MedTech - special know-how

CT for cancer treatment

The computer tomograph scanner becomes the operating room

Magdeburg start-up RAYDIAX develops the world’s first computer tomographs (CTs) for cancer treatment. 

“Globally, there are no computer tomographs that have been specially developed for minimally invasive cancer therapy,” states Thomas Hoffman, one of RAYDIAX’s co-founders, who is looking forward to 2026 when his start-up team is aiming to bring just such a product to the market. The new therapy-assisting CT scanner will be used primarily to offer patient-friendly treatment of liver and lung tumors. RAYDIAX is the name of the six founders who have developed this CT system on the Research Campus STIMULATE based in the Magdeburg Science Port.

RAYDIAX is about to launch its business, as the name is already well on its way to becoming a respected brand. Because of its innovative concepts, the project receives millions of euros in funding from the German government’s EXIST Research Transfer Program. “For costly start-ups like ours, this funding is highly sought after, and we consider this approval to be a real accolade,” says Hoffman. The name RAYDIAX is a play on words from “X-ray” and “Radiation”: compared to previous CT systems, radiation levels will be about 40 per cent lower in the new device – crucial for use as an “operating room”. “The requirements for protecting the health of, and minimizing the risks to, attending clinical staff must be fulfilled. Ultimately, the surgeons are close to the patient in the CT system for the entire treatment time and their exposure to radiation should not be underestimated,” explains Hoffman. The 35-year-old from Magdeburg had studied mechanical engineering at the Otto von Guericke University in his home town but his interest led him to medical technology. He wrote his doctoral thesis on the KIDs-CT Project at the Research Campus STIMULATE. “Konfigurierbarer, Interfaceoffener, Dosissparender Computertomograf”, or KIDs-CT for short, meaning a configurable, open-interface and dosage-sparing computer tomograph which can be used with interchangeable hardware and software modules, offering flexibility and quick adaptation to different application scenarios.

A reduced dose of radiation

For a long time now, computer tomography has not just provided images to support professional diagnoses. For example, CT-controlled therapy enables catheters or needles to be precisely positioned in the body and reduces the risk of complications compared to conventional “open” surgery. In the meantime, minimally invasive procedures will also be performed in the CT scanner. “Admittedly, under difficult conditions. Computer tomographs are not designed for use in the operating room,” says Hoffman. But it is well known that problems drive innovation. “Using our work at KIDs-CT as a basis, we want to develop a completely new therapy-assisting CT scanner for minimally invasive cancer treatment. In addition to reducing the dose of radiation, the new development will also include special features to support surgical procedures – such as the integration of rapid imaging techniques and a navigation system which the operator can use to precisely locate the tumor. We are also expanding the diameter of the scanner so that the attending physicians can have better patient access,” says Hoffman. By “we”, he means his partners Dr Tim Pfeiffer and Robert Frysch from the field of X-ray physics, X-ray hardware developers Dr André Mewes and Benjamin Fritsch and, last but not least, business development manager Galina Steinke.

Operating efficiently and saving costs

The young founders are advised by a clinical and technical advisory board comprising national and international experts – who have a good reputation in the search for investors to co-finance the development of the device.

Hoffman says that there are already very positive signals from the field about the need for the RAYDIAX device because, when compared to the Da Vinci surgical robot, for example, minimally invasive CT-guided operations can be performed using even smaller instruments and without a general anaesthetic. Extremely fine needles heat the tumor tissue in a precisely defined manner to between 60 and 90 degrees, which is destructive. The procedure shows optimal results in the treatment of tumors up to two centimeters in size. In palliative medicine, according to Hoffman, tumors can be shrunk using the technique, and pain reduced.

RAYDIAX’s principal clinical partner is the University Clinic for Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at the University Hospital in Magdeburg. The founders have other research-savvy university hospitals in their sights as potential customers for the high-tech device. Hoffman thinks that the device will also attract the interest of public and private hospitals, because it will allow them to operate more efficiently, save costs and compensate for the shortage of specialist skills.

A unique research infrastructure

The RAYDIAX team has a detailed schedule. The first step, according to this schedule, is to set up the company – and it has to be in Saxony-Anhalt. Thomas Hoffman calls the research infrastructure here “unique”. In 2020, STIMULATE was awarded “Center of Excellence Saxony-Anhalt” status. The cooperative alliance, formed in 2013 between the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Siemens Healthcare GmbH, the STIMULATE association and many other stakeholders in the healthcare sector, carries out research into medical technology solutions for treating what are referred to as widespread diseases such as strokes, heart attacks and cancer.

