issue.pdf - European Hospital

Focus on IT andadministrators’ needs

S P E C I A L I S S U E : M E D I C A L , T E C H N I C A L , P H A R M A C E U T I C A L , I N D U S T R I A L N E W S & M U C H M O R E

EUROPEAN HOSPITAL

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 6

D U S S E L D O R F F R I D AY 1 7 N O V E M B E R

This year, EUROPEAN HOSPITAL hasproduced three separate issues for this,the world’s largest medical trade fair,because medical developments andtherefore exhibits continue to expandso we decided to take a divisionalapproach. In this issue, we highlightadministrative and clinical organisation-al needs, as well as the efforts of IT spe-cialist firms to meet their IT wants andwishes.

Those who have visited the MEDICA

meet.IT section will already know itsvalue. Hard- and software manufactur-ers are displaying and demonstratingtheir solutions and successes in thisexciting but often difficult to tacklecommunications science. Among theirexhibits are systems to help speed up orcontrol workflow for hospital adminis-tration staff and medical teams, labora-tory workers and, further up the scale,are the complex imaging systems andaudio/visual recording equipment thataim to provide superb quality, whilealso ensuring data are readily and cor-rectly gained, accessible, stored, andcombined as far as possible, withintoday’s advancement towards the elec-tronic patient record and much else.

While much has been achieved, muchremains to be learned for the future useof electronic communications in ourhospitals.

By Brenda Marsh

To this end, the VHitG (Association ofManufacturers of IT Solutions for Health-care) and Messe Dusseldorf again organ-ised MEDICA meet.IT – The Forum. ‘Thisconcentrates on the presentation of prod-ucts made by our member companies,’ DrWolrad Rube, Chairman of the VhitG,explained. ‘We are offering companiesthe chance to present themselves througha user or technical talk within the frame-work of the Forum.’ The forum focus in Hall 15: ● Health delivery control (e.g. patientmanagement; sector-overlapping medicalcare; treatment directions; workflow sup-port) ● IT for nursing care (e.g. diagnosticsand care services records; case manage-ment; hospital organisation) ● IT for general practitioners (e.g. telem-atic applications in medical practices;introduction of the electronic healthcard) ● Interoperability/inter-sector communi-cation.

Also for the first time, a joint presenta-tion is being given on hospital informa-tion systems (HIS) and medical practice.And, of course, there’s a broad array ofother communications products, such asnurse-calling systems, dictation equip-ment and much else, in Hall 14.Further details: www.vhitg.de andwww.medica.de

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• Acoustically correct

• Non-injurious to transducers

• Available in 20 gram overwrapped foil pouches, 48 sterile pouches per box

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Medical Solutions from Sony Medica 2006November 15-18th, Düsseldorf Join us at Stand A21 in Hall 15

3

In each issue ofEUROPEAN HOSPITAL

we print a form forcompletion by top

medical and hospitaladministrative

personnel to use. Visit our stand to collect

your FREE editions ofthe magazine, write your

name and details onthe form, and you could

be added to ourmailing list.

It’s as simple as that.

Meet us at MEDICA! Hall 7 Stand E15 The European Hospital team will be happy to hear about your research, productsR&D and/or trials and launches, hospital management issues, or any other aspectsof your work, so that we can discuss your editorial and/or advertising needs. (Youcan also locate our contact details on page 14).

Our publications are distributed to Europe’s leading medical and hospitaladministrative personnel, making EUROPEAN HOSPITAL the leading pan-Europeanmedical and healthcare journal.

We also publish the hospital architecture/design magazine D4 Health and the@MEDICA series.

During this year’s show, three special 2006@MEDICA editions will be distributed -on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – so don’t miss any! If you did not receive yourfree copies at the entrance of Messe Dusseldorf, simply visit our stand.

If you miss us at MEDICA, we will also be at RSNA 2006, held later this month inChicago, USA. (South building. Hall A, stand 1008).

So, enjoy your visit – and let’s meet!

Welcome to the 38th MEDICA – the world’sbiggest medical trade show – where onceagain the number of exhibitors, as well asvisitors, is predicted to break all previousrecords. Horst Giesen, the project coordinatorof MEDICA, described highlights of this year’sshow, and future plans for the event, in aninterview with Daniela Zimmermann, of

European Hospital, publisher of the annual @MEDICA series,who asked ‘What are the hot topics this year?’HG: Nothing will be presented with a lotof razzle-dazzle. However, it’s one ofMEDICA’s strengths to focus on theongoing development of trends. A pointin case: miniaturisation. There are anumber of innovations, as devices arebecoming ever smaller and better.

Point-of-care testing is another bigissue where we see a constant flow ofclinical enhancements. Today, manyprocedures and measurements that tra-ditionally had to be performed in thelaboratory can be done at the bedside –with results instantly available. Is the integration of such data into

the electronic patient record (EPR)

and hospital information system

(HIS) still a big focus?



EUROPEAN HOSPITAL

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 6

DUSSELDORF WEDNESDAY 15 NOVEMBER

The heart of healthcarebeats in Dusseldorf

Horst Giesen

continued on page 2

Very big – particularly in Germanhealthcare, where the focus is on theelectronic health card. At the show,several companies will demonstratehow that card works and explore itspotential. We have scheduled the spe-cial show MEDICA.Media, which willalso deal with the subject. Technically,these cards are available, but the differ-ent stakeholders have to agree on theways they will be used. This is a very German issue.

Indeed! But the electronic health card,I mean the software, and the techno-logical know-how behind it, can beexported and thus presents majorinternational market potential.

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Don’t miss our future publications!

The 3M Healthcare Forum 2006DRG and quality management as a success factor in hospital management

Despite budgetary and other pressures, hospitals are now perceived as ‘businesses’ that shouldraise overall quality standards in order to attract new ‘clients’ – the patients. The 3M HealthInformation software portfolio aims to support this quality drive by enabling hospitals to easily cullquality-relevant information from routinely recorded data sets. This September, 3M held a two-dayevent in Neuss, Germany, to discuss DRGs; the role of quality management as a strategic growthfactor in the healthcare industry; how strategic quality management could be implemented ineveryday clinical practice and how DRGs and quality management can be linked. In discussion withDenise Hennig, of European Hospital, Marvin K Johnson, International Manager for 3M HealthInformation Systems Division, Yves Delcourte, Business Manager Health Information Systems,Europe, and Dr Thilo Köpfer, 3M Health Information Systems Germany, outlined their concepts andinternational experiences in this field

DH: The introduction of DRG –

with concomitant software

tools – has enabled data

analysis of every hospital

department, in terms of costs,

benefits, and quality. What is

your experience with the

reimbursement system?

Marvin Johnson: Initially the systemwas received with strongreservations. Whilst DRGs areoften perceived as a limitation,they also allow different aspects ofhealthcare to be measured.Hospitals must work economically.With the help of our analyticaltools they can identify potentiallyavoidable complications andremedy them efficiently. With theDRG system we can improve ahospital’s ability to manage costsand quality. In the US, for example,30% of costs are incurred due topoor quality. Our software toolsallow us to measure a wealth ofhospital processes and results.With these data we can chart andanalyse every department andidentify sources of inefficiencythat, in turn, can be remedied. As aresult, costs are reduced, profitsgenerated and the balance betweenquality and costs can bemaintained. In Germany, it doesn’t appear

quite so simple to translate

DRGs into profit. On the basis

of DRG data, at the beginning

of each year a hospital

negotiates an individual

budget with the health

insurers. If, at that year’s end,

the hospital has indeed saved

money, they encounter

reimbursement problems.

