12 - 15 November 2014, Düsseldorf, Germany."Seeing that in previous years the new forums integrated into the trade fair had been initiated successfully and the internationalisation of the points in the program with many English-speaking presentations had been promoted, e.g. through the MEDICA TECH FORUM and the relaunch of the MEDICA HEALTH IT FORUM, this year's conceptual focus is on the continuation of the live-cell therapy for the conference program started in 2013." With these words, the trade fair director Joachim Schäfer summarised the crucial changes to the MEDICA 2014 - World Forum for Medicine.
The further development of the program particularly concerns the MEDICA EDUCATION CONFERENCE. For this reason, the German Society for Internal Medicine (DGIM) was acquired as a partner. It has a network of 23,000 members in the fields of science, medicine and health services on a European-wide basis.
The motto of the content orientation of this year's conference is "Science Meets Medicine" and provides a thematic integration between the conference program and what the trade fair offers. This is because medical advancement is often closely associated with technical developments. Heart catheters, synthetic joint replacements, modern medical imaging would not be established standards nowadays without networking technical expertise and medical user knowledge. The four days of the MEDICA EDUCATION CONFERENCE are dedicated to each area of focus respectively. Planned topics for this include infection and inflammation, telemedicine and robotics, cancer of the intestinal tract, as well as interventional medicine (surgical intervention).
With reference to the MEDICA conference program, other highlights include the 37th German Hospital Conference, as the leading event for the directors and management of German hospitals or also international conferences that were started last year, i.e. DiMiMED (military medicine) and MEDICA MEDICINE SPORTS + CONFERENCE (preventive and therapeutic sports medicine).
This year, the MEDICA PHYSIO CONFERENCE, which is organized by Thieme and the training centre FiHH, is new in this year's program with treatment-oriented lectures for the professional scene of physiotherapists. The main topic here being focused upon: Pain treatment and sports physiotherapy.
Innovations for the entire treatment process
With topical information in connection with MEDICA presentations of the exhibitors and the MEDICA conference program, significant trends also convey numerous forums that are integrated in the trade fair. These include MEDICA HEALTH IT FORUM and MEDICA TECH FORUM (developments in the field of high-tech medicine) in addition to, among other things, the MEDICA PHYSIO FORUM (on professional questions of physiotherapists) as well as the MEDICA ECON FORUM, which was successfully initiated by the Messe Düsseldorf and the "Techniker Krankenkasse" (TK, a German health insurance company), on issues regarding benefit assessment and funding of innovations, primarily from the standpoint of patients and those who bear the costs.
In turn, as the world's largest and leading market platform (again with around 4,600 exhibitors), the MEDICA will be used by medical technology suppliers to present the entire spectrum of new products, services and procedures to raise efficiency and quality in outpatient and in-patient care on almost 116,000 square meters of booked space.
Focuses of the MEDICA trade fair include: Electromedicine/medical technology (more than 2,500 exhibitors), laboratory technology/diagnostics, physiotherapy/orthopaedic technology, commodities and consumables, information and communication technology, medical furniture and specialist furnishings for hospitals and doctors’ offices.
A central strength of the MEDICA is that it not only deals with solutions for individual medical specialist disciplines, but for the complete "workflow" of patient treatment.
In reference to product developments, the advancements made, for example, in imaging technologies are impressive. Today, ultrasound devices of the best class offer a resolution and, at the same time, contrast with a penetration depth that would have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago. There are already some systems that even have built-in "anatomic intelligence" consisting of an integrated database with anatomic structural models. In this way, better balance can be achieved if the transducer does not sit entirely right. Advantages also result in the creation of tomographies. As a result, an image quality is achieved that is even suitable for the high requirements of cardiology.
Automation and digitalisation in the operating theatre
As a further crucial trend in light of the innovations of the MEDICA exhibitors, the advancement of digitalization and automation in the operating theatre can be accounted for. Altogether, information and medical technology continue merging with each other more and more. In operating theatres equipped with the state of the art and so-called hybrid operating rooms (with equipment for medical imaging "on the spot"), surgeons can fall back on a continuously growing number of systems that are able to facilitate intervention and patient monitoring in addition to even being able to assist in the process.
Systems that are established include those that are computer-based and navigate surgeons very precisely, controlling incision, on the basis of data of medical imaging and a defined planning and marking of the "target area" before operation. Medical technological equipment in the operating theatre is increasingly networked with one another and can exchange required information among each other or between the hospital operating system for intervention or for creating documentation. The various equipment can be centrally controlled by (touchscreen) panels that are easy to operate.
Marching on: "Wearables"
Furthermore there is already a conceptual approach on how data glasses ("Google Glass") could optimally support surgeons in connecting to patient monitoring systems on the head-up display, showing the most important vital signs.
By the way, wearables: Advancements in the field of sensor systems, material development, energy storage, and chip technology are motors for growth belonging to this diagnosis and communication "all-rounder" used close to the body. The spectrum of current technology developments ranges from a chip-sensor band-aid to determining specific body parameters by connecting to a smartphone app, all the way to an application for use in the ear that is already ready for market. Thereby, heart frequency, core body temperature and oxygen saturation can be determined.
The Wearable Technologies Show being held in hall 15 communicates to MEDICA visitors a selection of wearables that possess a lot of market potential from a medical perspective.
Together with the supplier trade show, COMPAMED and its more than 700 exhibitors (12 - 14. November 2014/ halls 8a + 8b), the MEDICA is occupying the entire Düsseldorf fairground. The target audience of both events exclusively include experts in the field.
Opening times: 10:00 am - 6:30 pm, Saturday 10 am - 5:00 pm (MEDICA only).
For further information, please visit:
http://www.medica-tradefair.com