As part of Healthcare Purchasing News’ ongoing editorial coverage of global medical device solutions, I had the opportunity to attend this year’s MEDICA 2022 conference, November 13-17, at the Messe Dusseldorf complex in Dusseldorf, Germany. The meeting is unique as compared to most healthcare conferences in the U.S. that tend to focus on one medical discipline such as infection prevention, or surgical services. MEDICA is largest trade fair for healthcare products and developing technologies that includes almost every product imaginable used in healthcare facilities, with sources from all over the world.
Many of the education programs focused on ongoing solutions needed due to continuous SARS‑CoV‑2 variants and their impact on health and care delivery programs. This year’s focus on digitalization included all aspects of supply with ‘artificial intelligence,’ and how it can be used to help track disease.
The 14th Healthcare Innovation World Cup pitch and award ceremony took place on November 14, 2022 with a packed audience watching the product pitch presentations. This year’s competition had over 400 applications for new products and solutions but only 12 were chosen to present their product pitches. Each developer spokesperson had 3 minutes to pitch their medical device solution. Another 2 minutes were reserved for the jury to place questions. After all of the 12 competitors finished their presentations, the panel of judges deliberated and selected the winners.
Start-ups, scale-ups and innovative SMEs from all over the world took part in the 14th Healthcare Innovation World Cup 2022. There are over $500,000 worth of prizes up including:
- International visibility at MEDICA (pitch and award ceremony for the top 12 finalists)
- 10,000 euros cash prize (for the best European entry)
- business contacts with international leading technology companies, potential investors and experts
- Free development kits from the Innovation World Cup partners STMicroelectronics, Würth Elektronik, and EBV Elektronik.
- Free marketing packages and extensive media promotion on a global scale
- Participation in the final at MEDICA 2022 (pitch slot and award ceremony)
- Placed in the Innovation World Cup Hall of Fame
Participation is free and MEDICA is already receiving applications for 2023.
Other honorees included:
- AURIMOD Ltd from Austria presented their product VIVO, which is a minimally invasive system for treating chronic pain based on auricular vagus nerve stimulation. According to Aurimod, the vagus nerve in the ear plays a key role in the processing of pain. VIVO provides the stimulation of the nerve in the ear triggers the body’s own and sustainable pain relief. www.aurimod.com
- BrainTrip Ltd from Malta presented their BrainTrip Dementia Index (BDI); an AI-optimized EEG-based dementia biomarker that can detect early symptoms of the disease, by measuring your current mental abilities. The BDI is based on modern neuroscience and computer algorithms. It takes in your brainwave data and returns a score from 0 to 100 - the lower the score, the bigger the chances that you might be in the early stages of dementia. www.braintrip.net
- breathe ilo GmbH from Austria showcased their cycle fertility tracker called breathe ilo, a phone app that helps you determine your individual cycle phases and your fertility status. The app uses breath analysis to determine a woman’s ovulation pattern and fertile window. www.breatheilo.com
- Hamm Tek from Finland presented their HammTek product which is also an AI-based smart tool to monitor teeth and detect caries. They developed the solution to inform patients of their potential oral disease due to missed oral care screenings. Undetected oral diseases (e.g., untreated caries lesions and periodontitis) continue to be the main reasons for tooth loss. Furthermore, undetected oral diseases can affect a patient’s general well-being. Recent studies have demonstrated that chronic oral inflammations likely affect multiple pathways involved in atherosclerosis, atrial fibrillation, and chronic kidney disease. www.hammtek.com
- Mane Biotech GmbH from Germany, presented their ManeGrowthSmart wearable solution that activates hair follicle stem cells and promotes hair regrowth. The solution uses regenerative science to regrow hair and end hair loss. The stem cell technology focuses on regrowing hair at the core of the problem, reawakening the hair stem cells to stimulate hair growth. www.manebiotech.com
- Netsensing Technology, from Switzerland, presented their HSATPro Device for diagnosing sleep apnea for healthcare professionals. The device is cost efficient and eliminates the need for expensive overnight sleep studies. The HSATPro is a Home Sleep Apnea Testing (HSAT) device indicated for use by Health Care Professionals (HCP) and helps them in the diagnosis of sleep apnea for adult patients. It combines a very precise and unique data fusion with a patented method to detect any kind of apnea. Patient thoracic and abdominal respirations, blood oxygen saturation, heart rate, respiratory effort and body position are recorded and real-time processed during sleep. www.netsensing.ch
- OrCam Technologies, based in Israel, introduced their OrCam MyEye product that offers a compact device that a patient can attach to their glasses. The voice controlled wearable device helps people with visual impairment. The wearable AI device for people who are blind or visually impaired, enables patient to independently access the world, read text from any surface, recognize faces, identify colors, products, and more. www.orcam.com
- PulseOn, Finland based companz presented their PulseOn Arrhythmia Monitor System. The Cardiac arrhythmia monitoring system. The device, similar to a digital watch, provides accurate optical heart-rate technology enables 24/7 detection and monitoring of arrhythmias, e.g. atrial fibrillation (AF), detects asymptomatic and very short (30 sec) arrhythmia episodes, and notifies the patient to take an instant ECG measurement with the same device. www.pulseon.com
- ECG247, located in Norway, also offered a solution for diagnosing cardiac arrhythmias and monitoring patients with atrial fibrillation. The small monitor affixes to the patients chest and is able to provide medically certified wireless heart rhythm sensing. Easy to use for self-testing and for the health service, The divice Monitors heart rate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, is Resistant to water and can be used many times, offers Automatic interpretation and immediate results that can be shared with a GP or cardiologist. www.ecg247.com
The MEDICA Healthcare Innovation World Cup is already receiving applications for the next generation of smart health devices, medical wearables, digital biomarkers, electroceuticals, intelligent patches, and more. HealthTech and MedTech innovators worldwide are invited to take part. Start-ups and scale-ups can already submit their solutions.