Dr Thilo Köpfer: The USA’shealthcare system is different fromthat in Germany. The coin has twosides – one is the reimbursement ahospital receives from insurers, theother is its actual cost, which thehospital must manage. In Germanythe discussion about budgetingversus a performance drivenreimbursement system is notfinished. On the basis of DRG data,hospital management shouldnegotiate with the insurers abudget that reflects its medicalperformance. If the hospital is able

From left: Denise Hennig,Marvin K Johnson, Dr ThiloKöpfer and Yves Delcourte

percent. In other countries, forexample Belgium, the DRGs onlyaccount for part of the hospitalbudget. I recommend separation ofthe funding system – yourreimbursement system - from theclassification. The incentive forhospitals to improve quality ofcare, and decrease costs, is seeneverywhere. The driver could bedifferent and the tools to managethe situation also might bedifferent. From our perspective, weposition the DRG as a goodfoundation to manage thesituation, which means you don’thave to have a specific DRGsystem for an entire hospital – youcan have different systems, one forfunding and another for quality. Wesaw this happen in Belgium andsee it happening in Italy and Spain.The most sophisticated DRGsystem is the APR system (all-patient refined) because itprovides risk adjustmentDoes that mean physicians

will become case managers in

the future? What is the

advantage of APR?

YD: The advantage lies in the risk-adjustment within patient groups,which makes the cost-spread moreequitable. The grouping systemcomputes a case payment based ondiagnosis-, treatment- anddemographic information. Thecoding software facilitatesclassification, which means itsaves time. Our software tools takerisk management into account. Asan example, data analysis canshow to the hospital manager howthe costs are spread over thevarious departments. Moreover, itallows different hospitals to becompared in terms of performancetaking into account the severity ofillness of the patients. APR’s makeit possible to compare apples withapples. Our tools help hospitals toobtain their necessary data forquality management, costsmanagement and efficiency. Inshort, we provide the basis for anindividual hospital to be - andremain - successful in the market.Further details: www.mmm.com

3M is at MEDICA. Hall 15, booth B33

to reduce cost it should benefitfrom those profits. And information management

systems help in this?

TK: Yes. Our billing systemprovides a comprehensive profileof a patient and his/her medicalhistory. DRG case payments arebased on averages computed fromdifferent patient data sets, whichcontain information on cases with– or without – complications. Yves Delcourte: We have differentDRG systems in differentcountries. What Germany isimplementing is pretty unique.This is the only country in Europewhere the financial impact onhospitals is so dependant on theDRG; that dependency is 100


Info

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rvic

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r. 08

8.06

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EUROPEAN HOSPITAL

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 6

DUSSELDORF THURSDAY 16 NOVEMBER

Visitors coming to MEDICA topurchase pre-hospital emergencyequipment will not be disappoint-ed. Specialist exhibitors are plenti-ful this year, demonstrating every-thing from novel bandages andsplints to high-tech ambulance andrescue vehicles and more.

The aptly named First Care

Products, for example, reportsthat its goods are: ‘…combat andclinically proven to provide bene-fits to victims and care-givers andhave become relied upon as vitalequipment in the treatment ofhaemorrhage and trauma relatedinjuries’. Among its wares is theEmergency Bandage, which con-solidates numerous pieces ofequipment into a single device.Upon application, immediate pres-sure is exerted on the woundthrough its sterile, non-adherentpad, to bring about haemostasis.The bandage also provides a ster-ile secondary dressing, immobili-sation of an injured limb or body

A ‘one-stop-shop’ for disaster, rescue andemergency care By Brenda Marsh

part, and can be used to effecteven more direct pressure toarrest severe bleeding. An addi-tional advantage: it also can beself-applied.

This firm is launching new prod-ucts at Medica. So, take a look!

Spencer Italia Srl also spe-cialises in emergency rescue, lifesupport and first response prod-ucts, as well as health and safetygoods. This firm is not only proudof its quality certification, but alsoits environmental record; the plas-tics used in products are 100%recyclable and painting methodsare non-polluting: ‘We invest inresearch for environmental pro-tection because we feel obligedtowards the Star of Life, whichmarks our brand, and towards theplanet we all live on.’

Emergencia 2000 S.A., whichhas factories/offices in Europe(Spain, Portugal and Germany),Asia (SE branch in Bangkok) and

continued on page 2


For better operating results:� iLED surgical lights with integrated

camera system: for the best possible view

� MARS operating table – the new generation:

flexible, mobile and strong

TRUMPF will be exhibiting these and many other

innovative products for operations and intensive

medicine at Medica 2006.

For the first time at Medica:

The TRUMPF communication forum � Lectures and discussions with

users and specialists

� Directly at the TRUMPF

exhibition stand


F O R P A T I E N T C A R E

TRUMPF Medizin Systeme Phone +49 (0) 89 / 8 09 07-0

[email protected]

www.trumpf-med.com

Intelligent Products –Integrated ConceptsMedica 2006 · Hall 13 · Stand A 42

Intelligent Products –Integrated Concepts




www.wi-bo.dewww.linet.com

15. - 18. NOVEMBER 2006HALL 1 4, BOOTH E05

MEDICA®

Focus on IT andadministrators’ needs


EUROPEAN HOSPITAL

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 6

D U S S E L D O R F F R I D AY 1 7 N O V E M B E R

This year, EUROPEAN HOSPITAL hasproduced three separate issues for this,the world’s largest medical trade fair,because medical developments andtherefore exhibits continue to expandso we decided to take a divisionalapproach. In this issue, we highlightadministrative and clinical organisation-al needs, as well as the efforts of IT spe-cialist firms to meet their IT wants andwishes.

Those who have visited the MEDICA

meet.IT section will already know itsvalue. Hard- and software manufactur-ers are displaying and demonstratingtheir solutions and successes in thisexciting but often difficult to tacklecommunications science. Among theirexhibits are systems to help speed up orcontrol workflow for hospital adminis-tration staff and medical teams, labora-tory workers and, further up the scale,are the complex imaging systems andaudio/visual recording equipment thataim to provide superb quality, whilealso ensuring data are readily and cor-rectly gained, accessible, stored, andcombined as far as possible, withintoday’s advancement towards the elec-tronic patient record and much else.

While much has been achieved, muchremains to be learned for the future useof electronic communications in ourhospitals.

By Brenda Marsh

To this end, the VHitG (Association ofManufacturers of IT Solutions for Health-care) and Messe Dusseldorf again organ-ised MEDICA meet.IT – The Forum. ‘Thisconcentrates on the presentation of prod-ucts made by our member companies,’ DrWolrad Rube, Chairman of the VhitG,explained. ‘We are offering companiesthe chance to present themselves througha user or technical talk within the frame-work of the Forum.’ The forum focus in Hall 15: ● Health delivery control (e.g. patientmanagement; sector-overlapping medicalcare; treatment directions; workflow sup-port) ● IT for nursing care (e.g. diagnosticsand care services records; case manage-ment; hospital organisation) ● IT for general practitioners (e.g. telem-atic applications in medical practices;introduction of the electronic healthcard) ● Interoperability/inter-sector communi-cation.

Also for the first time, a joint presenta-tion is being given on hospital informa-tion systems (HIS) and medical practice.And, of course, there’s a broad array ofother communications products, such asnurse-calling systems, dictation equip-ment and much else, in Hall 14.Further details: www.vhitg.de andwww.medica.de


When Sterilityis Indicated...

There’s Only One Choice:Sterile Aquasonic®100

Ultrasound Transmission Gel.Certified

The World Standard for sterile ultrasound transmission.

