Healthcare industry

Article - 20/02/2012

Microporation: an innovative laser replaces jabs

People who are afraid of needles now have something to celebrate: hypodermic needles, which have long been the key instrument for administering drugs used to treat allergies and diseases as well as for vaccinations, now have a serious competitor. The minimally invasive P.L.E.A.S.E. ® platform developed by Pantec Biosolutions AG combines a laser device and stick-on patches to deliver drugs transdermally and painlessly into the bloodstream. The…

Article - 27/07/2015

Fraunhofer PAMB accelerates the development of medical devices

Dr. Auguste van Poelgeest is head of the “Control Systems for Medical Engineering” research group that is part of the Project Group for Automation in Medicine and Biotechnology (PAMB). The project group is based at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA. In an interview with Dr. Ariane Pott from BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg, van Poelgeest explains the role of automation in the field of medicine and how…

The World Health Organization is seeking innovative technologies, in particular medical devices that offer solutions to global health concerns in low- and middle-income countries. The deadline for submission of proposals is January the 31st 2010.

The Ulm-based Institute for Laser Technologies in Medicine and Metrology (ILM) has received a 335,000 euro injection in 2009 through the German government’s Future Investment Programme (Economic Stimulus Packet II), according to the Baden-Württemberg Minister of Economic Affairs Ernst Pfister. The funds, 75 per cent of which are provided by the German government and 25 per cent by the state of Baden-Württemberg, will be used for the modernisation…

Press release - 08/04/2010

Next step towards international cooperation

Representatives from companies and research institutes based in the STERN BioRegion met metalworking and surface treatment specialists in France. The collaboration between BioRegio STERN Management GmbH and Ple Technologique de Haute-Champagne PTHC opens up the way for making new contacts sharing innovative ideas and exploring cooperation options.

Press release - 26/11/2012

Textile pressure ulcer prevention

Immobile patients are in constant danger of developing pressure ulcers on the skin. Empa, Schoeller Medical and the Swiss Paraplegic Centre have worked together to develop a special sheet that is gentle on the skin and helps to make patients more comfortable.

Article - 12/04/2010

A new strategy for improving bone implants

Biomechanics is an interdisciplinary field of research and is also of great interest to aerospace engineers. Aerospace engineers at the University of Stuttgart develop equations and models in order to gain a better understanding of the interaction between bones and implants. In addition, they believe that their results will contribute to developing new implants and implant structures.

Article - 01/02/2010

Innovative and award-winning: vascular implants “Made in Hechingen”

On the 26th November 2009, the Hechingen-based medical technology company JOTEC GMBH was awarded the Baden-Württemberg Innovation Prize. JOTEC specialises in solutions for the therapy of vascular diseases. The company’s “E-vita open” is an innovative hybrid stentgraft system for use in cardiac surgery. The stentgraft is ideal for treating the thoracic aorta as it significantly simplifies therapeutic procedures at the same time as putting less…

Press release - 07/11/2011

Third quarter: HARTMANN increases sales in all business segments

The HARTMANN GROUP continued its growth despite the difficult conditions in the health markets. Global sales revenues increased by 5.0 percent to EUR 1,263.8 million compared to the previous year.

Press release - 30/04/2009

Will Ulm surgeons set new standard in bypass surgery?

A new computer-assisted navigation system, developed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers and doctors at the University of Ulm over the last three years, makes bypass surgery safer and more precise.

While there are specific regulations in Germany for the reimbursement of medicines, funding for molecular diagnostics products is complex and virtually non-existent. There is hardly any medical insurance cover for medical devices, which therefore tend to be sold on the open market. The question therefore arises as to how a reasonable price can be determined for innovative diagnostic methods and tools. In the second part of the interview conducted…

Article - 08/12/2009

Karl Stock helps turn ideas into products

Karl Stock takes abstract ideas and turns them into useable technological possibilities. The 44-year-old works in what could best be described as the one-man engineering office at the Ulm-based Institute of Laser Technologies in Medicine and Metrology (ILM). In contrast to university institutes, Stock’s work does not simply finish with a “paper” published in a journal. Stock strives to go further and his real work starts where others often stop,…

Press release - 14/07/2009

Amedrix GmbH - Successful cell-free products

The cell biologist Dr. Thomas Graeve has founded Amedrix GmbH in Esslingen. In future, the company will develop and produce innovative, cell-free medical products based on animal collagen for the purpose of wound regeneration and the reconstruction of degenerated soft tissue, for example.

