COMPAMED: Insights in Medical Technology of Tomorrow

The word is obviously getting around: medical professionals interested in gaining an insight into the technology of tomorrow don’t just visit the world’s largest medical trade fair, the MEDICA. Instead, they also visit the parallel event held in Düsseldorf, the ComPaMED.28/11/2006

Of the 137,500 industry visitors who attended this year’s event, 9,500 of them showed specific interest in the COMPAMED 2006, the leading international trade fair for suppliers to the medical manufacturing industry, held from November 15 to 17 (the MEDICA ran until November 18, 2006). One of the hot topics at this year’s COMPAMED focused on the advances in implant surgery.


Active Implants: Radio-Controlled Weight Loss

According to the position paper on functional micro and nano-implants presented by the VDE (Verband Elektrotechnik, Elektronik und Informationstechnik, Frankfurt a.M.) at the 15th COMPAMED in Düsseldorf, active implants create new opportunities in many sectors, including trauma, neuro and GI tract and endocrine surgery. The prosthetics, which are fitted with sensors, actuators and telemetry units for data transfer, enable more customized therapy, may (in some cases) take the place of medication and enable savings of up to 30 percent on healthcare costs. “Remote-controlled weight loss” may well be a possibility in the foreseeable future. With overweight and obesity at one end of the spectrum and eating disorders and anorexia at the other, these illnesses are constantly on the increase in industrialized nations. Implants have therefore been designed which will intercept the functional disturbances in the digestive system to provide targeted remedies. The complex interactions could be controlled using hormones (for example), while the implants assume a pacemaker function. Actuators can also be used to close gastric bands to create a feeling of fullness in the stomach. At night, the bands are relaxed to their original position.

In the field of hip and knee implants, too, medical research teams are working closely with innovative companies on noteworthy new inventions. In future, implants could be fitted with multiple acceleration sensors and a telemetry module for better identification of loosening. “This method could form the basis of a quality assurance system for hip and knee prosthetics that would allow problem implants to be quickly identified, saving stressful x-ray examinations and avoiding replacement surgery”, explains Privatdozent Dr. med. Bernhard Clasbrummel, Head of the Department of Trauma and Reconstructive Surgery at the Evangelische Krankenhaus Witten.

Meanwhile, neurosurgery reports new approaches to the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Around 250,000 people in Germany alone suffer from this illness. Along with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s is the greatest cause of dementia in Germany, and the trend is increasing. An implanted stimulation system is capable of successfully treating the associated severe motor disturbances. An electrode in the thalamus leads to a very considerable reduction – or even the complete disappearance – of tremors in the opposite half of the body. “The great advantage of this method is the fact that patients can increase the level of the impulses themselves to achieve an appropriate result”, emphasizes Dr. Norbert Hüwel, Medical Director of the neurosurgical polyclinic at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz.



- Click here for "The world’s smallest pressure sensors"