Workshop on Medical Devices for Affordable Health care

Session Topics

1. Minimally Invasive Techniques

            Minimally invasive techniques and methods are used to minimize damage to healthy tissue during necessarily invasive diagnosis and treatment. Invasive techniques (open surgery) are not included in this topic, as are non-invasive techniques (radiography, MRI, PET, SPECT, etc.). Innovative techniques specific for the support of a certain minimal invasive intervention (e.g. optical and tactile feedback) are included in this topic.

2. Medical Optics and Acoustics

            Light and sound have many possibilities for both diagnosis and treatment. The second topic is limited to medical optics and medical acoustics. Optics is the science which deals with visible light. Near ultraviolet and near infrared light are included. Acoustics is the science that deals with sound: audible as well as the ultrasonic field are included. Also included are the instruments specifically for measuring the optical properties of the eye (ophthalmology) and acoustic properties of the ear.

3. Medical Image Processing

            Imaging is an umbrella term for both image creation and image processing. In this topic image processing is always the starting point: the focus of the innovation should lie in image processing. Image processing is used to diagnose and for image guided therapies. Image processing is the discipline in which (parts of) images generated by imaging equipment are processed, so that they are visually better assessed by the user, or that quantitative data is obtained through specific algorithms. This requires an integrated medical and information technology approach. Images are defined by datasets containing at least two spatial dimensions.

4. High Precision Instrumentation

            This topic is limited to the development of instruments with higher sensitivity and/or a higher specificity and/or a higher accuracy. Instruments with a high sensitivity can detect smaller signals, sometimes to the level of a (bio) molecule or a subatomic particle. With a high specificity an instrument is able to reduce noise or false-positive signals. An instrument with high accuracy can be very precise in time, place and/or other relevant parameters, such as dose. High precision instrumentation covers measuring equipment (for detection or diagnosis), as well as instruments sending out signals, such as radiation equipment used for therapeutic purposes. High precision instrumentation can for instance contribute to high precision in measurement and/or dosing, miniaturization and automation (ICT).

5. Safe Extramural Care

            Due to the ageing of the population it is important to ensure a humane and well staffed health care. Health care demand will increase, while not more labour forces will be available. New instruments can contribute to a resolution. This topic focuses on health technology in the extramural care (e.g., municipal health services, GPs, home care, self care). Safety and usability are important aspects of these instruments. By safety we mean the safety by new instruments and new instruments for safe extramural care. User-friendly and safe tools are essential for a more effective and efficient extramural care. This topic explicitly includes research to innovative services (organizational structures, ICT, decision support, remote services, etc.) that facilitate the implementation of new instruments. However, the focus of innovation of the proposal should be on the instrument.

Workshop on Life Sciences & Health

 Session Topics

Themes for Indo-Dutch Cooperation:

• Infectious disease / vaccine development
  

• Biobanking
  

• Cardiovascular disease & imaging
  

• Biomaterials and tissue engineering

Life Sciences & Health in Netherlands

    Three Dutch public private partnerships bundle research groups in universities, knowledge institutes and academic medical centers with global companies, medium sized enterprises as well as high tech start-ups, to improve therapies and give a boost to life sciences research and development.

    Improved health and health care require innovations in three interconnecting areas: Diagnosis, Drugs and Devices. An early and accurate diagnosis is crucial to minimize or prevent development of a disease and to define the appropriate medical treatment or follow the result of a treatment (for example via imaging techniques). To treat symptoms of a disease or modify the disease progression, drugs are the crucial active ingredient in medical treatment and therapies.

    For an efficient and effective application of drugs as well as to treat certain specific symptoms, purpose designed devices are required. These devices include drug carriers for improved targeting and/or controlled release as well as scaffolds for tissue engineering for the functional repair and regeneration of tissue and eventually organs.

    Three initiatives cover these areas: the Center for translational Molecular Medicine (CTMM) focuses on Drugs, and the BioMedical Materials program (BMM) focuses on Devices.

Biobank initiative "string of pearls"

    In the Netherlands eight University Medical Centers (UMC's) provide most tertiary care and thereby treat almost all patients with very specific or relatively rare diseases in the Dutch population. This provides a unique opportunity to combine clinical information and biomaterials on these patients and achieve almost total population coverage.

    In 2007 the so-called "string of pearls initiative" started with the construction of a longitudinal patient cohort from which anonymous samples maybe drawn for specific research questions, either by academic, governmental or commercial partners. In order to achieve this, patient data and samples must be collected in a uniform fashion and an IT infrastructure must be designed to allow sampling locally and combining data from all eight locations to one anonimised database.

    In the coming years each of the eight UMC's will take the initiative to build a joint database and biobank for all patients with a specific diagnosis using uniform definitions and storage circumstances. The following patient cohorts are planned: Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Cerebrovascular Accident, Hereditary Bowel Cancer, Leukemia, Dementia, Diabetes and Kidney Failure.