EH 2_2015

LED lamp for operating room STARLED7 NX Medical Lighting System Bologna – ITALY Tel +39 051 721844 info@acem.it - www.acem.it www.healthcare-in-europe.com 5NEWS & MANAGEMENT Korea’s expanding medical & hospital equipment fair The Far East’s highly international event onsibility Report: Ben Giese KIMES, Korea’s leading medical and hospital equipment exhibition, con- tinues to expand internationally, shown this year in the larger number ly,’ she explains her philosophy. With all these mundane tasks will research get short shrift? Absolutely not, Professor Linn is adamant. On the contrary: Expanding the depart- ment’s and her own research work is top priority. ‘The research profile of the neuroradiology department in Dresden can be sharpened. Whilst, in the past, the institute participated in four large multi-centre studies, I intend to increase the number of studies initiated and performed by the department itself,’ Linn promis- es. She will continue and expand the team’s research focus. Her predeces- sor, Professor Rüdiger von Kummer, was an expert in major ischaemic strokes; Linn is bringing her special- isation to Dresden: cerebral micro- angiopathies – pathologies of the small vessels supplying the brain, which cause strokes. ‘The signifi- cance of these pathologies as stroke triggers is not yet firmly anchored in many physicians‘ minds since they do not cause major strokes. I would like to change that in our facility,’ Linn explains. After all, from a cer- tain age upwards almost everyone suffers some kind of microangiopa- thies. The small vessels are damaged by risk factors such as age, arterial hypertension or diabetes mellitus. ‘For a long time we have considered this as a ‘normal’ ageing process. However, more recent research has shown that microangiopathies can indeed cause stroke symptoms and above all impair cognitive capa- bilities.’ Jennifer Linn wants to tale a closer look at vascular dementia and find out more about the connec- tions between vascular conditions and dementia: ‘At this point, we do know that these diseases are con- nected but a lot of research remains to be done.’ The professor estimates that 60 to 70 percent of her students are female and most of them will indeed get a degree. However, at senior resident level only about 20 percent are women. Albeit, Professor Linn points out that this is not a health- care-specific problem. She is also the mother of a one-year old child and knows that it can be very diffi- cult to find reliable childcare during working hours. ‘Many women who face these difficulties give up too quickly. I firmly believe that chil- dren and a professional career can go hand in hand.’ of visitors from the greater Asia- Pacific region as well as buyers from, for example, far off India. Europe and the USA drive that continuing development. Exhibitors also reflect internationalisation – for example a first-time German pavilion pre- sented 12 participating companies that brought ‘Made in Germany’ to this market. The Korean medical market has reached two major milestones: the percentage of GDP spent within the medical sector is expected to top 8% this year bringing this closer to that of OECD major markets. Additionally, the country’s aver- age age has risen to over 40 years. The demography mandates greater medical investment and also drives innovation on ways to provide top quality care. KIMES reflects those trends, reflected, for example, in the number of exhibiting companies from beyond Korea – 615 among the 1,145 total. Asked if KIMES is the most impor- tant show in Asia, Thomas Kocher of HT Labor + Hospitaltechnik, Bavaria, said that a single leading exhibition does not exist, even in countries such China. KIMES is growing and cannot be missed when needing to cover the whole Asian market. ‘Personally, I would like to see this show become the leader due to the show’s timing, the level of organisation and quality of contacts,’ he said. ‘As the search for quality con- tinues to gain importance in Asia, we are positioning ourselves at the KIMES for future success,’ says Cyrus Law from GCX, in California. ‘We enjoy a strong market share provid- ing mounting solutions to top-tier healthcare firms. As more manufac- turers, especially those from Korea, continue an up-market shift, they also need the quality we provide to match their ever-improving solutions. We expect this trend to continue.’ Some people at the show had criti- cised scheduling – this year’s event ran concurrently with the annual European Congress of Radiology. Asked about that conflict, Choong-Jin Kim, Vice Chairman of Korea E&Ex Inc, organiser of KIMES, assured, ‘We are very aware of this situa- tion.’ he said. ‘Next year will not force such a difficult decision on exhibitors and visitors. Both of these world class shows will have their own place on the calendar.‘ Jennifer Linn gained her doctorate from the Institute for Neurosciences at Munich’s Technical University and habilitation at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, with a thesis on the differentiation of haemorrhagic stroke using modern cross- sectional imaging methods. In 2011 Professor Linn was invited to work at the Department of Neuroradiology of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and in the same year received the Kurt Decker Award of the German Society of Neuroradiology. After leading the MRI research group at the Department of Neuroradiology, Ludwig Maximilian University Hospital, Munich, since 2009, last October she was appointed Medical Director of the Department of Neuroradiology at Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital in Dresden. Tel +39051721844 info@acem.it - www.acem.it

EH 2_2015

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