Press release - 02/09/2011

German Government starts the initiative "Health - Made in Germany"

The overall aim of the initiative is to exploit the dormant capacities that lie within the export of health care products made in Germany. In Germany, many companies are already world leaders in their fields, in part due to a policy of consistent and early promotion of health care in Germany. German technology suppliers possess decades of valuable experience in realizing health care projects both at home and abroad. Provider of products and…

Press release - 07/03/2011

Review: MicroMountains Innovation Forum 2011: Networking - Motor for Innovation

The third MicroMountains Innovation Forum, held in Villingen-Schwenningen on 2nd February 2011, focused exclusively on microtechnologies. In cooperation with the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the MicroMountains network provided around 160 participants with insights into the application of microtechnologies in the fields of medical, measurement and automotive technologies as well as giving them the opportunity to exchange experiences.

Patients will often see several doctors. Computer scientists at the Centre for Information and Medical Technology at the University of Heidelberg are developing a new electronic patient file to enable the smooth transfer of patient data.

Press release - 11/05/2010

Bright future for medtech companies

According to Ernst Young medical technology is one of the most innovative industries in the German economy with total sales of around EUR 19 billion and a workforce of almost 100000. The export rate is 65 and despite the financial crisis the sector is continuing to grow. Medical technology made in Germany enjoys an excellent reputation throughout the world. That is the conclusion of Heinrich Christen partner and medtech expert at Ernst Young…

High-tech - 20/10/2016

Industry 4.0 in the medical technology and pharmaceutical industry sectors

The digitalisation of industry affects the entire value chain. From individual products to digitising workflows in companies and connecting companies with clients and service providers via the Internet of Things – Industry 4.0 makes completely new manufacturing processes possible and requires new and specific business models.

Article - 21/03/2011

Fluoron – a company that is well underway

Fluoron is a company that takes close contact with customers very seriously. This is why Christian Lingenfelder and his team frequently pack their suitcases to travel from place to place visiting Russian or Chinese operating theatres. Thousands of kilometres from the company’s production site in Ulm, the Fluoron team exchanges information with the retina surgeons for whom the company develops and produces highly pure biomaterials for use in…

Press release - 28/11/2010

Cardiac catheter surgery for children and young adults without X-ray radiation

Heart specialists and electrophysiologists from Tübingen University Hospital have succeeded for the first time in Germany in treating cardiac arrhythmia without the need for X-ray radiation. This was done through the selection of a new method to control the contact force between the catheter and the blood vessel and cardiac walls. The intervention was successfully carried out on a 16-year-old girl and is regarded as a very attractive alternative…

Press release - 27/11/2010

Help for lung emphysema patients

Around one million people in Germany suffer from lung emphysema as a result of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Department of Internal Medicine II at the University Hospital in Ulm Pneumology Division offers a minimally invasive method that is able to improve lung function by way of tiny endobronchial valves. Ulm University Hospital is thus the first centre in southern Germany to offer treatment involving endobronchial valves.

Press release - 22/09/2009

Nanoparticles: researchers to map protein corona

The way nanoparticles behave in the human body not only depends on their chemical structure. Of greater importance is the way they interact with biological molecules. Professor Gerd Ulrich Nienhaus at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has developed new methods that enable the quantitative measurement of these dynamic processes.

Press release - 13/03/2011

Vascular stent that dissolves on its own

The first ever implant in Germany of a bioresorbable, drug-coated stent in a cardiac patient has been carried out by physicians from the University of Heidelberg. In contrast to traditional metal stents, which remain permanently in the patients’ body, the innovative implant dissolves around two years after the procedure is carried out.