair grounds, their innovations highlighting both events as globally unique information and business platforms serving the entire medical equipment supply chain – including manufacture and development. 

An important new development this year is the themed hall selections in the Medica Med Tech & Devices and Digital Health areas, known as “spheres”, with the accompanying German Hospital Conference held at a new location. Before, the flagship event for top managers of German hospitals was held at the Congress Center Düsseldorf; now it has been moved to the centre of the trade fair in Hall 12. To get proceedings started, the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Health Karl-Josef Laumann spoke to the delegates, focussing in particular on the changes in the German hospital landscape stemming from upcoming hospital reform. All around the event space, exhibiting organisations that fit the theme are grouped together, showcasing innovative developments for hospital equipment and operating theatres. 

The world of experience Digital Health in Hall 13 also has some political relevance, for instance the Medica Econ Forum (health policy and economics in the context of digital transformation in healthcare. In addition, all the latest IT trends and digital innovations are sure to be hot topics for discussion. This is reflected in the programme of events at the Medica Health IT Forum, the Medica Innovation Forum (with the popular start-up pitches on Monday and Tuesday afternoons) as well as the Hospital of the Future special presentation (innovations around digital infrastructure in hospitals and data use as demonstrated by the example of intensive care), the Wearable Technologies Show (high-tech products worn on the body) and the Medica Start-Up Park (a central hub for networking with the digitally powered start-up scene).

Women leaders in healthcare: how to make it

The Medica Innovation Forum is also set to put a spotlight on high-flying women in the sector. “Together we thrive” is the title of the panel discussion on Tuesday afternoon. This will feature women who have been highly successful in the healthcare industry in various management positions, whether in large organisations or the dynamic start-up sector, making them ideal discussion partners with a wealth of experience. Among the panellists will be Hadas Bitran, Partner General Manager, Health AI (Microsoft Health and Life Sciences), Ayelén Fernández, Global Orthotics & Prosthetics Segment Manager (HP), Audrey A. Sherman, Division Scientist (Solventum; previously 3M Healthcare) and Nina Wöss, Managing Partner (Female Founders).

The additional hot topics on stage at the tradefair's accompanying forums and conferences will include current examples of applications for AI and robotics as well as assistance systems in day-to-day medical practice. Another area of focus is the increasing connectivity in healthcare provision, specifically on innovations for the point of care: diagnostics and treatment in the immediate vicinity of patients (usually outpatients). This includes telemedicine applications aimed at providing the best possible collaboration across sectors by all those involved in the treatment process. 

Another top issue at this year’s Medica is the urgent skills shortage. This is having an impact on almost every organisation in the healthcare sector, leading them to search for solutions. These solutions are discussed in a focussed manner at the individual forums and conferences – for example, from the particular perspective of laboratory medicine at the Medica Labmed Forum in Hall 1.

There are five spheres promising a wide variety of innovations for the treatment of outpatients and clinical use at Medica 2024. These include robotic applications to support highly complex neurosurgical brain interventions as well as orthopaedic operations (including hip implants), plus a novel drive system that can be fitted into most hospital beds. The drive system works like that of an e-bike and significantly eases the workload for staff at healthcare facilities during patient transport. Another new solution on show will be a medically certified smartwatch for easy measurement of wrist blood pressure. The spheres at the trade fair are: Lab & Diagnostics, Med Tech & Devices, Disposables, Physio Tech and Digital Health.

Christian Grosser addresses a topic that is highly pertinent for many groups of visitors: “What is most memorable about trade fair visits are things that we discover spontaneously. That is why this year, as a pop-up novelty, we and the Innovation Institute have created the Automotive Health special exhibition area.” Nowadays, a number of sensors and functions can be built into cars to enable safe and healthy driving. Fatigue detection systems, which are already commonplace, are just one example. And there is a whole host of other possible features to examine health-relevant data measured from motorists and identify risk factors that could result in emergencies and potentially serious accidents. At the special exhibition area in Hall 12, the Innovation Institute demonstrates its proven expertise in the field, exhibiting vehicles such as the VW ID.4, the VW Tiguan and a vintage Melkus sports car as well as a racing simulator. The institute’s key customers include Audi, Mercedes, Porsche and Volkswagen. 

Halls 8a and 8b also offer specialist knowledge in development. At Compamed 2024, 750 supplier organisations are exhibiting across five worlds spheres: 

• Manufacturing & Devices (e.g., components, parts, manufacturing processes), 
• Services & Advice (e.g., research, development, services), 
• Materials (e.g., plastics, glass, ceramics, metals, composite materials, adhesives, packaging), 
• Micro Tech (such as microcomponents and microfluidics) as well as 
• IT in Tech (software development and maintenance for medical technology). 

Offering a specialised programme of accompanying events, the Compamed High-Tech Forum and Compamed Supplier Forum reflect leading topics within the supplier sector such as AI, robotics and automation, microtechnology developments and material innovations. 

New developments are not only highlighted in the exhibition halls in greater detail. Messe Düsseldorf’s new Trade Talk Today video podcast is also sharing important updates on innovations and event highlights, allowing listeners to start every day of the trade fair on schedule. Movers and shakers will offer their insights as well as contextualising industry trends. 

Last but not least, the new Medica AI Buddy is already hard at work. The virtual assistant is on hand to help all potential and registered visitors plan a particularly impactful trade fair visit. Anyone who wants to benefit from its support can find the AI Buddy on the home page of the Medica online portal as well as integrated into the Medica app. 

Last year, Medica and Compamed recorded a total of 83,000 visiting professionals from more than 160 countries. 

Source: Messe Düsseldorf

11.11.2024

• fairs (184)
• innovation (115)