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Shaping a healthy future for future generations

On 1 November, more than 350 medical professionals, MedTech companies, researchers, policymakers and students came together at the TechMed Event 2023 organised by the Technical Medical Centre from the University of Twente.

The event emphasized that medical technological knowledge and innovations can serve as a bridge to a greener and more sustainable future. Together, we have the opportunity to reduce climate change, shrink our footprint, and leave a legacy of responsible innovations for future generations

MedTech and Sustainability in Healthcare  

Healthcare is crucial but significantly contributes to environmental issues, such as 7% of CO2 emissions, 4% of waste, and 13% of resources in the Netherlands. Climate change affects public health, and sustainability is vital for the future of healthcare. The TechMed Event 2023 explored the role of the MedTech sector in this context."

Imaginary opening 
During the opening, participants had the opportunity to enjoy a compelling performance by Merlijn Twaalfhoven. Merlijn took the audience on a meditative journey, where we both looked back at generations before us and looked ahead to future generations. He encouraged us to think creatively about what a good life might mean for someone yet to be born.

Health & Climate - The missing links

In his keynote, Maarten van Aalst gave many examples of how climate change affects our health. These are not only direct impacts such as deaths from heat waves and floods, but also indirect impacts.

The health sector in the Netherlands is insufficiently prepared for climate change. If a hospital is inaccessible during a flood, then not everyone might be able to give each other enough first aid. The health sector has a double responsibility. Not only do we have to reduce our environmental impact, but we must also adapt to changing risks. Despite researchers often having the greatest impact within their field, it is also important to collaborate across disciplines.

Five-stage personalised program
The event offered a five-stage personalised program, featuring 15 sessions and over 40 speakers. Topics ranged from AI (Artificial Intelligence), the Staffing Crisis, Life Long Learning and organ-on-a-chip to eHealth. There were several discussions centred on sustainable healthcare. This included a circular economy for health, the Green Deal and the challenges posed by climate change on healthcare and vice versa. People could also take part in various tours at the TechMed Centre and the Health Labs on the Campus, where demonstrations of innovation and research were presented.

Awarding of student prize

The Niers Fund eHealth Voucher was also awarded to student Floor Lieverse for 'The Diabook.' This is an interactive audio book designed to support a healthy lifestyle for individuals with limited health literacy and Type 2 Diabetes. The University Fund Twente makes this voucher available annually to a bachelor, master or PhD student or young alumnus with an innovative idea for a solution in the field of eHealth.

Challenges for the younger generation

At the end of the day, Professor Dr Diederik Gommers from Erasmus MC took the floor. He expressed his concern about the critical shortage of healthcare personnel. By 2031, it is expected that there will be a shortage of as many as 140,000 healthcare professionals. Drawing from the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, he presented numerous insights to improve the healthcare sector. Gommers emphasized the need to focus on the job satisfaction of healthcare workers, reduce administrative burdens, implement a more effective centralised planning system, and promote technological innovations in healthcare. In his keynote, Gommers placed special emphasis on the theme of sustainability. He stressed the importance of collaborating to establish new guidelines that prioritise sustainability. Gommers illustrated this with a compelling example of the enormous amount of waste generated each day for just one patient in the intensive care unit.

We want to explore ways to reduce the amount of waste in collaboration with the industry and ideally with all hospitals in the Netherlands.

Finally, Gommers expressed his confidence in the younger generation, given the sense of urgency surrounding these issues.

TechMed magazine

During the TechMed event, the TechMed Centre launched a new issue of their magazine. This magazine is full of examples of regional, national, and international MedTech innovations. Like the TechMed event, the magazine pays plenty of attention to pressing sustainability, climate, and health issues.

Shaping a healthy future

The TechMed Event 2023 successfully brought together a diverse group of stakeholders. It highlighted the potential of medical technologies to transform global healthcare while advocating for a sustainable future. The event paved the way for a healthier and more eco-conscious world for future generations through knowledge sharing and collaboration.

Working 'together' on future healthcare at the TechMed Event 2022

On 2 November, the Technical Medical Centre (University of Twente) organised the TechMed Event. The TechMed Event kicked off the MedTech Twente Week organised in cooperation with partners of MedTech Cluster Twente (2-4 November). This year's TechMed Event focused on the latest medical technological developments. About 550 medical professionals, MedTech companies, innovators, researchers and students came together for a day of inspiration and networking.

Remke Burie, managing director of the TechMed Centre, opened the TechMed Event by inviting six speakers in the field of movement disorders for a short pitch on stage after his welcome speech. The speakers talked about their dreams of fighting movement disorders. This was followed by a symbolic opening by Remke Burie, Maroeska Rovers and Jouke Tamsma, MT members of the TechMed Centre. In front of the grand staircase in the TechMed Centre, large wooden letters that spelt 'TOGETHER' were inscribed by them with their name and dream to improve healthcare with medical technology in the coming year. Remke Burie: "With this act, we wanted to highlight the importance of working 'together'. Everyone may add their name and dream on this board. The best way to create impact in healthcare is to collaborate together."

