The finalists in the 16th Healthcare Innovation World Cup and the 13th MEDICA START-UP COMPETITION have advanced from around 550 candidates based in 62 countries from Armenia to China and America to Rwanda. Starting at 3:00 pm on November 11 and 12, they will present their innovative solutions on the MEDICA INNOVATION FORUM stage as part of MEDICA 2024. The leading international trade fair for the healthcare and medical equipment industries will be held in Düsseldorf, Germany, from November 11 – 14, 2024.

At the MEDICA INNOVATION FORUM alone (in Hall 13), more than 120 participants – including global players such as Microsoft, HP, HTC, 3M, Roche, Huawei and KUKA – will showcase and discuss groundbreaking innovations and best practices. Key topics will include generative AI and big data, robotics, XR and digital twins, mobile health and medical wearables, 3D printing, the Internet of Medical Things and solutions for the hospitals of the future. The MEDICA INNOVATION FORUM will also be the meeting place and networking platform for „Women Leaders in Healthcare“. With this year’s record participation of 60 young businesses, the MEDICA START-UP PARK (also in Hall 13) will offer visiting professionals the opportunity to familiarize themselves with a host of other exciting health start-ups and their innovations.

When cars recognize a stroke…

“My car prevents strokes” is the title of the forum talk by Prof. Thomas M. Deserno from the Reichertz Institute for Medical Informatics, which is run by Technische Universität Braunschweig and Hannover Medical School (MHH). At 12:25 pm on November 11 he will describe how vehicles can be used to identify health risks at an early stage and save lives. The “Automotive Health” action area in the neighboring Hall 12 fits in with the content of this presentation. In this area, the Innovation Institute will provide an insight into its development work on vehicles it is exhibiting there – such as the VW ID.4, the VW Tiguan and a racing simulator – and discusses how future sensor technology installed in vehicles will detect critical health conditions while driving and thus help to avoid serious accidents.

With the importance of telemedicine and the Internet of Medical Things, cybersecurity for healthcare is also growing in relevance. Implementing remote network monitoring, adopting defense-in-depth technologies and addressing the challenges of flexible “bring your own device” models is becoming essential. Further detail will be provided by Jose Manuel Capella Rodriguez, Senior Safety Advisor at certification specialist UL Solutions, and Stephen Gilbert, Professor Of Medical Device Regulatory Science at the Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Digital Health at Dresden University of Technology. Gilbert’s medical school is researching how innovative medical devices can be brought into patient care more quickly – which should also be of interest to many start-ups.

12 health techpreneurs present their winning products

This year’s top 12 health techpreneurs will present their solutions in the pitch final at the 16th Healthcare Innovation World Cup on Monday November 11, starting at 3:00 pm. This will take place on stage at the MEDICA INNOVATION FORUM, where speakers will showcase the next generation of smart health devices, medical wearables, XR solutions, digital biomarkers, electroceuticals and smart bandages.

Samphire Neuroscience’s Nettle solution is one example of a smart health device. It is intended to provide a non-invasive, at-home treatment option for menstrual pain and mood swings associated with pre-menstrual syndrome. Assessing the big picture, Dr. Sonja Sulzmaier summarized: “The quality of the solutions submitted is extraordinarily high this year. The finalists represent the top 4% of the 340 entries.” A managing partner at Navispace GmbH and chair for start-ups at German SME association BVMW, Dr. Sulzmaier is responsible for organizing the forum and the start-up competitions.

AI in healthcare – on the rise and highly adaptable

On November 12, the forum will start at 11:00 am with the session “GenAI, AI and Big Data – Shaping A new era in healthcare”. The panel will include Bart de Witte, founder of the Hippo AI Foundation. Their concept of regenerative AI aims to eliminate global health inequalities and promote symmetry in the global digital health sector. The session will revolve around ambient intelligence, which is used to create responsive, AI-powered environments that dynamically adapt to patients’ needs, allowing for personalized and efficient care.

Prof. Paul Lukowicz, Head of the Embedded Intelligence research unit at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Kaiserslautern, will moderate the forum session exploring the question of how artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare. Joining him for the conversation will be Manuel Herzog (Roche), Hadas Bitran (Microsoft Health & Life Sciences) and Viktor Savevski (Chief Innovation Officer and Head of the AI Center at Humanitas). Savevski will be examining the transformative potential of generative AI in the hospital sector. Ethics expert Prof. Stefan Heinemann from FOM University will address the integration of AI in medicine as a model for its appropriate introduction into society and culture.