This “Center of Excellence” has gained an international reputation as a “research and innovation center for image-supported medicine”. RAYDIAX wants to be a core company at the heart of this center. “We want to create attractive working and living conditions here, so that many more young professionals and start-ups will choose our science port as an innovation hub,” says Hoffman.

Text and photo: Kathrain Graubaum

Caption: The RAYDIAX team (from left): Benjamin Fritsch, Robert Frysch, André Mewes, Thomas Hoffmann, Galina Steinke and (not in photo) Tim Pfeiffer and Tizian Mehl.

Optimized image-guided interventions

Magdeburg’s Medical Innovations

Startup InLine-Med develops products for optimized image-guided interventions

A Magdeburg startup has developed assistance devices that make needle-based interventions safer. InLine-Med GmbH’s mission has become reality: innovative products for safe, precise and easy diagnostic and therapeutic interventions such as cancer biopsies, pain and cancer treatment. The company is supported by the Research Campus STIMULATE and bmp Ventures AG.

This is the story of how an idea for a medical engineering master’s thesis became a medtech innovation for the region of Saxony-Anhalt. It was Magdeburg University’s excellent reputation that drew Sinja Lagotzki, native from the city of Kiel in Northern Germany, and Columbian Juan Sebastián Sánchez López to Magdeburg. The South American was studying the possibilities of using mechanical assistance devices to guide biopsy needles more precisely in minimally invasive procedures. The topic quickly took on a life of its own. The two fellow students spent long hours in operating theaters and speaking to radiologists. “We realized right away that there was a huge need, and above all, that we had to take it a few steps further. And so we made it our mission,” says Lagotzki. “We wanted to root out problems and solve them through medical engineering.”

“This medtech startup has great potential”

A year ago, the pair founded their own company. Their aim: to apply their development skills to optimizing costly, time-consuming procedures. Radiologists employ magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) or ultrasound to guide the hollow needles used in biopsies. “To position the needle correctly, hospitals need specially trained personnel and the procedures are fraught with risks,” explains Sánchez López. So InLine-Med developed assistance devices that make radiologists’ interventions safer, easier and more precise. Moreover, the company’s devices, software solutions and tools can be integrated in common procedures, solve the problem of space limitations in the use of MRI, reduce doctors’ radiation exposure and save time by aligning the needle quickly.

“In existing procedures, positioning biopsy needles is very complicated and therefore poses risks to both patients and radiologists,” says Raik Madla, Investment Manager at bmp Venture AG, who has an in-depth understanding of the issues and works closely with the Magdeburg startup. He’s convinced that “this medtech startup has great potential to make a significant, lasting impact by improving patient care and facilitating the work of radiologists.” The venture capital company is supporting In-Line-Med through the Saxony-Anhalt IBG fund that it manages. As a company founded by young university graduates, In-Line Med was a prime candidate for the startup Gladiator program, says Madla. “This is just the kind of promising regional startup we’re here to boost.” The program, developed by bmp Ventures AG, finances the early stage of young tech startups in Saxony-Anhalt. Alongside funding, it helps them find strategic as well as potential marketing partners.  

Saxony-Anhalt offers medtech startups ideal conditions

Sinja Lagotzki and Juan Sebastián Sánchez López are in no doubt that they “made exactly the right choice coming to Saxony-Anhalt.” Choosing to base themselves in the state capital was no accident. The Founders Playbook, a Magdeburg initiative, gave the two entrepreneurs some initial business-development pointers. Saxony-Anhalt also has a raft of funding programs designed to help startups. Otto von Guericke University (OvGU) has been bolstering medtech for many years. Both of In-line Med’s founders graduated from its international Master’s in Medical Systems Engineering. The two entrepreneurs are very close to breaking new ground thanks to Research Campus STIMULATE, one of Saxony-Anhalt’s twelve Centers of Excellence. A partnership between the university, Siemens Healthcare GmbH and the STIMULATE Association, it brings together interdisciplinary research and state-of-the-art technology. In-Line Med and STIMULATE both recently relocated to new offices at Magdeburg Port of Science. “The conditions for us as a medtech startup are perfect here,” says Lagotzki.

