Innovation/Technology

The pandemic is increasingly becoming a race: a neck-and-neck race between research, development and production of drugs and vaccines on the one hand and mutations on the other. Microfluidics can make all the difference in this race, because microfluidic components accelerate the speed of development and Lab-on-a-chip and chemical microreactors make mobile rapid tests possible and accelerate vaccine development.

Dr. Albert Hasper is CEO of PHIX B.V., a Dutch-based company, leading in assembling Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) and electronics into a single package, both for prototyping and customized full-scale production runs. On the occasion of the kick-off of the IVAM Focus Group Photonics, we talked to Albert Hasper, who will act as the future chairperson of the group, about the current challenges of the European photonics industry.

We are at the eve of major changes in society and economy: Quantum Technologies will have a leapfrog impact on almost all industries, healthcare, life-sciences, banking, logistics, communications, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, military, and public safety. This listing is far from being complete. The issue is not if but by when commercially meaningful applications, products and new services will become available.

Around 1.7 million people in Germany currently suffer from dementia. To provide them and their relatives with sustainable support and relieve caregivers in the long term, we are working with high-tech companies in the ZIM-network ‘KMU4DEMENTIA’ on innovative products such as technical assistance systems and software-based concepts. One example is the correct interpretation of patients' state of mind with the help of artificial intelligence.

Medical technology is a key growth sector in Japan and Germany. It is of great strategic importance in a health-conscious society. Also, the health systems in Japan and Germany face similar challenges, for example, steadily increasing demands due to demographic change.

In the medical market, the photonics industry is seeing new product launches that have specific requirements for health applications. Europe is a source of both application markets and innovative technologies. The session on laser and photonic applications, organized and carried out in cooperation with EPIC, shows examples from developers of photonic medical devices and their supply chains.

Smart products are becoming a reality in more and more markets - including medical technology and health. The key technological pioneers in this development are intelligent sensors that not only collect data, but can also interpret and communicate. The market for medical technology is developing rapidly. Medical products are increasingly focusing on the patient and are becoming more and more functional and intelligent.

Das Zusammenspiel von IT und Mikroelektronik macht neue und effizientere Analysemethoden in Forschung, Diagnostik und letztlich der Patientenversorgung möglich. Durch eine schnellere und leichter zugängliche Diagnostik über Point-of-Care-Plattformen können schon während der Wartezeit beim Arzt Ergebnisse vorliegen. Dadurch kann eine mögliche Krankheit besser behandelt werden.

The miniaturization of the dimensions, the precision of the components with their increasing variety of shapes and greater functional integration are the keys to future developments. They are also influenced to a large extent by new technologies that originate from materials engineering and physical process engineering.

The Corona crisis has turned the world upside down and shown us once again how dependent we are on key technologies such as microtechnology and nanotechnology. These technologies support the fight against Corona, for example, in the field of rapid diagnostics, in the low-cost production of miniaturized components for urgently needed medical devices and in the development of vaccines.