• Easy-to-open *Tyvek® overwrap Guarantees sterility of the inner

foil pouch and the gel within

• Consistent quality Aqueous, non-staining,

hypoallergenic

• Acoustically correct

• Non-injurious to transducers

• Available in 20 gram overwrapped foil pouches, 48 sterile pouches per box

• 0344 certified

ISO 13485:2003PARKER LABORATORIES, INC.286 Eldridge Road, Fairfield, NJ 07004Tel. 973-276-9500 • Fax 973-276-9510www.parkerlabs.com *Trademark of Dupont®





‘

4

CONGRESSES10:00 – 13:00 hrs. Ground floor, room 01 Modern Imaging of the heartModeration: Prof Hans Martin Hoffmeister(Solingen)Organiser: Berufsverband Deutscher

Internisten (BDI)/Section cardiology,echocardiography: PD Dr Roger Marx (Essen)

Magnetic resonance imaging: Prof Udo Sechtem,Stuttgart

Computed tomography: Prof Sigmund Silber(Munich)

Nuclear cardiology: Prof Jürgen vom Dahl(Mönchengladbach)

Today’s MEDICA congresses and briefings10:00 – 13:00 hrs. 1st floor, room 6The digital hospitalModeration: Dr phil. Helga Kirchner (Düsseldorf)Prof Marcus Siebolds (Köln)

10:00 – 13:00 hrs. Second floor, room 28Emergencies in older peopleModeration: Prof Peter Sefrin, Wurzburg

Particularities for the treatment of older people:Dr Dieter Lüttje (Osnabruck)

Traumatic emergencies: Dr Daniela Langner (Hanover)

Neurological & psychiatric emergencies: Dr Michael Schwab (Wurzburg)

Reanimation in older people: Prof Peter Sefrin (Wurzburg)

14.30 – 17.30 hrs. 1st floor, room 5

Co-operations in healthcare – currentdevelopmentsModeration: RA Dr Bernd Halbe (Cologne)Organiser: Dr Halbe Rechtsanwälte (Köln)Introduction: RA Dr Bernd Halbe (Köln)RA Dr Bernd Halbe (Köln)

Questions on employment laws andregulations affecting new types ofhealthcare:RA Sven Rothfuß (Cologne)Operational and management aspects – DRG,MVZ, IV, direct contracts, outpatient surgery –how will the hospital of the future befinanced?: Prof Harald Schmitz (Düsseldorf)

Rapidly changing conditions, suchas doctors’ strikes, which affectpatient throughput, require veryquick reactions from hospital man-agement. Management informa-tion systems have helped greatlyin such circumstances, and now atotally new variation of the tradi-tional IT system is currently mak-ing its way into the organisationalprocesses of several hospitals,which aims to support theextremely complex reorganisationof clinical and administrativeprocesses as well as improve costmanagement.

Hospital directors know howmuch a hospital will be paid bytheir insurance company for apatient suffering a stroke, a heartattack or cancer. How much thesepatients will actually cost the hos-pital, however, remains to be

seen. It is, however, becomingmore and more important that hos-pital directors have this informa-tion at their fingertips. The intro-duction of flat-rate remuneration inhospitals means that an economicdimension is now added to thehospitals’ medical and care duties,with modern IT becoming indis-pensable in itemising the costs oreach patient’s care.

A three-factor modelling systemThree factors are involved: casecost, insurer’s reimbursement andthe introduction of flat-rate remu-nerations. Therefore, an IT systemis needed to dynamically link allthree factors in multiple dimen-sions - an integrated database sys-tem, a ‘data warehouse’, capableof performing the extraordinary:modelling the costs of each

NEW MANAGEMENT Heads of departments ‘sell’ time and space, nurses ‘sell’ beds

patient’s hospital stay as a closedloop - accurately and in real-time. Todo this, the hospital’s existing datasources are used and are now linkeddynamically. Hospitals thereforeneed multi-dimensional databasesthat will permit any number of para-meter combinations.

The Deggendorf county hospital isamong the first German hospitals tosuch an IT system to change itsprocesses and determine the poten-tial for cost-savings within its struc-tures. Using simulation processescomparable with those in the virtualcockpit of a flight simulator, Deggen-dorf hospital staff entered ‘What if’scenarios into the system - andfound solutions.

The system proved its worth atmanagement level when it helpedthe head of the Neurosurgery depart-ment to convert his department’sone million euros deficit into a mil-lion euros surplus within two years.

Internal cost allocationDeggendorf decided to define clearareas of responsibility in decen-

Networking cardiovascular imaging The digitisation of patient data and

networking of workstations and

departments are important topics at

this year’s MEDICA. There is no lack

of IT and software solutions for

putting digitisation and networks into

practice; however, many hospitals

wonder how the implementation will

work in practice and whether the

investment will prove successful.

At the 6th eHealth Forum, held in

Bonn this October, Dr Jochen

Textor, Head of the Department for

Radiology, Interventional Radiology

and Neuroradiology of the

Cardiovascular Centre at the

Gemeinschafts hospital, Bonn,

reported interdisciplinary

developments that originated from the

separate departments of radiology,

cardiology and vascular surgery.

Asked about this, by Meike Lerner, he

explained:

“Normally, several different medicaldisciplines are involved in the treat-ment of cardiovascular diseasepatients. Beginning with the generalpractitioner’s input, information mustbe focused and transparent acrossdifferent medical fields and the careprocess.

Hospitals can achieve this by set-ting up electronic patient records(EPR) as well as digital image evalua-tion and distribution of all imagestaken inside or beyond the hospital.

The development of structuredtreatment procedures is also veryimportant for setting up centralisedtreatment facilities. This means thedevelopment of individual specialistdepartments right down to work inareas such as disease management.

Such a development, which startswith networking individual workstations and individual depart-ments, then culminates in network-ing individual hospitals, cannot beachieved in a day. The EPR, forexample, was introduced at theGemeinschafts hospital in 2002, tomake patients’ files available todoctors on all wards at all times.The EPR contains all diagnoses,scheduled examinations, laborato-ry results and doctor’s letters andeverything is linked with account-ing and controlling systems. Twoyears later we started digitalisingradiology. Since then we have beenstoring all images taken duringexaminations centrally on a serverand send them simultaneously toall relevant work-stations where

they are required, such as to the radi-ology department, as well as wardsand operating theatres.

A year after that we then devel-oped an image archiving and commu-nication system together with theRheinische hospital. In the mean-time, 40 other cooperative partnershave become linked to this system.All patient data and images can beaccessed from all locations - provid-ed the doctor has been authorised inthe system. The advantages are obvi-ous: All images, results and diag-noses are available independent oftime and location. This means thatseveral doctors in different hospitalscan simultaneously view images andresults. The integration of imagingprocedures into the system has sig-nificantly eased and improved the

Software automatically converts dataThe DICOM Attribute Converter

is a software module that solves

even complex communication

problems between DICOM

devices, such as imaging equip-

ment, archives and workstations.

Placed between two devices it

observes their communication.

Messages are received, analysed,

if necessary filtered or modified,

then sent to the communication

partner. This ensures the proper

interpretation of all message ele-

ments, its developer Softgate

GmbH reports. ‘The rules for the

required modifications are

defined in a configuration file.

The original software of the

devices does not need to be

changed, which saves time and cost

for implementing the DICOM

Attribute Converter and does not

affect quality assurance and regula-

tory authority approvals of the

devices.’

The converter is transparent to

the communicating devices. It

processes received messages online,

almost without slow down of the

communication, the company adds.