Mass-market assistance devices instead of costly custom solutions

The airy facility on the River Elbe now houses the first production-ready prototypes that InLine-Med co-developed with Magdeburg University Hospital’s Radiology Department. The In-Line Med FLEXSPINE range encompasses products for interventional – i.e. surgical – radiology for cancer diagnosis and treatment as well as interventional CT-assisted pain therapy. “We want to make products that are easy for doctors and nurses to use – universally applicable tools that are simple to integrate in existing processes,” explains Lagotzki. “We’re aiming for methods that are suitable for large-scale use.” She explains that for her, it’s about small, user-friendly devices with wider application potential as opposed to expensive custom robots for one type of intervention. InLine-Med developed a computer program – which also runs as a tablet app – that makes it easy for radiologists to treat patients straight from on-screen plans, doing away with costly, complex systems. “It ensures they can target exactly the right area inside the body rather than having to make several unnecessary punctures,” says Lagotzki, adding that physicians are already singing its praises. “We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from doctors telling us it’s great that we’re optimizing procedures using basic resources instead of robots.”

It’s encouraging news, and is spurring on the young entrepreneurs. Despite the impact of Covid-19 on regulatory approvals, supply chains and availability, the team continues to work on its solutions and hopes that “the delays won’t be too long.” Sinja Lagotzki is “impatient, but in a good way.” Meanwhile, she and her team are already under way with the next steps: production expansion and product certification.

STIMULATE

A stimulating focus on the small things

The STIMULATE Research Campus in Saxony-Anhalt provides for visible economic effects

“When you use the phrase ‘focusing on the small things’, we mean much, much smaller,” says a man who does big things: Prof. Dr. Georg Rose is the spokesman of the STIMULATE research campus. He represents an extensive network of collaborations – between the Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg, Siemens Healthcare GmbH and a variety of other players in the field of medical technology.

With his explanation of the word “small”, Board Chairman Prof. Dr. Georg Rose explains the focus of the partnerships: STIMULATE stands for new and innovative technologies surrounding image-guided minimally invasive methods in the field of medicine. With a close practical relevance, work is ongoing on the optimization of the methods of examination and treatment - by improving the medical imaging and developing specialist instruments, such as needles and catheters. Image-guided minimally invasive procedures are particularly important in the treatment of strokes and tumors.

The keywords of "small" and "big" also describe the most recent coup at the research campus: a newly founded company, Neoscan Solutions GmbH, has emerged from the special cooperation between science and business in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt. Neoscan develops MRI devices which are so small and compact that they can be used directly at children's wards. In combination with incubators, they are even available to the very youngest of patients. Until now, the complex technology for magnetic resonance imaging systems (MRI) has had to be permanently installed in several rooms. “We have succeeded in gaining the support of the local industrial companies,” enthuses Prof. Dr. Georg Rose. “We have also found reliable private investors who want to advance Magdeburg as a location due to their own interests.” This will provide excellent opportunities to launch the MRI devices on the market in a few years’ time.

Responsible for propelling and stimulating all of the partners is a shared vision. STIMULATE wants to become established as the “German centre for image-supported medicine”. Rose and his fellow travellers envisage a campus at the Magdeburg Science Port, at the heart of which is the university, with its exceptionally successful courses in Medical Systems Engineering (master's) and Medical Technology (bachelor’s), which are receiving increasing numbers of applications each year. Business partners have settled in direct proximity – science and business next door to each other. The distances are small, but the economic effects are big.

FACTS

• STIMULATE – the “Solution Centre for Image Guided Local Therapies” – is also supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Science and Digitalisation of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.
• Otto-von-Guericke University, Siemens Healthcare GmbH and the STIMULATE association are working together on an equal footing in the form of a public-private partnership.
• In the STIMULATE association, extramural research institutions, universities and companies from the area of medical technology cooperate and work together.

Intelligent Catheters

The INKAs: on the path to glory

“Intelligent Catheters” are an interdisciplinary field of research at the Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg

The INKAs, from the Chair for Intelligent Catheters at the Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, are making a name for themselves with award-winning innovations for image-based therapies. Their in-house InnoLab IGT (Image Guided Therapy laboratory) is a close companion from the initial idea through to the start-up.

