Space technology beams down to medical show

How medical device manufacturers can learn from space technology and the latest on surgical robots will be presented at the Medical Device Technology Exhibition at Birmingham's NEC in February.

A vision of the future of healthcare that includes how medical device manufacturers can learn from space technology and the latest on surgical robots will be presented at the Medical Device Technology Exhibition (MDT) at Birmingham's NEC from 15th to 16th February 2006.

Richard Boyle of Nasa's Ames Research Centre will talk about the latest advances and innovations in space technology which have valuable medical applications.

For instance, the latest Nasa imaging technologies that enhanced images from the Hubble Space Telescope can be used to image suspicious breast tissue providing a clearer picture of the tissue's nature than is possible with x-rays.

This technology can also help doctors accurately guide a biopsy needle to the target area, reducing trauma for the patient.

Another medical application uses Nasa ultrasound technology to enable immediate assessment of burn damage depth, improving patient treatment, and potentially saving lives in serious burn cases.

Other technology that can benefit healthcare includes the use of robotics - a worldwide market which has doubled in size within the last five years and is expected to grow sixfold to £37.4 billion by 2025 according to the European Commission.

Explaining how robots could be the intelligent surgeons of the future, Rajesh Aggarwal, from the Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology at Imperial College London, will present a vision of the future where robotic consoles are used in various surgical procedures and mobile ward-based robots with built-in stethoscopes and Bluetooth technology to transfer data from bedside to the internet.

The use of robotics in hospitals is already a reality where doctors routinely use remote-controlled robotics to operate in constrained spaces, such as inside the heart, brain, spinal cord, throat and knee.

Promising new treatment options using robotic technology have already been developed to help combat threatening diseases.

In 2005, a patient at London's Guy's Hospital was the first to undergo a live kidney transplant surgery carried out using robotic technology.

Among the advantages of such procedures are the robotic arms which filter even minute tremors of the human hand and can perform extremely precise, intricate movements during the procedure.

The robot's camera provides a 3D stereoscopic image of the body's interior, as opposed to a 2D image on a flat screen.

The MDT Innovation and Presentation Programme also addresses practical issues such as the challenge of trying to get an innovative product into the NHS, provides tips on converting ideas into winning products, and explains how packaging and design can help companies communicate trust, authority and science.

The UK's widest range of medical device suppliers is represented at the MDT event.

Some of the innovations on display will include a set of male and female fertility tests for home use designed by Pearson Matthews for its client Genosis, a fixed dose, auto-injection device developed by Scandinavian Health, and a disposable delivery device for vertebroplasty procedures, designed by Firsthand Design, which gives surgeons more time to site bone cement precisely and under good control.

The interactive meetings based event will be driven by a web based agenda planning tool.

The MDT Collaboration Forum runs alongside the exhibition and is a networking event designed to match developments in design and materials to manufacturing needs.

Forum delegates build their own personal schedule of presentations and discussion groups and prearrange one-on-one meetings with peers and suppliers to develop new business contacts.

The forum is sponsored by Connector and its partners, who work with medical device companies to find the right skills, funding, manufacturing process or technology development.

MDT also features a technology transfer showcase, set up to encourage collaboration between medical device manufacturers and leading scientific and research departments.

Visitors will see a range of emerging technologies that can be used in medical device products and speak directly to the technology transfer departments of leading universities such as Aston University's Photonics Research Group, which is developing a respiratory monitoring vest, enabling continuous on-line monitoring of breathing and 3D imaging of the chest.

The event is colocated with 3C 2006, the UK's dedicated event for contamination control and cleanroom products and services, which also features informative show-floor sessions.

Other complementary manufacturing shows taking place at the same time are Practical Vacuum, Drives and Motion Control, IPot (Image Processing and Optical Technology), MTec, Machine Building and Automation, and Pneumotion.

Back to top