MEDICA and COMPAMED 2014 Benefit from Strong International Response

Almost 130,000 visitors from 120 countries participated at the MEDICA 2014 (Düsseldorf, Germany) and COMPAMED 2014 fairs, appraising the latest product innovations and ideas for high-quality and affordable health care.

The 4,831 exhibitors at MEDICA 2014 and the 724 exhibitors at COMPAMED 2014 presented a wide spectrum of products, services, and procedures to raise efficiency and quality in both outpatient and in-patient care, on almost 116,000 m2 of hall space. Focuses of the 2104 events included medical technology, laboratory technology and diagnostics, physiotherapy and orthopedic technology, commodities and consumables, information and communication technology, medical furniture, and specialist furnishings for hospitals and doctors’ offices.

“The high number of international visitors gave medical device technology providers as well as their suppliers at Medica and Compamed tailwinds to strengthen their export business,” said Joachim Schäfer, managing director of Messe Düsseldorf (Germany). “Those putting their business on a particularly broad footing across country borders find it easier to compensate for an unclear market and safety situation in specific countries.”

Major trends and innovations presented included imaging technologies that have built-in “anatomic intelligence” consisting of an integrated database with anatomic structural models that result in an image quality that is even suitable for the high requirements of cardiology; advanced digitalization and automation in hybrid operating rooms (ORs) with equipment for real-time medical imaging; computer-based surgical navigation systems; and wearable data glasses (such as “Google Glass”) that support surgeons by facilitating vital signs patient monitoring on a head-up display.

To also meet the needs of international visitors, MEDICA’s accompanying conference program was fundamentally restructured, with sessions in English and conferences on very specific topics. For example, the MEDICA education conference, organized by the German Society for Internal Medicine (DGIM) offered a multidisciplinary program that included 280 events with 350 speakers emphasizing the link between science and medical technology. The International Conference on Disaster and Military Medicine (DiMiMED) registered a further increase in participants with high-ranking representatives from the armed forces of over 20 nations.

Held parallel with MEDICA, COMPAMED 2014 helped companies as well as research institutes present their high-tech solutions for the development and production of medical device technology to about 17,000 visitors. This year the focus was specifically on miniaturized components, functional materials, intuitive control units, and high-precision processes designed to make medical products cheaper, safer and more reliable. Application examples included mobile analysis and therapy and control devices.

Related Links:
MEDICA 2014 
Messe Düsseldorf