Little and often: Why things are shrinking at Compamed

Microtechnology is big business. Compamed has spotted the trend for all things smaller which is why it is focussing on the sector between 13 and 16 November in Dusseldorf.

The trend towards personalised medical care, demographic developments and digitalisation is an important driver towards technological advances in the fields of medical technology and healthcare. Health policies and cost pressures are also pushing progress forward. The field of medical technology in particular has given the micro-technology industry a huge boost with its demand for corresponding solutions. Nearly two-thirds of micro-technology companies in Europe supply products, technologies and services to the medical technology and healthcare sectors … they represent the most important sales market for almost 20% of these firms.

The share of companies that supply primarily to the market for medical technology will increase by another 5% in the next three years. This is what the IVAM Fachverband für Mikrotechnik (IVAM Association for Microtechnology) has found in its annual survey of economic data from companies and research institutions operating in the field of microtechnology in Europe. Microtechnology is therefore playing a major role at Compamed 2017, taking place in Düsseldorf alongside Medica 2017.

“Besides digital transformation that has affected all sectors, the miniaturisation of components for creating increasingly handier and lighter product applications also constitutes an overarching technology trend,” says Joachim Schäfer, managing director at the Messe Düsseldorf.

Blood pressure without cuffs

One important application is the field of wearables – mobile, almost entirely concealed and comfortable systems for recording and analysing our vital parameters for medical analysis. Providing information about a person's health, data includes the pulse and arterial oxygen saturation, heart-rate variability, respiratory rates and data about vascular stiffness and signs of rising or falling blood pressures. Elevated blood pressure is currently one of the most serious risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

The possibility of tracking blood pressure continuously without the need for cuffs is one of the key innovations at this year's Compamed. A team of scientists around project manager Dr Hans-Georg Ortlepp at the CiS Research Institute for Microsensors developed the sensor for this application along with the sophisticated method of analysis.

Active ingredients into instead of under the skin

The Hahn-Schickard Association for Applied Research has also dedicated itself to researching, developing and manufacturing technology for microsystems. It has teamed up with a Verapido Medical spin-off in the development and production of equipment, systems and technologies that allow active ingredients to be administered into instead of under the skin. Studies have shown that active ingredients introduced intradermally are available at considerably faster speeds than those administered subcutaneously. CorTec is exhibiting at Compamed for the second time. This young company that specialises in medical technology is working on the next generation of active implants. It is developing and producing implanted electrodes for drain-outs and stimulation in the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Additive procedures

Another topic that has been becoming more and more important at Compamed are additive procedures. The IKTS Fraunhofer Institut has developed ‘bone from the printer’. This has been designed to be used to repair defects in facial areas or bones damaged by tumours that have metastasised.

Microstructures from 3D printers

Multiphoton Optics is active in 3D printing. This company is producing a high-precision 3D printing platform and software for the additive and subtractive manufacturing of randomly shaped structures that are realised either in the full or on surfaces of materials. The technology supports the high-precision manufacturing of optical 3D interconnects, aspherical or free-form microopitics as well as biomedical products such as scaffolds for tissue engineering, microfluidic cells and drug-delivery structures. The world of small and smallest solutions for medical technology therefore remains a subject that remaisn important to Compamed in Düsseldorf. Besides microsystems technology, the focus this year is on nanotechnologies, production technologies and process control. Specialists are also presenting parallel talks about current developments along the entire process chain of medical technology at the Suppliers Forum. This year, the event is focusing on digitalisation, wearables, 3D printing and regulations.