Outlook on COMPAMED: 8th Spring Convention introduced smart mobile diagnostics and Wearables

The COMPAMED Spring Convention has evolved into a tradition. Every spring, it provides a preview to Europe’s largest trade show for suppliers of medical manufacturing technology, which takes place every fall in Dusseldorf. On May 9, 2014, experts gathered in Frankfurt to attend talks and discuss the latest trends on the topic of "Medical Technology to go‘– MST-Solutions for mobile Diagnostic, Monitoring, and Therapy Systems“.

Costs for medical attendance, especially of chronically affected or elderly patients are increasing significantly. This is where microtechnology can greatly contribute to cost containment. With mobile diagnostic devices and sensors, vital functions can be monitored around the clock and enable caregivers to alarm the appropriate emergency services on time, should problems arise. The talks showcased the current state of development and commercialization of corresponding sensors.

The topic’s relevance became apparent in the keynote held by Dr. Michael Meyer, Vice President Health Policy at Siemens AG. In addition to large medical equipment, Siemens intends to get involved even more in mobile diagnostics in the future. This was underlined by the presentation of new ultrasound equipment and mobile x-ray units. The inception of appropriate software for the evaluation, processing and transmission of data proved a major challenge. Dr. Meyer endorsed the use of open standards that would allow the data to be displayed on widely used devices such as smartphones, tablets and notebooks.

Technology for the manufacturing of mobile diagnostic applications formed one of the focal points of the convention. Additionally, the question of how to literally bring the new sensors to the patients proved a topic of discussion. Here, so called ‘wearables’, or ‘smart textiles’, are an important subject of research and development.