Medical electronics indispensable for the healthcare sector

From brain implants to surgical robots: medical electronics have become an indispensable part of the healthcare sector. This was also evident from the high turnout during the Medical Electronics event, on 6 February in Hotel Vianen, organised by FHI. The focus was on the development, regulations and production of medical electronics. Almost 250 interested parties braved the weather to visit the event. Watch the aftermovie below.

Ruben Koningsveld and Jort Kuiper from Project March, an initiative of TU Delft, explained during their opening lecture how medical electronics can transform a person's life. The students are working with 26 teammates on an exoskeleton, also known as a robot suit. “The exoskeleton gives hope to people who are partially paralyzed by a lower spinal cord injury,” Koningsveld explained. “Through technology, we can significantly improve the quality of their lives.” The exoskeleton was displayed on the trade fair floor and, as expected, attracted a lot of attention. The presenters showed how the ingenious suit works in practice when a patient wears it and how it is technically constructed.

Success factors
The opening lecture was followed by fifteen substantive presentations by specialists from the business, education and healthcare sectors. There were lectures on the pitfalls in drawing up technical documentation for the MDR and the digitalization of life cycle processes of medical devices. Nico Drost of Zign Innovations spoke about the five key factors for successful medical device development and Judith Bertin spoke on behalf of Comdes Componentsn on the design and production of custom housings and components for medical applications.

Economic impact
At the end of the day, Natallia Uzunbajakava of TNO Holst Centre the word about the importance of medical electronics for the quality and efficiency of care and patient well-being. The impact of MedTech on the Dutch economy was also discussed. “The MedTech sector is the second largest applicant for patents worldwide,” Uzunbajakava explained. “Aging, the increase in chronic diseases and technological progress are driving that growth. Early detection of diseases and holistic monitoring, coupled with effective therapies, prevent higher costs at a later stage by removing patients from the (expensive) clinical environment earlier.”

Firmly on the tooth
After her presentation, Uzunbajakava took part in the panel discussion on the future of medical electronics with representatives from TNO Holst Centre, Philips Healthtech, UMC Utrecht and the Dutch Kidney Foundation. Using four provocative statements, the panel members discussed topics such as 'MedTech makes healthcare more expensive' and 'MDR legislation makes medical innovation impossible.' The discussion made it clear once again that there is a lot of expertise in the Netherlands in the field of medical electronics, but that there are still many obstacles that need to be overcome. The audience that had gathered made themselves heard and an interesting discussion with the panel members followed.

Exhibitors and visitors were satisfied with the day afterwards. The substantive program, the panel discussion and the networking opportunities were particularly appreciated. Nico Drost of Zign Innovations summarized the general atmosphere as follows: “What I like is that the event is created with all participating parties. We are here as product developers, but I also see distributors, specialists in the field of legislation and regulations and so on. In this way, we increase knowledge in the field of medical device development”.

• All presentations are online and are free in to see.
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