With the laparoscope in his left hand and an instrument with miniature forceps at the tip in his right hand, Medical Engineer Thomas Sühn navigates both through the abdomen of a “phantom” reproduction of the human body, and looks at the screen. The “feeling” for whether the therapeutic part of the instrument is actually located in the target tissue is controlled by an “intelligent” needle system: the SURgical Audio Guide, or SURAG for short, recognizes the acoustic signals of the human body. The innovative technology measures the interactions between the human tissue and the biopsy needle through an accessory at the end of the instrument which records sound from the tissue structures. The expert on the signal analysis is Dr Alfredo Illanes. Dr Alfredo Illanes and doctoral student Thomas Sühn are members of INKA – the research group of the Chair for Intelligent Catheters – Catheter Technologies and Image-Controlled Therapy at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. Michael Friebe, an expert in magnetic resonance imaging and other imaging technologies, holds the professorship, which is financed by companies in the regional economy.

His INKA team, consisting of young junior scientists, has succeeded in becoming a multiple award-winning advanced grouping for the development of components and complete systems for minimally invasive surgical techniques, as well as for areas of application in the areas of medical imaging and micro-systems technology.

A team of scientists has just been awarded the 2019 IQ Innovation Prize for Central Germany. They developed the contrast medium injector “EasyJector” for imaging diagnostics. The new device is small, lightweight, and controlled by an app, and patients can wear it on their arm even in close proximity to the magnetic resonance scanner (MRI). “Contrast medium injections could be 1,000 times cheaper with the EasyJector,” says Michael Friebe, explaining that the current objective is to place the device on the medical technology market. The companion along this path is an innovation and start-up laboratory, the likes of which we have only seen from the creative industries. The InnoLab IGT (Image Guided Therapy) was initiated by the INKA Chair.

The Innovation Incubator

“We want to link ideas and people,” explains INKA Professor Friebe, saying that the InnoLab IGT provides assistance in analysing the need for start-up ideas. In the further course of the project, the participating stakeholders can build their models here in the prototype laboratory and test them in interaction with various medical robots in the simulation OR.

Friebe is currently in talks with an interested party who wants to take the “EasyJector” to the Scandinavian market. They have to provide the certifications required by law, develop a business model, found a start-up... These are just a few of the preparatory steps that the InnoLab IGT assumes responsibility for – roughly ten percent of the total costs until a medical technology product is on the market, Friebe highlights.

With their SURgical Audio Guide, Thomas Sühn and Alfredo Illanes are among those who want to entrepreneurs. In 2017, the INKAs were awarded a prize in the Hugo-Junkers competition of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt in the category of the “Most Innovative Projects in Basic Research”. The INKA-InnoLab is supporting them in the further development of SURAG. The audio signal must be translated by information technology so that the doctor can interpret it effectively during an operation. At the same time, Thomas Sühn and Alfredo Illanes are being accompanied in the founding of their start-up company.

Prototype tests in the InnoLab

Sinja Lagotzki and Juan Sebastián Sánchez López from the INKA team have now been “entrepreneurs” for a few months. Their start-up. “In-Line” produces new MR-compatible tools, including the corresponding software. This new generation of tools, which work precisely and efficiently in the MRI environment, aims to help physicians to perform minimally invasive treatments, also in the narrow tube of the magnetic resonance scanner – safely, conveniently and quickly. “In-Line” is currently developing tools for pain therapy in the spine. Thanks to the demonstrations in the InnoLab IGT simulation operating theatre (OT), the start-up company can be certain of demand.

“Both researchers and clinical users, but also industrial manufacturers can test our prototypes on site,” explains INKA Professor Friebe. The equipment of the simulation OT includes, among others, reproductions of the human body called “Phantom”, an operating table, a 3D-C arm, an endoscopy tower, various medical robots and ultrasound tomography devices.

One of these state-of-the-art devices is a prize that was awarded directly by the American medical technology company General Electric Healthcare for projects relating to liver health. An INKA research group joined the competition with its method of ultrasound-guided monitoring of the temperature propagation in human tissue. “It is difficult to distinguish a tumour from the surrounding healthy tissue. The image analysis which we have developed enables us to identify the tumour and plan the targeted destruction at a temperature of at least 60 degrees Celsius,” explains Medical Engineer Jens Ziegle. The doctoral student provided the ideas for the procedure.

