7. Innovation Forum Medical Technology in Tuttlingen: Medical Technology as an Innovation Driver

Researchers, developers, and companies used the Medical Technology Innovation Forum as a platform to network and learn about innovative solutions. (Photos: Sascha Baumann)

Researchers, developers, and companies used the Medical Technology Innovation Forum as a platform to network with each other and to learn about innovative solutions. (Photos: Sascha Baumann)

Medical technology developments were at the forefront of the seventh Innovation Forum for Medical Technology in the Tuttlingen City Hall. What started a few years ago with a small circle of around 50 participants has since evolved into a recognized large-scale event. This year, the organizers TechnologyMountains, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg, and the Tuttlingen Cluster Initiative MedicalMountains were able to welcome over 300 conference attendees from the medical technology industry and research institutions from both Germany and abroad. Key topics included 3D printing, manufacturing processes, sensors, Medical Technology 4.0, coatings, and hygiene. Over 60 exhibitors accompanied the conference and were available during breaks for personal conversations.

"For all involved, networking between clinics, industry, and research is a benefit and, for us, the driving force behind our work," said Yvonne Glienke, CEO of MedicalMountains AG, who also guided visitors through the program that day. Especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, the Innovation Forum at the world center of medical technology offers the ideal platform to connect with researchers, developers, and other companies and to learn about innovative solutions. "We have found that more and more companies are seeking exactly this type of event, as the Innovation Forum features exclusively industry professionals, and the quality of contacts is extremely high. To stay competitive, it is important for companies to stay informed about industry news, such as the planned EU Medical Device Regulation, as well as current technological trends," Glienke continued.

The Innovation Forum is also gaining increasing interest abroad. Exhibitors and visitors from Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and even the USA attended this event. The trade and economic attaché from Flanders, Bart Boschmans, who accompanied a Belgian delegation consisting of several medical technology companies, also gave a positive assessment: "The opportunities to exchange ideas in a personal setting with many company representatives are excellent here in Tuttlingen. Participating in this event was the perfect conclusion to our trip through Germany."

Thomas Albiez, Managing Director of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg, also expressed enthusiasm about the increasingly strong international participation and welcomed the growing internationalization of the TechnologyMountains network.

An even closer networking of clinics, research, and industry was also called for by Prof. Dr. med. Karl-Walter Jauch, Director of the University Hospital Munich, because this way, collaborations for applied research can be formed, and ideas from the clinic can be technically implemented.

The fact that Medical Technology 4.0 presents a particular challenge for hospitals was demonstrated by Univ. Prof. Dr. Ing. Jan Stallkamp from the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Automation (PAMB) in Mannheim during his keynote. The networking between the digital world and reality, i.e., patient care, is significantly more complex than industrial development 4.0.

In further exciting lectures, nanocoatings with antibacterial effects, innovations for personalized products, MID technologies in medical technology, and new procedures in 3D printing were presented. Personalized medical devices are gaining increasing importance. Orthoses must be tailored more and more specifically to individual needs. Achieving this requires simulations on functional models.

For TechnologyMountains CEO Thomas Wolf, it is already clear today that this series of events will continue in the future: "The feedback we received immediately at the event shows us that we have hit the nerve of companies, institutes, and visitors with this format, and I am proud that we have now become a fixed part of the medical technology industry's calendar here in Tuttlingen, and beyond the region. Together with the IHK and MedicalMountains AG, we are already planning the next Innovation Forum in October of next year and have already received bookings and inquiries for the upcoming year."