Final pitches from AI to robotics and health apps

The final of the second major start-up competition will take place on November 12 at 3:00 pm. For the final pitches in the 2024 MEDICA START-UP COMPETITION, a jury consisting of businesses, investors and renowned industry experts has selected 12 health start-ups that will present their product solutions in different categories and compete for the big prize.

Finalists Saventic Health (Poland), U-Care Medical Srl (Italy) and IQONIC.AI (Germany) are all in on artificial intelligence. Saventic uses AI to detect rare diseases, U-Care to improve clinical outcomes in intensive care units, and IQONIC.AI provides AI-supported dermatology solutions for analyzing skin conditions and issuing personalized treatment recommendations based on advanced imaging technology.

The robotics category will be represented in the final by Robota (Italy), Robeauté (France) and Goodbot (Germany). Robeauté is supporting the medical profession by supplying neurosurgical micro-robots. Robota offers an automated system for sterilizing surgical instruments, while Goodbot provides an innovative pipetting robot.

Doctorderma (Germany), Vertify GmbH (Austria) and PharmaTrail AG (Switzerland) will present their health apps. PharmaTrail develops digital solutions to streamline and optimize clinical trial management to improve efficiency and data accuracy in pharmaceutical research.

AGED Diagnostics (U.S.), Fepod Oy Ltd (Finland) and Dxcover (UK) are focused on laboratory diagnostics. For example, Dxcover will present an innovative liquid biopsy technology for the early detection of cancer via a simple blood test.

“Women Leaders in Healthcare” - with women's power to success

The MEDICA INNOVATION FORUM will also host a session on women leaders in healthcare on November 12 at 12:15 pm. Women working in the industry are then invited to network with female executives. Dr. Sulzmaier is particularly looking forward to this: “More women are visible in the healthcare sector – and at MEDICA – than in many other industries, and we want to keep moving forward in this regard.” Svenja Lassen, Managing Director for Germany at Gateway Ventures and founder of the Female Investors Network, will moderate a panel discussion on female leaders in the health sector at 1:00 pm. The panelists will be Nina Wöss, co-founder of Female Founders, Hadas Bitran from Microsoft, Tarushi Ranatunga, responsible for knowledge management at Softmatter in Sri Lanka, and Dr. Caroline Fichtner, Principal of the High-Tech Gründerfonds, a public-private venture capital firm supporting start-ups in Germany.

After the panel, several women who have achieved a great deal as founders and inventors will share their solutions and experiences: Dr. Anne Latz, co-founder of Hello Inside, Audrey A. Sherman from Solventum (formerly 3M Healthcare) who holds more than 150 patents, and Dr. Marie Berthuel, co-founder of BeFC – Bioenzymatic Fuel Cells in France.

Afterwards, there will be the opportunity to take part in a guided tour covering start-ups and innovation topics. The “grand finale” will be the get-together during the MEDICA START-UP NIGHT. Women interested in attending the “Women leaders in healthcare” session can find all the relevant details at https://www.medica-tradefair.com/mif2.

More than just skin and bones: what bio-printers can produce

The stage program on November 13 (starting at 11 :00 am) will highlight the topic of 3D printing - innovative prosthetics, orthotics and similar applications. Nowadays, printing various biological materials, up to and including organs, is either already possible or in development. Manuel Figueruela, CEO of Regemat3D, will report on this. Regemat3D designs, develops and manufactures 3D bio-printing systems and bio-reactors. In collaboration with more than 200 research groups in over 35 countries, they produce human tissue such as skin, cartilage, cornea, bone or heart tissue for implantation purposes. Robert Moebius is a lab manager at Biosaxony’s Medical Forge start-up program, which works with industry partners such as HP. As O&P Global Leader, Ayelén Fernaìndez from HP will focus on the field of orthopedic technology and prosthetics.

Starting at 1:00 pm, the “Future of Therapy” will be the topic at the forum. The series of talks will range from digital tools for home patient care to robot-assisted surgery, rehabilitation and assistive technologies.

The final day of the MEDICA INNOVATION FORUM will be dedicated to internationality, when healthcare hubs from Finland, France, Germany, Taiwan and Japan will present themselves. This will also provide a perfect connection to the MEDICA START-UP PARK in the immediate vicinity of the forum stage. Start-ups from all over the world will present their innovations for healthcare here, including Germany, Italy, India, Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland and the U.S.

For information about MEDICA 2024 as well as all the themed forums, special shows and exhibitors: https://www.medica-tradefair.com.

Author: Dr. Lutz Retzlaff, Medical Journalist (Neuss, Germany)