‘The available functions cover

numeric and string operations, fil-

ters, comparison, as well as auto-

generation of messages.’

The converter runs on a stand

alone PC in the DICOM network,

thus solving existing problems in

the DICOM connectivity between

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A W o r l d o f S o l u t i o n s

‘5

Questions on reimbursement for outpatient treatment withthe introduction of new healthcare structures: RA Stefan Kallenberg (Cologne)

Tax aspects of new forms of co-operations and outsourcingof central supply areas within the hospital: Dipl Kfm Thomas Karch (Krefeld)

14:30 – 17:30 hrs. 1st floor, room 16

New imaging procedures in preventive medicineModeration: Prof Rainer Seibel, Mulheim/RPrevention with the Dual Source CT: Prof Rainer M. Seibel(Mülheim)

New treatment procedures for intracranial vascularobliteration: Prof Ferdinand Brassel (Duisburg)

Endoscopy in the prevention of colon cancer: Prof Guido Gerken (Essen)

Results of the Heinz Nixdorf RECALL-Study: Prof Raimund Erbel (Essen)

Consequences from the Heinz Nixdorf RECALL-Study forprevention: PD Dr Stefan Möhlenkamp (Essen)

11:00 hrs. Medica meet IT. Hall 15, stand G 48Interoperability. IT-strategies in integrated care –reality & visionDr Markus Müschenich, Medizinischer Vorstand, Verein zurErrichtung Evangelischer Krankenhäuser e.V.; UlrikeSchuster, Beraterin Medizinsysteme, T-Systems EnterpriseServices GmbH

12:30 hrs Interoperability. Networking in healthcare –E-health in lower Austria – Connecting,networking, simplifyingGottfried Heider, Project Manager i.s.h.med,Internat. CC health Wien, T-Systems AustriaGesmbH

PRESS BRIEFINGS14.00 hrs. North entrance, room 201

TNI – Breathing therapy without a maskTNI Medical GmbH (Freiburg)

Today’s MEDICA congresses and briefings

tralised structures. Each head ofdepartment is assigned economicresponsibility for his/her depart-ment, thus becoming almost self-sufficient with the department’sbudget and far-reaching manage-ment responsibilities.

Nurses also ‘sell’ beds to the sur-gical departments by the day. Thedepartment head ‘rents’ beds fromthe head of the nursing station,thus eliminating the need for a dedi-cated surgical ward and enablingprocesses to run more smoothly.

Operating and anaesthesia timeis purchased from the head of thesurgical unit, and laboratory andradiology services are also account-ed for internally. Clerical workersare paid by the number of lettersproduced; case managers accordingto their number of patients. Thebasic principle: those in responsiblepositions are assigned budgetswithin which they can work indepen-dently.

Without this new IT technology,this process would involve a greatmany delays.

between devices

diagnostic process. There is an addedadvantage for patients, in that thereis no need for repeat examinations,and images now cannot get lost.

All in all, we are looking at a signif-icant time saving, and therefore costsaving, for everyone involved. Theprocesses between different special-ist departments and different hospi-tals are substantially simplified. Thismade digitisation a significant build-ing block in the formation of theinterdepartmental and ‘interhospital’Cardiovascular Centre at the Gemein-schafts hospital Bonn, which wasrecognised and certified by the Ger-

man Society forVascular Surgery inSeptember 2006. The investmentcosts are definitelyjustified.”

two devices, and for imaging equip-

ment for which updates are no

longer available, or only with diffi-

culty. ‘Alternatively,’ the firm

points out, ‘the DICOM Attribute

Converter may be preventatively

placed in imaging devices by the

manufacturer to have an easy to

use tool for later problem solving.’

Details: www.soft-gate.de or Dr

Florian Höpfl: phone +49 9131

81270-64. [email protected]

MEDICA: Hall 3, stand 3E83

Dr JochenTextor

1st World of Health ITExhibition and Conference

6

I T & T E L E M E D I C I N E

The World of health IT (WHIT)conference, the first event of itskind, drew a hundred vendors andaround 1,500 visitors to Geneva,including leaders and experts inhealth IT from Europe, the MiddleEast and Africa (EMEA), GuidoGebhardt reports.

Addressing the perspectives ofclinicians, directors and otherhealthcare professionals, theevent provided educational ses-sions, trade exhibits, best practiceexchange networking sessionsand other professional develop-ment opportunities. It is designedto bridge the gap between publicpolicy and the realities of day-to-day implementation.

To quote the European Com-mission: ‘eHealth is all about bet-ter healthcare for less money andforms, the major challenge facingEurope’s healthcare systems’.eHealth is already being flaggedup as potentially the third largestindustry in the healthcare sectorand looks set to account for up to5% of the EU´s healthcare budgetby 2010.

Today, information and com-munication technologies are usedby the full range of healthcareprofessionals. But among thechallenges facing the industry arehow to gain the best return oninvestment in a rapidly changingworkplace, how to bring mem-bers of the healthcare communitytogether – not just in Europe, butin the Middle East and Africa – todiscuss best practice, and how to

Reaching for aglobal network

Close to 2,000 people attended theconference and exhibition, whichfeatured 120 speakers includingBaroness Emma Nicholson a SeniorMember of the EuropeanParliament, Michael Bainbridge ofthe UK National Health Service,Claudio Beretta, general director ofhealth for the Lombardy region ofItaly, Maria Jesus Montero, ministerof health for the Andalusia regionand the Kuwaiti health minister,Sheik Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al AhmadAl Sabah.

At the event, European healthcareorganisations at the event surpriseddelegates with a number of high-profile IT projects aimed at increas-ing efficiency and improving patientcare. In one presentation, JaimeNieto Cervera, of the UniversityHospitals Virgen del Rocío, inSpain, demonstrated how his organ-isation had reduced report turn-around time by 50% by integratingspeech recognition with the Elec-tronic Patient Record. Since 2002,the hospitals have worked withspeech recognition linked to theelaboration of reports in differentspecialities. ‘In 2004, the ideaemerged to develop and apply thistechnology to electronic records, tomake its use accessible to profes-sionals and improve patient rela-tionships,’ he explained. The maingoal was to reduce the interactiontime of physicians with IT systems.The hospitals also aimed toimprove the information quality andachieve a considerable growth inunderstanding electronic patientrecords.

Financed by the Health Depart-ment of the Andalucian govern-ment, the project is powered by the

Along with most European coun-tries, the Swiss healthcare systemis undergoing change. Necessaryinvestments are estimated to reachc. 55 billion francs (around 35 bil-lion euros). At its 6th SwisseHealthcare Congress held in Not-twill this September, received over1,800 visitors and 95 companiesshowed their products. Although aSwiss event, it also attracted visi-tors from Germany and Austria.Over the last six years, the con-gress has grown from a small, spe-cialised event to the largest inter-disciplinary congress in the Swisshealthcare system.

In 34 symposiums, 161 nationaland international speakers gaveinsights into eHealth in Switzerlandand the German-speaking areas ofEurope, reporting on their ownexperiences with IT or, in the caseof representatives from medicalindustries, about new trends, prod-uct developments and services.

The 7th eHealthcare.ch will beheld at the GZI Congress Centre, inNottwil, Lucerne from 27-28 Sep-tember 2007.Details: www.ehealthcare.ch

put users in touch with eHealthtechnology vendors so the lattercan meet the needs of the former.

Backed by the EC, the WHO, andothers, including Intel, Microsoft,Oracle, SAP, Siemens, Philips, Agfaand Kodak, the event showcasedthe cutting edge of eHealth tech-nology.

