Success: 35 percent more exhibitors, 45 percent more space!

COMPAMED in Düsseldorf, the leading international trade fair for upstream suppliers to the medical products manufacturing sector, is once again continuing its success story this year.09/08/2007

Three months ahead of the opening of COMPAMED 2007, High tech solutions for medical technology (14 to 16 November), the figure of 425 exhibitors already means an increase of 35 percent compared to the end result the previous year (315). Compared to the previous year, the booked space has even increased by 45 percent to the present total of over 8,300 m² (net/previous year: 5,700).

At COMPAMED 2007, in addition to exhibition hall 8a, the exhibitors will now also occupy the new hall 8b (each directly adjoining the Exhibition Centre rail station and the main entrance concourse North). This hall will be inaugurated in September 2007 and is available to the exhibitors at COMPAMED for the first time taking account of the event’s constant growth (and the associated demand for space).

Within the framework of COMPAMED a comprehensive spectrum of high-tech solutions for use in medical device technology will be presented – from new materials, components, primary products, packaging and services up to complex micro-system technology and nano technology.

The synergy effects generated in connection with the world’s largest medical fair MEDICA (14 to 17 November 2007 / 4,200 exhibitors) will again provide important momentum within the framework of COMPAMED for innovations in the medical sector. This is because the leading manufacturers (as exhibitors at MEDICA) will come together here with the leading suppliers and supplying sectors (exhibitors COMPAMED).

The target groups at COMPAMED are production managers, managers of research and development sectors and all those who are involved in the planning of medical products manufacture. The fact that COMPAMED is the ideal location for them to search for new procurement sources and system solutions is confirmed by the figure of 12,000 trade visitors who came to COMPAMED 2006 – a visitor record!

The top event in its sector, COMPAMED is not just simply a product show. A top-ranking forum programme under the main heading “High-tech for Medical Devices” will cover themes based on trends in the development of new products. One focal point of this COMPAMED Forum, which is being organized by the Professional Association for Micro-Technology (Fachverband für Mikrotechnik – IVAM), is for example, the “High-tech components in medical products-processing” theme. In the centre of Hall 8a the suppliers are provided with the free opportunity to present their product solutions in a specialist lecture within the framework of the forum.

Parallel to this on a joint stand, the IVAM is organizing the Manufacturing, Micro-Technology, Nano-Medicine and New Materials Product Markets. Here, in a correspondingly concentrated presentation and at a glance, the trade experts will find everything connected with the manufacture of medical devices, micro-technical components and systems, clean room technology, process technology, nano-medical applications, surfaces and material analysis.


High tech solutions for medical technoloy

There are compelling examples for the way suppliers’ innovative power has spurred the progress made by medical device technology vendors. A case in point are developments in the area of medical implants. In future implants might be equipped with several acceleration sensors and a telemetry module to better identify signs of loosening. To bring such sensors and modules in conjunction with implants up to operational level is the task a number of COMPAMED exhibitors have set themselves. This novel sensor technology could form the backbone for a type of quality assurance system for hip and knee joint implants. Implants that are unfavourable for patients could be detected and eliminated at an early stage which would mean avoiding x-ray examinations that are an extra burden on the body as well as premature replacement operations.

Quality control also plays a major role in the manufacturing of medical products. This point is of particular importance in view of the on-going miniaturisation in medical device technology. To an increasing extent this is now even affecting nano-technology. Not one but several exhibitors at COMPAMED are taking this trend into account. They offer, for instance, multi-sensor devices capable of identifying the surface quality of components using scanning and imaging processes. They provide information on the topography, profile, roughness and also the thickness of the layers of components. Their modular set-up allows these devices to be easily integrated into fully automatic processes. This is how the breast implants or even finest surface textures of stents can be measured, for example.

In addition to such high-tech systems new materials and new applications for known materials also form a focal range at COMPAMED. There is no stopping the increasing proportion of medical products made of plastics. Even comparatively “simple” plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene have found a market for sophisticated finished products in medical applications. In demand here are high-precision components that still qualify for low-cost production. One example of the products presented at COMPAMED are the inhalators that allow patients to absorb a wide variety of active agents (e.g. insulin) via the respiratory tract rather than the more expensive and unpleasant method of injection.

This means that some of the products covered and presented as part of COMPAMED are highly complex although they do not always look it at first glance. In a nutshell – exhibition halls 8a and 8b are well worth a detour for everyone wanting to obtain exciting insights into tomorrow’s medical device technology.

The ranges on display at COMPAMED include the following segments: parts/modules/components; drive systems; hoses; filters; pumps; valves; equipment and engineering for medical device manufacturing; raw materials; adhesives; finishing and processing; test systems and inspection services; packaging and services.

2004 marked an important milestone in the development of COMPAMED when the event was relocated and moved into its own exhibition hall for the first time – the then newly erected hall 8a. The next two years up until COMPAMED 2006 resulted in further growth of altogether over 20 %.

Once again the MEDICA and COMPAMED events can be visited on only one admission ticket without a supplement.

Further information on COMPAMED 2007 (14 to 16 November) is available on the Internet: http://www.compamed.de

Information on MEDICA 2007: http://www.medica.de

Messe Düsseldorf GmbH
Press & PR for COMPAMED/ MEDICA 2007
Martin-Ulf Koch/ Larissa Browa
Tel.: +49(0)211-4560-444/ -549
FAX: +49(0)211-4560-8548
E-mail: kochm@messe-duesseldorf.de