Award-winning healthcare solutions

A new ultrasound device from the company piur imaging GmbH is currently being installed in the INKA-InnoLab. The Austrian company intends to enhance ultrasound devices with an additional function which combines several ultrasound images to create a 3D image. The INKAs are participating in this EU research project.

The outstanding importance of this innovation laboratory for the medical technology industry is underscored not least by the renowned membership of the globally active InnoLab IGT Industry Advisory Board. In addition to piur imaging GmbH, global players such as Olympus Surgical Technologies Europe (Olympus Winter & Ibe GmbH), Brainlab AG, Surgiceye GmbH and the local Primed GmbH are also represented.

At the end of the day, Professor Friebe posts the latest news: medical technology company Siemens Healthineers is awarding two prizes to developments that the INKAs “... have put on the path to becoming a provider of innovative healthcare solutions.”

Saving lives with VR

The Magdeburg company “2tainment” is conquering the medical sector with digital simulations

Virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) are opening doors to new worlds in all sectors. Computer games, in particular, are paving the way for innovative technologies: nowadays, modern gaming technology isn’t just being used in entertainment, it can be found in every industry. The Magdeburg-based company "2tainment GmbH" is demonstrating the strength of companies from Saxony-Anhalt in the market.

They had the right "nose" from the start. In 2016, a trio of entrepreneurs launches the company “2tainment” in Saxony-Anhalt. They focus on the federal state for a variety of reasons. The IBG funds managed by bmp Beteiligungsmanagement AG – venture capital funds financed with state and EU resources – make a financial contribution. And the partners are well aware of the courses at the local universities, in which budding young professionals learn all about the computer games sector. "Our decision to set up in Magdeburg was exactly right," says Development Director Bartol Ruzic, who now runs the business in partnership with Stefan Weyl.

On arriving in Magdeburg, the entrepreneurs initially occupy an office at the Science Port, placing them close to the university with its well-educated students and graduates, and giving them immediate opportunities for cooperation - especially when it comes to virtual reality. The company starts by developing its basic fields of business – developing and marketing hardware and software entertainment products, and optimising hardware for gamers. As a “publisher”, the company travels all over the world and serves all the leading game consoles. Two years ago, it was the first company in Saxony-Anhalt to release a computer game to be used on consoles such as the "Playstation" etc.: the action game "Air Conflicts Secret Wars".

"The current developments in medical technology are exciting..."

Since then, the software and hardware offerings in the Magdeburg firm have found themselves in good company. AR and VR are opening up new areas of business. "We want to focus more strongly on software development in the future," explains the Development Director. The team is fascinated by the ways in which XR – the combination of virtual and augmented reality - can be used, and the new worlds which it is able to open. "We’re very excited about what’s happening in the world of medical technology," says Ruzic. In this respect, those looking for "2tainment” are increasingly likely to come across the name "2simulate", with which the Magdeburg entrepreneurs intend to develop their own brand in the medical sector. "Sooner or later, this could develop into a new company in Saxony-Anhalt," opines Bartol Ruzic.

OP training: cooperation on the research campus at Magdeburg University

The first steps in this direction have now been taken: on the "STIMULATE” research campus at Otto-von-Guericke-University, the company is supporting scientists with "AVATAR": in this joint project, which is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, VR and visualisation techniques are being developed for the purpose of innovative surgical training. The goal is to enable doctors to simulate surgical situations at different locations simultaneously in the future. In this respect, the surgeons work on the basis of virtual reality, are able to train for emergencies and complications, and can exchange specialist knowledge. Mainz University Medical School, the Harvard Medical School in the USA as well as the regional businesses “metraTec" and "2tainment" are also participating in the project. Bartol Ruzic believes that this research, in the scope of which his company is developing the "multi-user communication network", is "very exciting". It also constitutes a convincing tool for “additional simulation projects in the medical sector”. In this context, “2tainment” is currently focusing on the topic of emergency simulators. "We recently visited around 30 medical centres to gain an overview of the things that can be improved," explains Bartol Ruzic. The bottom line: a whole lot. "There is considerable demand for digital optimisations in casualty departments. Nearly all the clinics that we contacted were very interested,” explains the Development Director. The company is responding very quickly, and now creating a prototype for the possible simulations. Here, equipped with VR glasses and "data gloves", experienced and prospective physicians or the medical staff are able to train for emergencies and act out “rehearsals” on how to take the right decisions quickly.