Cross-border collaboration

Medical technology is changing faster than ever. It makes future care more accessible, affordable and better, but also requires collaboration and knowledge sharing. This is how we work on the healthcare of the future. This also requires cross-border cooperation between the Netherlands and Germany. In his keynote lecture at the end of the day, Prof Dr Alex Friedrich, Chief Medical Officer & Chief Executive Officer at the University Medical Centre in Münster, gave his vision for the future of this cooperation. Friedrich emphasized we should use the strength of both our healthcare systems within our European region.

Furthermore, there were several parallel sessions throughout the day on topics including the workforce crisis in healthcare, personalised medicine, TechMed studies and the new healthcare agreement. During the special session on personalised medicine, several examples were given of how technology can make healthcare more personalised. For example, medical technology can be optimised and personalised for women's health, in patients with kidney disease and chronic diseases such as diabetes.

The Niers Fund eHealth Voucher was also awarded to bachelor student Eva Schockemöhle. The University Fund Twente makes this voucher available annually to a bachelor, master or PhD student or young alumnus with an innovative idea for a solution in the field of eHealth.

TechMed Magazine

During the TechMed event, the new TechMed Magazine was also launched. This magazine is full of examples of regional, national and international MedTech innovations. Like the TechMed event, the magazine pays plenty of attention to the healthcare of the future. What should healthcare look like? And how do we ensure together that healthcare is also ready for that future? How do we provide enough healthcare staff? The TechMed Magazine can be read online.

MedTech Twente Week

This year's TechMed Event was part of the first edition of the MedTech Twente week. The success of the existing Techmed Event was expanded into a broad multi-day programme for different target groups from the MedTech ecosystem. By bringing together these stakeholders such as researchers, entrepreneurs, doctors, investors and other experts, we can speed up the process of making MedTech innovations.

The event brought together various experts to improve healthcare by means of medical technology. It started with the “Dreaming about the future” opening show around the topic Diabetes on Return including 5 stakeholders (from patient to clinician) and the essence to collaborate. Followed by an inspiring keynote talk by, engineer of the year, Prof.dr.ir. David Fernandez Rivas regarding the latest insights on needle-free injection. Afterwards visitors could personalize their own programme with information sessions and discussions such as Innovation meets Industry, Technical innovations in clinical practice, TOPFIT Citizenlab, Women’s health, International growth and Acceleration implementation.

During lunchtime it was possible to connect and listen to 'pitch the crowd' presentations. Our keynote Prof. dr. ir. Jean-Paul de Vries then addressed the theme of technology and medicine - a necessary combination for treating your patients.

After another round of informative sessions including vascular diseases, neurological diseases, movement disorders and oncological image-guided interventions, the Fireside Chat with Special Envoy of Techleap.nl Constantijn Van Oranje-Nassau followed. It was an interesting conversation about scaling up MedTech companies. Many thanks to the great input of HollandBio, Bond3D, Xsens, Holland Innovative, Locsense and Lipocoat. Day one of the event concluded with a startup event, where startups could meet and connect with successful MedTech companies.

An exclusive business programme was prepared for the second day of the event. With 1200 one-to-one matchmaking, Pitch the crowd sessions and innovations tours of Xsens, DEMCOM en Micronit. Based on current issues, the development and implementation of new medical technologies was discussed.

THE 2020 TECHMED EVENT 

Improving healthcare with innovative technology

The 2020 TechMed Event (from August 27 to October 29) featured more than 20 inspiring online knowledge and matchmaking events (a Kick-off meeting & Pre-sessions & The Congress & B2B Matchmaking Meetings) in which physicians, researchers, and companies from the MedTech Ecosystem came together within  four areas of interest: Personalized eHealth, Health Robotics, Nano Bio Tech and AI & Intelligent Imaging. 

This edition included:

• Plenary keynote talk by Daniel Kraft MD - The future of healthcare, where can technology take us?
• An interactive Panel discussion, 4 parallel sessions includig 3 talks within the 4 areas of interest, and more during the inspiring Congress. 
• 1-on-1 meetings with companies from all over the world (Brazil, Japan, Canada, France, and more).
• The importancy of a strong MedTech community with expert interviews 
• 15+ Pre-sessions with 40+ presentations & discussions

The first edition of the TechMed Event

The 2019 TechMed Event, on June 6th 2019, featured more than 8 inspiring online knowledge and matchmaking sessions in which physicians, researchers, and companies from the MedTech Ecosystem came together within  areas of interest Robotics, Implementation and Personalized eHealth technology. 

The program included:

• Keynote talk by Drs. Bas van den Dungen;
• Keynote talk by Dr. Peter N. Burns
• Inspirational sessions including business and science pitches hosted by Personalized eHealth Technology, Healthcare Robotics ans Sustainable Healthcare Technology.
• Experience Expo, Innovation Matchmakers, Network square, and more.