State-of-the-art optical processes and miniaturized sensors integrated into wearable, networked measuring devices – so-called ‘wearables’ - were the key trends at COMPAMED. Both help diagnostics, monitoring and therapeutic processes to become mobile, quick, safe, flexible and patient-friendly.
As the internationally most significant and largest supplier trade fair for medical technology, COMPAMED was held mid-november and was once again attached to medical technology trade fair MEDICA, drawing 17,000 trade visitors from around the world.
Like the trade fair as a whole, the well-established joint booth of IVAM Microtechnology Network, the Product Marked ‘High-tech for Medical Devices’, booked a new record: a total of 45 international companies and institutes on 680m² presented high-tech trends to the medical supplier industry.
‘Wearables’ proved to be a trending topic of the entire trade fair. Manufacturing wearables requires miniaturized sensors that reliably and continuously deliver accurate readings. This way, vital signs can be monitored with devices directly on the body, e.g. in-ear or at the wrist. At the IVAM joint booth, businesses like Sensirion AG, aerolution GmbH or CiS Forschungsinstitut für Mikrosensorik und Photovoltaik GmbH showcased various sensors and measuring devices. Optical components and methodology play an increasingly large part in the manufacturing of medical technology products. New laser systems, such as showcased by Unitechnologies SA or Micreon GmbH are seeing the introduction of novel automated production processes. Finnish business Modulight, Inc’s lasers are e.g. being employed as analytical instruments, especially in biotechnological work environments.
Ensuring the highest possible quality standards for medical technology components requires considerable measuring efforts with state-of-the-art analytical devices. Here, too, optical measurement processes are of great importance: At the Product Market, FRT Fries Research & Technology GmbH and Nanofocus AG showed measuring devices capable of capturing surfaces in all three dimensions in order to identify any deficiencies.
The exhibitors present at the Product Market were very satisfied with the end results. “For Sensirion, COMPAMED 2014 was a success. Our booth was well-frequented and we were able to make lots of new contacts as well as tend to existing ones”, says Philipp Seidel, Project Manager Marketing & Communication at Switzerland-based Sensirion AG. Focal Vision & Optics, based in the Netherlands, were also happy to record a successful trade fair. “Focal Vision & Optics exhibited for the first time at COMPAMED. For us this meant international exposure and probing whether our products and optical design services are welcomed by overseas parties. We had good and interesting responses and established new contacts we would else not have had. The IVAM umbrella made our presentation at COMPAMED complete!”, says CEO Robert Evers.
At the COMPAMED HIGH-TECH forum, which was also organized by IVAM, international experts from research and industry introduced current trends in technology, such as ‘Printed Electronics’, ‘Printed Intelligence’ or ‘Organs-on-Chip’. Starting Fall 2015, COMPAMED will cover four days, extending from the traditional three. Interested exhibitors can apply and are currently eligible for a special offer for the 2015 joint booth. Further information can be obtained at
www.ivam.de.
