
When people say that business trade fairs are important, they usually mean that in a business sense. After all, these kinds of events are invaluable for creating new contacts, presenting your new products to an audience of professionals within the field, getting top talent and professional opinions on your latest advances and other things that can benefit you in growing your company or making a profit. They help the companies behind the scenes, and are very rarely important to the general public - in fact, in many cases those outside the industry can’t even get in through the front door!
One of the biggest exceptions to this is Medica - a major medical trade fair which aims to not only benefit businesses, but help save the lives of people who have probably never even heard of it. Every year, the event brings together more than 123,000 doctors, scientists and other medical personnel in order to educate them on how to be more effective in helping their patients, as well as give them a platform to connect and exchange valuable advice in person. Aside from that, Medica also provides a stage to groundbreaking medical innovations that can change the face of modern medicine - and some already have.
Today, we’re going to commemorate one of the most important trade fairs of all time by showcasing the most groundbreaking medical technologies ever unveiled on its stage!
A range of safety needles designed to protect patients and doctors
No one likes shots - that’s just one of the facts in life! Unfortunately, another fact is that shots are necessary. Vaccines keep us safe from some of the nastiest diseases out there (some of which have been eliminated completely thanks to them), and hypodermic injections are still the preferred way to administer medicine, especially in unconscious or critically ill patients - and, naturally, all of us have had blood taken! But anything that penetrates the skin, including needles, carries with it a small chance of infection, especially in less than sterile conditions.
That’s why during Medica 2008 researchers from InterVene presented to the world a retractable safety needle designed specifically to minimize the risk of infection or accidental penetration. The needle comes attached to the syringe and remains safely in a sterile compartment until it’s ready to be used, thus removing the need for a doctor to attach it onto the syringe like it’s usually done. While this design will have little use in modern hospitals, which are sterile and the use of gloves by doctors is mandatory, it will quite literally save lives in developing nations where it’s difficult to administer vaccines and medicine in a sterile environment.
JM-105 can test babies for jaundice without needles
Babies are small - we all know that. It’s honestly pretty hard to believe how something that you can easily hold in your hands will eventually grow up to be a fully fledged person! Unfortunately, it’s precisely due to their small size that babies often suffer from conditions that rarely harm grown adults, and that goes double for those born prematurely who are left even more vulnerable. For example, jaundice - a blood condition that most infants and children can overcome on their own - tends to really hurt premature babies, as their livers aren’t developed properly. What’s worse, the only way to accurately test for jaundice is through a blood draw, and suffice to say, using needles on a baby that can fit into the palm of your hand can have its own complications.
Determined to find another way, Welsh doctor Arun Ramachandran set out to develop a testing method for jaundice that doesn’t involve any needles. His efforts paid off, and he took stage at Medica 2013 to present JM-105 - a thermometer-like device that can test for jaundice in the blood through the baby’s skin, simply by being pressed against the forehead or chest. This new, digital procedur ewas showcased to international doctors at the convention and is soon set to completely replace the old-fashioned blood test, making life just a little bit easier and less painful for the smallest and most vulnerable humans!
The future of POC devices was unveiled at Medica 2016
When we think of diagnostic tests, we typically think of big labs with lots of equipment and a team of assistants working hard for a couple of hours to test your blood and get the results back to you the next day. However, this kind of testing isn’t always practical - sometimes you need the results ASAP, and often in the comfort of your own home. That’s the purpose of the POC devices, also known as Point of Care diagnostics. They’re meant to be small and portable, typically remaining in the doctor’s office, by the patient’s bedside or in their home so that they’re always available for testing when necessary. The most popular POC device is the blood sugar tester that many with diabetes use to regulate their insulin intake.
POC devices haven’t really seen a lot of development in the last two decades, as they typically do the job they’re designed for well enough. So when major medical equipment manufacturer ITL announced that they’d be showcasing the future of diagnostics at Medica 2016, a lot of eyes suddenly turned their way. That cryptic announcement turned out to be the LumiPod, a state of the art POC device that kept the basic functions of the diagnostic equipment intact, but gave them an overhaul to take advantage of the latest technologies. Those include bluetooth functionality that can pair it with other devices and send test results to the doctor’s phone, NFC reader to easily identify doctors and patients using it, wireless charging to eliminate potentially dangerous cables and much more.
The LumiPod also deserves a special mention for being showcased more than once at the event. After an initial unveiling at Medica 2016, the team at ITL collected the feedback of the doctors that got the chance to test it and brought the device back the next year, improved based on the recommendations of those that will be using it. The LumiPod’s appearance at the trade fair didn’t just introduce it to more people - it actively made it better!
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