Medical Device and Diagnostic Debüts in Düsseldorf

It was a time for new beginnings at Medica 2011. Dozens of companies took advantage of the international platform and the non-stop merry-go-round of foreign visitors at the event to debut new goods and services last week. With 134,500 attendees from 100 countries—as well as dignitaries such as EU Health Commissioner John Dalli and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Suresh Kumar—the world’s largest medical product exhibition predictably became a showcase of the latest medtech innovations.

Among the glut of devices and services unveiled during the four-day event (Nov. 16-19 in Düsseldorf, Germany) were:

• A new global diagnostics business unit and a new diagnostics product brand from Avantor Performance Materials, a chemical manufacturer based in Center Valley, Pa. The company’s new brand, BeneSphera diagnostics solutions, includes a broad and expanding range of diagnostic technologies and products focused on three segments: In-vitro reagents and instruments for clinical chemistry, immunology, hematology, microbiology, histology, cytology and genetic testing; instruments for in-vivo diagnostics, currently sold under the Diagnova name in India; and consumables and instruments for life sciences research in academia, government, and pharmaceutical laboratories, also currently sold under the Diagnova name in India. The company’s three existing business units include one that produces chemistries for use in biotechnology and pharmaceutical production; one that supplies high-purity laboratory reagents and other materials used in research, academic and quality control laboratories; and a unit that provides surface treatment and modification products widely used in electronics manufacturing. “As the world’s healthcare needs change and grow, high-quality, reliable and affordable diagnostics products and systems are crucial to help improve the healthcare outcomes and well-being of people in many diverse communities,” Avantar President and CEO Jean-Marc Gilson said.
• The rebranding of EUROCRAT, the German medical devices Notified Body and Test House owned by the British Standards Institution (BSI) Group. EUROCRAT will now be known as BSI. The rebranding reflects BSI’s commitment to recognizing Germany as a critical market for medical device certification and its vision to ensure Germany continues to develop as an integral part of its global testing and certification platform, according to a BSI news release. The rebranding also is expected to attract new business by ensuring that BSI Healthcare Germany offers a global full service scope capability that is attractive to the larger international players within the German, Austrian and Swiss medical devices markets. “EUROCRAT already holds enviable recognition at a national level,” founder Werner Kexel said. “Without doubt the German medical devices market will benefit from the values associated with the BSI name. Coupled with the ongoing investment which has been evident since the acquisition, this will allow Germany to offer a testing services business with a truly global footprint which we hope will attract new business from larger industry players.”
• A clavicle fracture and pain management system from British orthopedic manufacturer Angel Med Ltd. Barbara Thompson, the company’s managing director, invented the ClaviBrace in 2009 after falling from a horse and fracturing her collarbone in four places. “I hit the ground hard. It was my first fracture…” Thompson says on the company’s website. “The first thing I did when I got back from the hospital—with the usually prescribed arm sling—was to start a desperate Internet search for something that would make me feel more comfortable and escape the excruciating pain. I was determined, if possible, to avoid almost inevitable surgery.” Thompson not only avoided surgery, she healed her complicated fracture in just five weeks (doctors deemed her a “walking miracle”) thanks to the ClaviBrace, which elevates a broken bone from the nerve bed, returns a displaced fracture to its original length and holds it in place to heal naturally. The device gently draws the shoulders back, allowing the clavicle to reposition, thereby reducing and aligning the fracture. Company executives claim the ClaviBrace helps protect against further damage, allows greater mobility during healing, and speeds recovery. In 2010, the device received the United Kingdom’s Da Vinci Medical Breakthrough Technology Award for innovation most likely to benefit patients.
• A digital handheld dermatoscope from FotoFinder Systems GmbH of Bad Birnbach, Germany, that allows doctors to capture and save microscopic pictures of skin moles using the iPhone. The handyscope attaches to an iPhone and works with a corresponding handyscope application. It directly is placed on a patient’s skin and is illuminated with a polarized light. The lens shape ensures that images always will be taken at the same distance for a sharp and consistent picture quality. Doctors can take high-resolution mole images and see details at magnifications up to 20 times larger than normal. The photos are managed in the password-protected application and labeled automatically with shooting time and date. Patient data and comments can be added and shared with both the patient and other doctors. “We developed the handscope for those who want to have the possibility to take pictures of the skin and work with them later,” FotoFinder CEO Andreas Mayer said in a news release. “It is an alternative for those who miss the ‘capture-and-save-function’ when using conventional handheld dermatoscopes.”
• A 3-D X-ray scanner that can be integrated into operations and does not cause any delays. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK in Berlin, Germany, along with Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin university hospital and Ziehm Imaging GmbH (based in Nuremburg, Germany) have developed Orbit, an open system in which the X-ray source follows a circular path above the operating table. The system is comprised of three modules: a maneuverable X-ray source fitted to an articulated bracket (the swivel arm can be attached to the ceiling or mounted on a wheeled stand for mobile applications); a digital flat panel detector recessed into the operating table; and a monitor—either mobile or wall-mounted—to display the X-ray images. The researchers have filed a patent application for the system. “Unlike three-dimensional imaging procedures, Orbit doesn’t have to surround the patient to capture images,” Professor Dr.-Ing Erwin Keeve of the Berliner Zentrum fur Mechatronische Medizintechnik, explains. “It makes capturing images much quicker because it does away with time-consuming preparations.”
• A custom-designed disinfection system for ultrasound transducers from Nanosonics Ltd. The Australian company claims its Trophon EPR operates at a low temperature directly at the point of care. The device uses Nanosonics’ platform technology to create a highly concentrated, ultrafine mist called NanoNebulant, which distributes evenly and quickly in an area (much like a gas, but nevertheless retaining the properties of a liquid). The process operates within a closed system, ensuring that the operator is not exposed to hydrogen peroxide aerosol during operation. The device has a built-in system, which completely breaks down residual peroxide at the end of the process, yielding small amounts of water and oxygen.