Pioneering HealthTech & MedTech at the University of Twente
Challenges in healthcare demand smarter, more sustainable solutions. Is care always going to be readily available? Staff shortages are increasing every year while the population continues to age. The affordability of care is at risk, especially as chronic conditions continue to grow. And what is climate change doing to our health? New infectious diseases, heat stress and air pollution have a direct impact on our well-being, while healthcare itself has a large ecological footprint. The University of Twente combines education, research and entrepreneurship to realise innovations that support care professionals, prevent illness and further burden, and personalise treatment. Our goal is to create Healthcare technology that understands people
Integrated Wearables & Biosensors
Smart technology can support healthcare professionals. Data from cutting-edge wearables such as smartwatches and biosensors enables real-time monitoring of vital signs, stress levels and environmental exposures. Through collaboration between physiologists and data scientists, we invent preventive solutions to minimise diseases and their burden. And we imagine how to translate continuous streams of information into actionable insights that empower both patients and clinicians to make informed decisions.
Personalised Diagnostics & Therapeutics
We conduct interdisciplinary MedTech research in medical imaging, microfluidics and organs-on-chip. This helps us build solutions to find disease earlier and more precisely, and create custom treatments with improved outcomes. In our labs, we develop solutions for needleless injections without pain. We also develop organ-on-chip models to test new drugs safely. And our AI-powered imaging systems can detect subtle biomarkers. All of this moves us closer to care that truly focuses on patient-centred care.
AI & Robotics in Care Delivery
We use artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics at the TechMed Centre to boost the accuracy and productivity of care. Within our research groups, you’ll find smart software that plans hospital schedules and improves logistics. We work on social robots that offer friendship in dementia wards. Our aim is simple: we do not want to replace healthcare workers, but give them more time for what truly matters: compassionate human interaction. We want healthcare professionals to care for patients with empathy and attention.
Sustainable & Climate-Resilient Healthcare
Healthcare needs to become more sustainable because hospitals and clinics use a lot of energy and resources. At the University of Twente, we work on greener solutions for a healthier planet. Our research focuses on energy-saving medical devices, reducing the amount of required materials and resources, recyclable materials for biosensors and building designs that adapt to changing climates. This helps cut down the environmental impact of hospitals. At the same time, we study how heat stress, air pollution and new infections affect people’s health. By doing both, we make sure our HealthTech innovations are good for patients and for the Earth.
The TechMed Centre: Innovation Hub
The TechMed Centre is our flagship innovation hub in healthcare and medical technology. It is equipped with state-of-the-art labs, preclinical test environments and simulated hospital living labs. We're fast-tracking prototypes into clinical practice and boosting the innovation ecosystem in both the healthcare and the MedTech business cluster, and both in the Dutch and the German border region. Within the Health domain at UT, we emphasise collaboration. Here, engineers, medical professionals, entrepreneurs and policymakers co-create tomorrow’s health technologies. This ensures that technology 'works', and is understood and embraced. This is how we work on sustainable and personalised healthcare with help of technology.