WHIT is not designed to giveinformation on, for example, digi-tising a hospital. It takes a far morepan-European or even worldwideperspective, to set up a globaleHealthcare infrastructure for aninternational exchange of patientdata, or bringing health informa-tion to people with no internetaccess. So the political topicsmight not be of interest for hospi-tal CEOs. The WHIT appears moreof a congress for healthcare lobby-ists and strategists than of health-care engineering.

CEOs are mainly interested insolutions tailored to the needs oftheir home country. And this is thebig difference from the USA’s viewof HIMSS: The variety of languagesand systems in Europe is too large,here one system doesn’t fit all.

speech recognition technologySpeechMagic from Philips. Focus-ing not only on transformingspeech to text, but also on under-standing voice commands, clini-cians were put in a position to usetheir ‘natural resource’ to interactwith the IT system. This feature,called Command and Control, dif-ferentiates dictation text fromnavigation commands. For exam-ple, by using macros, saying thewords ‘normal abdomen’ wouldautomatically type the completedescription of a normal abdomeninto the Electronic PatientRecord, thus eliminating the needfor repetition of a standarddescription during patient exami-nation.

As a result of fastened and sim-plified documentation, physicianscan direct most of their attentionto the patient, Jaime NietoCervera said. Errors resultingfrom passing on informationbetween professionals verbally,or in hand-written notes, havebeen eliminated. Also, due to fastavailability and accessibility ofmedical information, treatmentcan continue more quickly.

The University Hospitals Virgen del Rocío Also in Switzerland....

7

c o m p a n y n e w sI T & T E L E M E D I C I N E

UK – The Health Minister LordWarner has set out key details ofwhat patients and the public canexpect from the National HealthService (NHS) Care Records Ser-vice (electronic patient records).He announced that a Public Infor-mation Programme, with nationalroadshows and an explanatoryleaflet, are to be sent to mosthouseholds in England. ‘Patientswill be informed in advance aboutnew ways in which their informa-tion will be held and shared, andwill be told they have the right todissent - or opt out - of havinginformation shared,’ he said. ‘Ifthey do not opt out, they will bedeemed to have given impliedconsent to the sharing of theirinformation, under strict controlsbetween those legitimately treat-ing them.’ He also pointed out thatthey will be able to see their sum-mary record and note any issuesthey wish on an electronic health-space.

The NHS Care Records Servicewill enable detailed patientrecords to be held locally, with asummary of the detailed recordavailable nationally, so rigoroussafeguards are being emplaced toprotect patient confidentiality.Anyone who wants to access arecord that identifies a patientwill need a smartcard and pass-code (chip and pin). The level ofinformation that is seen will bedetermined by the role of the staffmember. There will also be anaudit trail of access to recordsand, in the caser of inappropriateaccess, alerts will be triggered.

A special NHS Care RecordsTaskforce has been set up toaddress concerns around elec-tronic patients records.

Regarding the publication NHS

Care Record Guarantee for Eng-

land, Lord Warner said that itgives weight to people’s autonomyover data sharing and control ofwhat is shared, but balances thiswith clinicians’ needs to keepgood records, and for anonymisedinformation to be used for audit,management and research.

On the subject of the NHSNational Programme forIT(NPfIT), of which the NHS CareRecords Service is a part, he said:‘The Government is committed toensuring that NPfIT is fully imple-mented and delivered. We are notgoing to be deflected by naysayersfrom any quarter. We recognisethat more needs to be done onarticulating the benefits that theProgramme will bring to patientsand also to NHS staff.’

However, he emphasised thathe does not support the 23 acade-mics who have asked the Houseof Commons Health Select Com-mittee to commission a review ofNPfITs technical architecture: ‘Iwant the programme’s manage-ment and suppliers to concentrateon implementation, and not bediverted by attending to anotherreview.’

Electronicpatientrecords

Autonomy for the people

UK/USA - Digital Healthcare (DH), the UK’s leading supplier ofdigital imaging software and electronic patient record systemsfor diabetic retinal screening programmes and ophthalmology,has appointed Marc Winchester as President, North America,Digital Healthcare Inc.

Headquartered in Cambridge, Digital Healthcare provides soft-ware solutions that combine high-quality digital imaging sys-tems with fully-automated data programmes to handle millionsof patient records. The UK’s National Health Service (NHS)Trusts are using the company’s firm’s leading product OptoMizeiP to monitor the condition of hundreds of thousands of diabet-ics in large scale community eye screening programmes current-ly underway across the country, because the Government’sscreening targets require 100% of the diabetic population tohave had access to a digital eye scan by 2007.

In the US, over 100 private practices, hospitals and universi-ties use DH’s software to screen patients for diseases such asglaucoma, retinopathy, cataracts and macular degeneration, aswell as for longitudinal studies that measure the impact of newhealthcare treatments.

Mr Winchester joins DH as President and Board Director,assuming full operational and management responsibility togrow the business in North America, particularly in the keyareas of messaging and high capacity imaging in chronic dis-ease, clinical ophthalmology and clinical trials.

Sony’s audio-visualportfolio at MEDICA

Sony holds an increasingly importantposition within healthcare. The firm’sproducts for medical professionalsinclude diagnostic film imagers andvideo printers, recorders, LCD monitorsand cameras and even complete med-ical imaging networks - all seamlesslyintegrating into the hospital environ-ment, the company reports. ‘Sony has along heritage in healthcare, and is con-stantly innovating in the area of clinicalAV and IT solutions that are not only atthe forefront of medical technology butare also easy to use,’ David Dowe,Director of Sony Healthcare said. ’Relia-bility, functionality and workflow optimi-sation are essentials in the healthcareenvironment and medical serviceproviders are increasingly looking toSony as a trusted name in the sector.’

The ever-increasing image data gener-ated in hospitals has considerably influ-enced the firm’s healthcare productsdevelopment. This is very evident in itsrange of medical printers. At MEDICA,this range includes high-end diagnosticfilm imagers as well as paper productsthat enable fast printing. These areexpected to attract not only those work-

ing in radiology, but also in endoscopy,microsurgery, pathology, ophthalmologyand dentistry. Sony envisages healthysales for these products during thecoming year.

The printers provide high-contrast andhigh-density images with greater durabil-ity, the firm reports. Superior imagequality provided by the UP-DF500 SonyFilmstation, for example, results fromthe 12-bit resolution and 4,096 shadesof grey. The UP-DF500 - the only diag-nostic imager that can be installed verti-cally or horizontally - features theworld’s smallest footprint.

Fully compatible with DICOM net-works, this printer was designed toaccommodate the workflow changeintroduced by networked modalities andallows de-centralized next-to-applicationprinting, Sony reports.

Recording surgical procedures In previous issues of our journal EURO-PEAN HOSPITAL, we have describedSony’s systems installed in operatingtheatres and teaching hospitals in vari-ous countries. You will understand thevalue of these when visiting Sony’sstand. For example, among them isthe world’s first and only medicalrecorder in full 1080i High Definition(HD) - the PDW-70MD. This was specif-ically designed to produce high-qualityimage hospital records, and thisincludes surgical procedures andendoscopy, HD video archiving using‘Professional Disc’ and academic pre-sentation material. This system can belinked with standard definition or HDendoscopes of leading manufacturers,such as Olympus, providing large audi-ences with images of such quality that

hitherto undefined intricacies of surgi-cal operations are crystal clear.