Digital vision: simulations for all areas of training

The Magdeburg-based company has the famous Charité hospital in Berlin as its principal partner. "Our vision in this area is to create a medical product which facilitates regular training with the goal of gaining qualifications, similar to airline pilots," explains Ruzic. To achieve this, however, it will be necessary for the guidelines and processes in the medical sector to be changed. For the "2tainment" team, attending specialist conferences is now high on the agenda - with the goal of sounding out new interest groups and the future demand. “We want to have our first operational version ready by 2020,” explains Ruzic. The Magdeburg-based company is also looking to the future in terms of other areas of use. Whether it is the fire department, the police, disaster response or even the world of sports – wherever it is necessary to train people, the simulation tools from the Magdeburg company could be of use. “There are almost no limits,” explains the entrepreneur, “as far as we are concerned, the future is the virtual world”.

Health + IT Campus

MedTech – the industry of the future at the Health + IT Campus in Magdeburg

Driving innovation and opening up opportunities in Saxony-Anhalt

The Health + IT Campus in Magdeburg is gradually filling up. It is now just over a year since it opened and eight companies are already based at the site on the Ölweide, including two firms from outside Germany. By offering the best possible conditions for start-ups and growing young companies in the innovative medical technology industry, managing director Mathias Schulz and his team have been able to compete successfully with sites in Japan and South Korea. “And this is just the beginning...” according to Schulz.

MedTech Accelerator acts as a launchpad

The MedTech Accelerator in Magdeburg began in January 2022. It gives interested teams the opportunity to apply with project ideas in the fields of medical technology, IT and engineering and to pitch them to a jury of potential backers who choose the projects that will be accepted into the program. The applicants can include people looking to launch their own businesses, plus existing start-ups and young companies. The goal of the program is to help forward-looking, sometimes crazy product ideas and business models to become commercially viable by means of interdisciplinary and intercultural cooperation. The projects are assigned their own development period, which means that there is no time limit on the MedTech Accelerator program. Approximately once a year, the companies present their results to their backers and to the public during a pitch day. “By taking this very practical and pragmatic approach, we aim to give young companies a real boost toward their market launch,” says Schulz. “Imposing a time limit would be counterproductive.”

The accelerator is a win-win situation for everyone involved. People with innovative ideas are given technical, practical and financial support to turn them into marketable products. The companies taking part have the opportunity to enter into sales partnerships, contribute their own products and services to the start-ups or acquire a long-term shareholding in the new businesses. “The projects and the backers are matched with one another in advance to make sure that this is successful,” explains Schulz. “The projects will only have a future if the two profiles fit together.”

Secure area for technological progress

The two USPs of the Health + IT Campus are discretion and a national network. Particularly in the early phases of their development, the companies value the secure area that Schulz and his team can offer. Laboratories, offices and a medical technology workshop are available where they can work in peace and quiet out of the public eye to bring their products to market readiness. Too much attention or media hype can be counterproductive in these circumstances. This is why Schulz is unwilling to disclose information about the firms based at the campus, which work in areas including engineering, energy and environmental technology, social media tools and sensor systems. They are also not referred to by name on the website.

As a committed networker, Mathias Schulz is also managing director of innoMed e.V., a network for medical technology in Saxony-Anhalt. He brings together companies, researchers, investors and start-ups from all over the world with the aim of making advances in medical technology in Saxony-Anhalt and beyond. Over the next year, Schulz would like to start an exchange with teams from Israel so that he can introduce them to the advantages of Saxony-Anhalt as a location. At the same time, he aims to present his organization as a partner that can make access to German markets easier and manage regulatory issues. The response from potential investors shows that the joint plan developed by Schulz and Matthias Weber, managing director of HASOMED GmbH in Magdeburg, to develop an innovation center for the health technology of the future and to promote digitalization in the healthcare sector has been well received.

Developing and presenting medical technology solutions

A lot is happening at the campus site. Another building is currently being converted into the CampusCommunityCenter (CCC), which will be equipped with 3D printers for prototyping, among other things. As the parent company, HASOMED also makes its own workshops available to the companies on the campus, which have the opportunity to use CNC milling centers, metal folding machines and other equipment by prior arrangement. Alongside the active role played by the Health + IT Campus and the support from HASOMED, productive relationships are developing between the companies on the campus. Established businesses and start-ups are supporting one another, sharing experiences and exploiting synergies in tools and materials. “This positive exchange of ideas and mutual help and support is exactly what makes our campus different,” says Schulz. “We want to achieve something together.”

