UK: SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND ROBOTS: A VISION OF TOMORROW’S HEALTHCARE

"A vision of the future of healthcare that includes how medical device manufacturers can learn from space technology and the latest on 'surgical' robots will be presented at the Medical Device Technology Exhibition (MDT) held at Birmingham’s NEC from 15-16 February 2006."


"[...] cutting edge technology that can benefit healthcare includes the use of robotics – a worldwide market which has doubled in size within the last five years and is expected to grow sixfold to UK Pounds 37.4 billion by the year 2025 (Source: European Commission). Explaining how robots could be the intelligent surgeons of the future, Rajesh Aggarwal, from the Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology at Imperial College London presents a vision of the future where robotic consoles are used in a variety of surgical procedures and mobile ward-based robots with built-in stethoscopes and Bluetooth technology to transfer data from bedside to Internet."

"The use of robotics in hospitals is already a reality where doctors routinely use remote-controlled robotics to operate in constrained spaces, such as inside the heart, brain, spinal cord, throat and knee. Promising new treatment options using robotic technology have already been developed to help combat threatening diseases. In 2005 a patient at London's Guy's Hospital was the first to undergo a live kidney transplant surgery carried out using robotic technology. Among the advantages of such procedures are the robotic 'arms' which filter even minute tremors of the human hand and are able to perform extremely precise, intricate movements during the procedure and the robot's camera also provides a three-dimensional, stereoscopic image of the body's interior, as opposed to a two-dimensional image on a flat screen.

The MDT Innovation and Presentation Programme also addresses practical issues such as the challenge of trying to get an innovative product into the NHS, provides tips on converting ideas into winning products, and explains how packaging and design can help companies communicate trust, authority and science.

In addition to a packed exhibition, world-class conference and free seminar program, the organiser of MDT, has launched a highly interactive meetings based event this year driven by a unique web based agenda planning tool. The MDT Collaboration Forum, runs alongside the Exhibition, and is a networking event designed to match developments in design and materials to manufacturing needs. Forum delegates build their own personal schedule of presentations and discussion groups and prearrange one-on-one meetings with peers and suppliers to broker solutions and develop new business contacts. The Collaboration Forum is sponsored by Connector Ltd and its partners which works with medical device companies to find the right skills, funding, manufacturing process or technology development.

MDT also features a Technology Transfer Showcase, set up to encourage collaboration between medical device manufacturers and leading scientific/research departments. Visitors will see a range of emerging technologies that can be used in medical device products and speak directly to the technology transfer departments of leading universities such as Aston University’s Photonics Research Group which is developing a respiratory monitoring vest, enabling continuous on-line monitoring of breathing and 3D imaging of the chest."

Source:
British Design Information

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