Other Sony MEDICA highlightsinclude the European-designed SonyBZMD-1 DICOM Capture Station, whichenables surgeons, during surgery, tomake comments and simultaneouslyacquire, display and archive high quali-ty stills as well as moving images. TheCapture Station can obtain visual mate-rial from most surgical cameras, includ-ing endoscopes and microscopes. TheHD capable Capture Station is fullyDICOM compliant for seamless integra-tion into a hospital or clinic’s DICOMnetwork.

‘The range of products Sony is show-casing at MEDICA not only demon-strates our ability to deliver innovation,but also our commitment to future-proofing our clients against the rapidtechnological advances being made inthe healthcare market,’ David Dowepointed out.

Take a look at these products, andmeet the Sony team to discusscustomised needs, at stand 825 inHall 15.

Defining the Nationwide HealthInformation Network (NHIN) ‘A network of networks’USA - In line with the Federal Government’s driveto progress IT for healthcare, nationwide, FCWMedia Group, the publisher of Federal ComputerWeek, produces the magazine Government HealthIT to provide a roundup of health IT news from theUS and abroad, including policy, technology, busi-ness and financing issues. For example, itsupdates have highlighted difficulties in setting upa national healthcare IT network. One recentreport informed that, after deliberating over 1,200initial requirements to arrive at a framework forexchanging medical records among doctors, hospi-tals and other healthcare providers across the US,the National Committee on Vital and Health Statis-tics had voted to send its report, ‘Minimum butInclusive Functional Requirements Needed for theInitial Definition of a Nationwide Health Informa-tion Network’, to the US Department of Health andHuman Services (DoHHS) – but first minor editswould have to be made.

The committee’s discussion focused on thelabel ‘minimum’ would dictate an all-or-nothingapproach to fielding portions of the (NHIN),dubbed ‘a network of networks’.

Committee member Stanley Huff, a physician

and professor of medical informatics at the Uni-versity of Utah, questioned whether it would pre-clude incremental implementation of the network.He said someone building a limited-purpose net-work, as an initial step, should not have to complywith all the requirements.

Dr Simon Cohn, the committee chairman,responded that the ‘minimum’ label was notintended to stifle movement toward the full imple-mentation of the NHIN. The committee agreed toadd a sentence clarifying this point.

The report calls for DoHHS to extend HIPAA-likeprivacy protections to all personal health records,regardless of who manages them. It also recom-mends that the DoHHS to provide those protec-tions ‘through enhancements and extensions toHIPAA or through other appropriate mechanisms’.

The report calls for the DoHHS to support stan-dards that would allow a patient’s or doctor’s pref-erences concerning specific data to travel acrossthe network in health information exchanges,which means, for example, that a patient’s desireto keep confidential a record of mental healthissues or HIV/AIDS would persist, no matter whohad a copy of the record

Eye software firm focuseson the US market

C O M P A N Y N E W S

8

The French firm Sopro, a subsidiary ofthe Acteon Group, has acquired theGerman company Comeg.

Sopro produces medical endoscopyequipment (cameras, light sources,insufflators, irrigators), as well as cam-eras and digital imaging devices fordentists. Comeg produces endoscopesfor abdominal surgery, urology,arthroscopy, gynaecology and ENT.Their merger has resulted in Sopro-Comeg and will result in close co-oper-

PHARMACEUTICALSDROP IN INTERNATIONAL GROWTH PREDICTED

The IMS 2007 Pharmaceutical

Market Forecast predicts a 5-6%international growth in the globalpharmaceuticals market, comparedwith 6-7% in 2006, with global phar-maceutical sales expanding toUS$665-685 billion next year. ‘In2007, the market will be still absorb-ing changes that have defined a neweconomic reality, one in whichgrowth is shifting from mature mar-kets to emerging ones; new productadoption is not keeping pace withthe loss of patent protection byestablished products; specialty andniche products are playing a largerrole, and regulators, payers andconsumers are more carefullyweighing the risk/benefit factors of

pharmaceuticals,’ said MurrayAitken, senior vice president, Cor-porate Strategy, IMS.

The geographic balance of thepharmaceutical market continuesto shift away from the USA towardsthe world’s emerging markets -countries with a per-capita GrossNational Income of under $20,000.These countries currently represent17% of the global market, but willcontribute 30% of growth next year.In emerging markets, the availabili-ty of healthcare is expanding, andthe need for treatments for chronicdiseases more typically found indeveloped countries is rapidlyincreasing.

Growth in the emerging markets

is offsetting the slower growth com-ing from the US market, which willcontribute about 36% of total mar-ket growth in 2007, significantlyless than the 54% it contributed fiveyears earlier.

The number of new productlaunches in 2007 expected to bebetween 25-35, comparable to thisyear’s expected 30 launches. How-ever, with pharmaceutical compa-nies increasingly developing spe-cialty products and treatments toserve niche markets, new productsare contributing less to overall mar-ket expansion than previously.Moreover, market expansion fromnew products is not keeping pacewith the loss of patent protectionby older products. In 2007, market-ed products with a value over $16billion will likely lose patent protec-tion, which comes on top of US$23billion of products that lost protec-tion in 2006.

Several sectors of the market areexpected to register high levels ofdemand in 2007, particularlybiotechnology, with estimatedgrowth of 13-14%, specialist-initiat-ed products with 10-11% growth,and the generics market with 13-14% growth. In the generics sector,growth is stemming from opportu-nities in several key therapeuticareas and increased volume drivenby cost-control initiatives.

The total number of blockbusterproducts continues to grow and is

expected to reach 112 in 2007, upfrom 94 in 2005. In 2007, the poten-tial blockbuster products launchedwill be paliperidone for schizophre-nia, desvenlafaxine for depressionand vildagliptin for diabetes.

‘Undoubtedly, the most powerfulforce rebalancing growth in theworldwide market is pressure frompublic/private payers to limit theirexpenditures on drugs,’ MurrayAitken pointed out. ‘Their influenceis offsetting much of the growth thatstems from rising demand and inno-vation. Manufacturers increasinglymust strengthen the evidence thattheir therapies deliver value for

money based on direct health out-comes.’ Europe - the top five markets(France, Germany, United Kingdom,Italy and Spain) combined are fore-cast to grow 3–4%, down from the 4-5% pace expected in 2006. Whilethese countries see increaseddemand from an aging population,growth is being affected by cost-containment measures, incentivesfor using generics and increasedscrutiny of the cost/benefit of drugs.

Therapeutic classes

The demand for oncology treat-ments has increased and there hasbeen a strong flow of innovation.Science has changed the face of thedisease; survival rates are improvingand some cancers are now consid-ered chronic illnesses or even pre-

ventable conditions.Pharmaceuticals to treat oncology

are expected to reach US$40-45 bil-lion in value in 2007, contributingnearly 20% of total market growth.‘Through 2007, this class will expandrapidly as more patients gain accessto treatment from a growing range oftherapies,’ Murray Aitken pointedout, adding: ‘But oncology productswill eventually be subject to tighterpricing and usage parameters as pay-ers deal with their mounting costs.’

Among other major therapy class-es, the lipid-lowering class (includingstatins, Zetia and Vytorin) will growto US$30-33 billion, reflecting an esti-mated 1-2% growth in 2007, downfrom 7-8% this year. While the 2006patent losses for simvastatin (Zocor)and pravastatin (Pravachol) will con-tinue to affect growth, increased pub-lic awareness of the efficacy of lipid-lowering agents, broader patientscreening and new combination ther-apies will continue to drive demand,the report states.