In addition, larger companies can use the premises of the Health + IT Campus for product presentations and technical meetings. For example, a company from Bavaria came here to present its latest high-performance cameras for medical research and diagnostics equipment to a variety of research teams. By organizing individual meetings, it is possible for companies to make initial business contacts on a confidential basis.

With this wide variety of ideas and opportunities for cooperation, the Health + IT Campus will become an important interface and a driving force behind innovations in medical technology and digital healthcare.

Author: Miriam Fuchs

Cardio-Care-App

Unique Care App for Cardiac Patients

Halle-based software company celloon GmbH is developing special mobile apps for the healthcare market

ealthcare apps are on the up: fitness trackers, nutrition or exercise apps are being downloaded from appstores in constantly increasing numbers of smartphone users. But alongside these lifestyle apps is a rising tide of those designed to diagnose and treat medical conditions or to journal and monitor symptoms. Celloon GmbH has developed an app for post-operative cardiac patients. 

According to celloon GmbH CEO Mirko Kisser, the healthcare market is growing steadily and we’ll see even more apps and fitness gadgets emerge in the next few years. Smartwatches can already record cardiac patients’ heartbeat, and Google has apparently developed contact lenses that measure blood sugar. There are now ultrasound devices, no bigger than a computer mouse, that you can pair with your smartphone in order to save and send images. Kisser says that the digitalization of medicine opens up a host of opportunities for mobile apps.

“Digitalization is changing our workplaces and the way companies operate. Mobile technology is one of the key drivers. Our web and mobile apps come into play wherever there’s a need to expand processes or applications as a result of the rapid increase in access to mobile channels,” he explains.

Innovative apps for the healthcare market

The Saxony-Anhalt developer is now focusing more intensively on innovative apps for the healthcare market, particularly B2B applications that are tailor-made for customers rather than downloadable from an app store. “We recently developed a special cardio care app for a heart clinic. The next step is a clinical trial,” says Kisser. Patients with cardiac support systems like artificial hearts need close monitoring after surgery. Current post-op care practice for these at-risk patients is to call them or have them visit the hospital regularly for check-ups. But celloon’s bespoke app means the clinic can monitor them daily.

“The app works like a journal. It’s intuitive and simple, designed with seniors in mind. Each person’s data are sent to the clinic every day and evaluated by doctors, which means they can keep an eye on their patients’ condition remotely,” explains Kisser. For example, the app can also take photos of the exit point of the line that powers an artificial heart so that physicians can immediately spot any localized inflammation. Future versions of the app may even be able to assess patients’ vital signs on site. This digital post-operative care for cardiac patients is a world first that Saxony-Anhalt can be proud of. “Other clinics around the world are involved in trials for a variety of things, but nothing in app form like our product,” says Kisser.

A Halle native, Kisser is also Deputy Chair of the Connected Health working group for the German Digital Media Association (Bundesverband digitaler Wirtschaft – BVDW). The companies in the group are working on digital technologies for more efficient, accurate and personalized healthcare.

celloon, a small business based in Halle, began developing programs for cell phones some thirteen years ago before smartphones hit the mass market. Back then, the term “app” hadn’t even been coined! So celloon GmbH was one of the first companies in Germany to spot the potential of innovative applications for cell phones and for today’s smartphones. Healthcare is just one of the firm’s fields of activity.

Saxony-Anhalt: a great environment for startups

Celloon GmbH is a classic startup. By the time Mirko Kisser completed his design degree in 2003, he’d already decided he was going to develop digital marketing solutions for businesses. And he recognized that Saxony-Anhalt offered outstanding conditions for getting his idea off the ground. Supported by the “Exist” startup initiative at Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg, Kisser began by developing the first-ever patented QR codes for business and personal applications. He later expanded his portfolio with mobile-optimized business websites and then smartphone apps. After his first company, Kisser founded celloon GmbH in 2009 at Halle’s Middle German Multimedia Center (MMZ), an entrepreneurial hub designed to foster the media and creative industry in Saxony-Anhalt.