Implications for manufacturers ‘Pharmaceutical companies havestarted to reinvent themselves inresponse to market challenges, andthey look very different than just fiveyears ago,’ Murray Aitken said. ‘But itis no longer enough just to beresponsive. To succeed, companiesneed to get ahead of the dynamicsthat are rebalancing the market. Thisrequires a greater reliance on sce-nario-based planning, a sharper focuson realising productivity gains fromsales and marketing expenditures,and proving the value of medicationsas never before.’ Details: www.imshealth.com

Although the way adults react to drugs is often not thesame for children, currently there are no special trials tocheck the suitability of medicines for smaller size patients.This is set to change from 2007, because EU ministers forthe environment have given the go-ahead for a regulationthat stipulates that medicines will have to be tested fortheir particular risks and side effects in children. In return,drugs manufacturers will receive a six-month extension ofpatents for their products, to give them an advantage overmanufacturers of cheaper, ‘copy-cat’ generic medications.

Once the regulation comes into force, all medicinesalready on the market will have to be retrospectivelylicensed for children’s prescriptions..

The European Parliament has been asking for this newregulation for years. Up until now, many medicines haveonly been adapted to suit children by administering lowerdoses; however, many experts think there is an inherentrisk of unforeseen side effects.

Peter Liese, a medic, and member of the European Parlia-ment and the German Christian Democratic Union, saidthat, apart from medicines such as cough mixture, medica-tions for serious illnesses, such as cancer or AIDS, havenot yet been specifically licensed for children. Doctors oftenrefrain from giving their small patients the necessary med-ication because they are concerned about unforeseen sideeffects. Scientifically-based recommendations from manu-facturers could alleviate those fears.Source: www.medical-tribune.de

AstraZeneca has been collaborating with researchers whopublished a paper in 2003 that highlighted the potentialsuccess of targeting Aurora B, in the hope of developing anew class of drugs to inhibit this enzyme.

Aurora A and B are a type of enzyme known as proteinkinases; they modify other proteins by chemically addingphosphate groups to them. In cancer, both these proteinkinases are ‘over-expressed’.At the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester,researchers have been studying a chemical that blocks, orinhibits, the catalytic actions of Aurora B and it has effec-tively killed cancer cells in lab grown cultures. ‘The firstcompounds were designed to inhibit a related enzyme calledAurora A,’ said Dr Stephen Taylor, who leads the researchteam. ‘Our research has shown that inhibiting Aurora B is afar more successful method of killing cancer cells. We’vebeen strongly encouraged by these latest results.’ The research - published in the Journal of Cell Science - willbe of interest to many other scientists looking at Aurorainhibitors (currently over 10 companies are involved in Auro-ra cancer research). Although effective, many current cancer drugs are toxic.However, early clinical trials of Aurora-B drug’s toxicity haveshown mild but not major adverse effects to patients. Thenext stage of trials to test its effectiveness is likely tobegin soon. The first results from the Phase I clinical trials using Aurorainhibitors were presented at the American Society for Clini-cal Oncology conference in Atlanta, in June

Contacts:ACTEON Sopro Sopro-Comeg GmbHZI du Phare ZAC Athélia IV Dornierstr. 5517 avenue Gustave Eiffel Avenue des Genévriers D-78532 Tuttlingen, BP 30216 13705 LA CIOTAT Cedex Germany33708 Merignac Cedex, France FranceContact: Gilles Pierson Contact: Pierre Montillot Contact: Bernd SeideTel. (33) (0)5 56 34 06 07 Tel. (33) (0)4 42 98 01 01 Tel : +49 (0) 7461 9344 0Fax (33) (0)5 56 34 92 92 Fax (33) (0)4 42 71 76 90 Fax : +49 (0) 7461 9344 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] www.acteongroup.com www.sopro-comeg.com

EU REGULATES TO MATCHMEDICINES TO CHILDREN

NEW CANCER DRUG HOPE

SOPRO ACQUIRES COMEG ation between the different R&D depart-ments of both firms and the ActeonGroup working in the five productionsites, which benefit from about 60 engi-neers specialised in electronics,mechanics, computer engineering,chemists and biologists.

Sopro-Comeg places itself as a globalleader in endoscopy and will specially

invest in R&D, in production capacityand service to its customers.

Sopro-Comeg is managed by PierreMontillot, CEO of Sopro. The man-agers of Sopro-Comeg GmbH are

Eugen Weimer, Managing Directorof the Tuttlingen plant, and BerndSeide, Sales & Marketing Director ofthe Sopro-Comeg Group.

Hall10 Booth C42

BERCHTOLDwww.BERCHTOLD.de

Custom surgical environments

The pioneeringBrazilian company to producehigh quality windpipes silicone and don’t need to pay more for that.

The pioneeringBrazilian company to producehigh quality windpipes silicone and don’t need to pay more for that.

Kinner Silicone Rubber Ind. e Com. Ltda.Rodovia Índio Tibiriça, 2503 - Km 53 - Ouro Fino Paulista - Ribeirão Pires - SP - Brazil Cep: 09442-000Phone: 55 (11) 4823-9700 / Fax: 55 (11) 4823-9701www.kinner.com.br / [email protected]

Kinner Silicone Rubber Ind. e Com. Ltda.Rodovia Índio Tibiriça, 2503 - Km 53 - Ouro Fino Paulista - Ribeirão Pires - SP - Brazil Cep: 09442-000Phone: 55 (11) 4823-9700 / Fax: 55 (11) 4823-9701www.kinner.com.br / [email protected]

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9

Materialsolutions

Innovative materials and technologiesfor medical devices are on show byGE Plastics. These include new engi-neering thermoplastic material solu-tions with improved haemo-compati-bility for use in blood contact applica-tions and devices that require lowprotein binding, e.g. those found inseveral diagnostic or biopharmaceuti-cal applications.

Estech’s single-use ClearView MVAtrial Depressor utilises GE’sadvanced haemo-compatible Lexanfor device reliability and biocompati-bility in minimally invasive mitralvalve repair and replacement proce-dures. Among other customers’devices are the Megadyne Electrosur-gical E-Z Pen, GE Healthcare’s AisysCarestation anaesthesia delivery sys-tem and others.

‘We have continued building capa-bilities to help our customers turntheir innovative designs into applica-tion successes,’ explained Clare Fris-sora, Marketing Director, Healthcare,GE Plastics. With continuing invest-ment in new technical capabilitiesand materials technologies, develop-ments in the last two years includehigher flow and release autoclavableLexan HPX resins; higher heat auto-clavable Lexan 4504 resin; GE’s lipidresistant Lexan HPS7 resin, and NorylHNA resins to meet greater exposureto certain chemicals and higher heatautoclave temperatures. Hall 10, booth A56

CHEERING UP THE WARDSThe ecoVaas Care Concept promises to give hospitals a con-venient, hygienic and environmentally friendly alternative toconventional containers.

While bringing friends and loved ones flowers can cheerthem up, dealing with the vases can cause headaches forcare professionals. The ecoVaas Care Concept uses single-serving clean paper vases, available from dispensers, sothere’s no need to handle sometimes broken or septic fragilecontainers. It also frees nurses from the cleaning, disinfect-ing, storing and giving out of returnable vases, allowing themto use their time more effectively.

ecoVaas products stay leakproof for three weeks becauseof their worldwide patented material, they are recyclable andeasy to dispose of. Hall 6, Stand J33

The Nexstim Navigated Brain

Stimulation system, eXimia NBS,provides new tools for individualdiagnosis and more efficienttreatment – as well as a new way tosee and understand the human brain.

The NBS is a novel brainstimulation technology. It providesindividual measures of the health andfunctional capacity of the centralnervous system, as well as of brainreactions to targeted magnetic pulses.Thanks to its advanced technologyand proven clinical performance, theNBS system helps medical

instantly visible, the effects of the stimulus canbe quickly determined. Since the eXimia NBSsystem also predicts and monitors the stimuluslocation and dose within the brain, it can detectand identify minor alterations in neuronalfunctioning.

In clinical work, the eXimia NBS Navigationsystem helps neurologists and neurosurgeons todiagnose and treat human brain diseases,trauma, and dysfunctions earlier and moreaccurately than before. NBS is not limited tostructural alternatives – instead, it opens a newwindow to the functions of the human brain. TheeXimia NBS provides solid platforms for new,advanced studies of the central nervous system.

CLOSING IN ON THE BRAIN

professionals to focus on the issuesthat matter the most – and to find theshortest way to the core of non-invasive brain stimulation.

The eXimia NBS aligns the MRimages with the subject’s head real-time – targeting and timing thetranscranial magnetic stimulation(TMS) pulses accurately. The directmuscle and brain responses (EMGand EEG) evoked by TMS stimuluscan be recorded with high temporalresolution. The eXimia NBS system isfully compatible with Nexstim,Medtronic and Magstim TMSstimulators. As the activation ofstimulated neuronal structures is

n e w s

10

R E F U R B I S H E D E Q U I P M E N T

A new range of hospital beds, devel-oped with both the needs of patientsand nursing staff in mind, meets thehighest expectations of functionalityand design.

The ‘image’ bed, by Wissner-Bosserhoff, is 223 cm long and 102cm wide. The ergonomic mattressbase ensures healthy positioning.The double pull-out for backrest (11cm) and leg rest (7 cm) helps to pre-vent ulcers when the patient is in aseated position. The length of the

Brandon Medical has launched a

new range of video camera

systems for the operating

theatre that use Sony

Professional technology. The

cameras, with a new remote

control unit, have an 18x optical

zoom ideal for intricate

procedures.

They can be mounted on their

own individual ceiling arm or

inside a Galaxy Ultra lamp head.

When given their own arm, the

cameras are easy to position and

offer 360º head rotation,

achieved by running all

connectors directly up through

the arm.

By incorporating the camera

into the lamp head it can be

pointed at the area where the

light beam is most focused,

removing the need to position

the camera separately. This is a

popular option used in

conjunction with a flatscreen

monitor, which can be mounted

to the same ceiling fixing as the

lamp head. This creates a single

integrated

lighting/recording/display unit.

‘Cameras are becoming central

to modern surgical practices,’

said Graeme Hall, Brandon

Medical’s Managing Director.

‘But until now they have often

been too expensive for some of

the smaller hospitals. With our

new design, we have made

camera systems available to

everyone.’

The Leica DMD108 hasbeen designed to ease thegrowing workload inhistopathology laboratories,and to make the sharing ofdata more efficient.

As the ability to diagnose diseasethrough new technologies improves, the number of tissue sections ahistopathologist needs to analyse each day increases. The new networkimaging solution, designed by Leica Microsystems and tested extensivelywith pathologists, offers an innovative solution that increases physicalcomfort, speeds daily workflow without changing the process and providesan easy solution for sharing data.

Instead of looking through a microscope to analyse specimens - theLeica DMD108 system provides high-quality images directly onto a monitorusing a high-resolution camera and powerful image-processing software,generating high-resolution images with brilliant colour. It can be used tophotograph specimen details of interest or compare tissue sections andstore the images. Size ratios are also calculated. The histopathologist canthen audio-record the diagnosis directly onto the DMD108.

By using a second monitor or high-resolution data projector, the LeicaDMD108 can be used for training, conferences and discussions. Images caneven be emailed during the work.

New to MEDICA this yearis MLR, whoseautomated guidedvehicles (AGV) have beenradically modified andoptimised to transportcontainers in hospitals.

Because essentialitems such food,medication, laundry,sterile items, medicalequipment and wasteneed to reach theirdestination quickly andsafely, this technologyhas become increasinglyimportant in hospitals.

The underride tractorsare based on MLR’sCAESAR range of AGVs, and are built entirely of stainless steel. All coverpanels and the lift unit are completely sealed (IP54), so vehicles can bedisinfected using hot steam jets from all sides – even underneath – incompliance with hygiene standards and can withstand temperatures ofup to 85°C.

The AC drive systems are fully encapsulated to keep noise levels downand the drive technology is engineered to allow the AGVs to moveforwards and backwards equally fast (maximum speed 1.7 m/s). Laserscanners at the front and rear of each vehicle ensure safety in bothdirections.

The first installation of the new vehicles in the Nye Ahus Hospital nearOslo, Norway, will be completed by early 2008.Hall 16, Stand E41

Analysis made easier

Creating the rightimage for hospital beds

The new ‘image’hospital bed, shownhere in combination

with bedside table‘stylo C3’, impresses

through highfunctionality and

homely design. Thebed, shown here in

the maple version, isavailable in two

further types of woodor in different, plain

colours.

WIS

SN

ER-B

OS

SER

HO

FF

Capturing the action

A new integrated medical videomakes archiving quicker andeasier. Every operation that takesplace in a theatre equipped withthis new system is recorded in full– 24 hours a day, seven days aweek. Archiving is completelyautomated, taking the form of a‘virtual loop’ recording system.The recording loop can be as largeas the hospital requires, a monthbeing the typical length of time,and the video stream isautomatically stored and archivedat a secure location.

Records can be recalled easilyand video clips can be saved ontohard disk, CD-ROM or DVD-R foruse by medical practitioners. Allvideo records are in a secureformat that cannot be adulterated,which means it can be used toinvestigate incidents and thecompany reports it is admissible

in a court of law as evidence toshow proper procedures havebeen followed.

The system uses standard IThardware for archiving and recall,making it a cost-effective tool forteaching and research.

ALSO FROM BRANDON MEDICAL

SHARING THE LOAD

A ‘mobi-lift’, which can be fitted inan optimum position, helps thepatient when getting up and out ofthe bed and also has an integratedfunction key, enabling the patient toadjust the height of the bed. ‘Image’beds are made with stable lifting col-umn construction that allows heightadjustment between 39.5 cm and78 cm through technology patentedby Wissner-Bosserhoff. The bed cantake a maximum weight of 230 kg,is fitted with smooth-running doublecasters of 150 mm diameter and iseasy to manoeuvre in tight spaces,thanks to the option to fit a fifthcaster.

The ‘image’ bed is available inwarm wood tones, or plan colours,and a nightlight can be integratedunder the bed for safe orientation ina dark room.

bed can be extended or shortened by10 cm respectively and the rest forthe lower thighs can be individuallyextended. Partitioning of the mat-tress base makes cleaning the bedeasy, and now mattresses of variouslengths and heights (up to 37 cmhigh) are compatible with the bed.

The side safety bar has flexibleand continuous rails and can beoperated with one hand. It can beset at four different levels, and themaximum side bar height of 59 cmensures that patients are safe evenwhen bigger mattresses are usedwith the bed.

A clear and ergonomic hand switchallows for easy adjustment of thebackrest and upper thigh rest, forthe auto contour setting as well asheight adjustment of the bed. Alter-natively, an easily accessible user

satellite makes adjusting the bedsettings easy for patients and staff.An accessible foot pedal allows forback-protecting, hands-free adjust-ment of the bed height and for set-ting a horizontal position used forexaminations. A hoop guard pre-vents unintentional activation of thecontrol keys, which can also belocked through the ‘supervisor’ userpanel. Hand switch, user satelliteand supervisor are fail-safe thanksto the GO safety key.

NEW

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