Mirko Kisser and his team have long since been developing solutions for the healthcare market, including projects commissioned by Halle’s Martin Luther University and Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design. For example, one of celloon’s special apps digitalizes the care processes for artificially fed patients, from creating recipes and ordering the necessary ingredients from pharmaceutical wholesalers, to delivering products to the relevant pharmacy and providing instructions for use. Another simplifies the digital processes for an international medtech manufacturer that produces ventilators for hydrocephalus patients. The possibilities for digital medicine are endless. 

Author: Michael Falgowski

Digital doctor-patient communication

Innocon Systems from Tangermünde develops innovative IT for the healthcare sector

Digitalisation is providing the opportunity for more efficient work-flows in the healthcare sector and for higher patient satisfaction – an area of application in which the company Innocon Systems GmbH has considerable experience. The company based in Tangermünde develops innovative software solutions for hospitals.

“The general population is becoming more aware of health issues,” says Hagen Woecht. He discusses the changing role of patients, something to which doctors, practices and hospitals are increasingly adapting. After all, patients who take the initiative to find out about health-related topics also want to be treated as mature patients. Hagen Woecht has a degree in IT and considers digitalisation to present a considerable opportunity for resolving this task, which is no longer something for the future. His company Innocon Systems GmbH, in Tangermünde, develops innovative software solutions, principally for the healthcare sector. “Our programs function without a keyboard or mouse, using barcodes, wireless recognition or mobile devices,” explains Woecht.

The efficiency of the work processes also takes centre stage for his customers in the healthcare sector. Innocon Systems has developed “medpaper” to reduce handwritten work to a minimum. The “medpaper” are self-generating digital documents for the purposes of information, treatment or documentation. A program would collect all the information about a patient that has already been provided and create a new document on the basis of the new requirements.

“Medpaper has grown into paperless patient documentation for the tablet,” says Hagen Woecht, before turning to another example of efficiency: The transport service at Münster University Hospital is now able to register radiological patients at the patient terminal by barcode scan. Patients with an appointment can also register there. This frees up space at the reception desk. “Our ‘transport routing’ has been running in test mode in Münster for half a year,” says the IT expert and laughs: no, he isn’t one of those who writes unrealistic programs which are unsuitable for practical applications. On the contrary, he’s an insider.

An IT expert who is familiar with hospital processes

During his period of civilian service at Stendal hospital in the early 1990s, the young man’s skills were recognised and put to use with the objective of making the IT fit for the new era. Long before he owned his first computer, he wrote simple programs on paper without being able to put them to the test. This did not detract from his enthusiasm though, and culminated in an apprenticeship as an electronics technician. Hagen Woecht is proud of his correspondence course at Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg, from which he graduated with a degree in IT in 2006.

In 2010, Hagen Woecht founded Innocon Systems GmbH – together with two other partners – equipped with his experience as an IT manager at Stendal Hospital and as planner in an engineering company which completed a lot of work for hospitals. His team includes computer scientists, software developers, project managers and account managers who are currently working on some 40 projects from the base in Tangermünde. Although the customers also come from the world of industry, they are mainly from hospitals in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Hagen Woecht visits them on site; he gets a picture of their work processes. The Radiology Department of the University Hospital Zurich wanted to reduce the number of failed examinations due to missed appointments. “Sometimes radioactive contrast media are ordered especially for the patient and expire after a short time. This also results in a financial loss,” says Hagen Woecht. Innocon Systems has developed software that automatically reminds the patient of the appointment by text message. This software is now being used by the Radiology Department at the Charité hospital in Berlin, too.

webOrder communication portal in pilot use

As a software developer, you have to be extremely agile and find a solution to a problem very rapidly, explains Woecht. In this respect, two companies have been particularly reliable partners for his requirements: GE Healthcare, a subsidiary of General Electrics, is a leading provider of healthcare IT solutions, and Nexus AG, which supplies cutting edge IT applications to hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and retirement homes throughout Europe.

The willingness of physicians to include their patients in the treatment and to give them a variety of information rights is driving the demand for software-based solutions, explains the boss of Innocon. Another innovative product from his company is “webOrder”. The communication portal can be accessed by PC, mobile phone or tablet. It is in pilot operation at the Altmark-Klinikum with sites at Salzwedel and Gardelegen. The clinic enables its patients to access diagnoses, doctor’s letters and X-ray images securely via the Internet. If the patient is admitted to the hospital, the information and medical history forms can be filled out electronically at home. For this project, not to mention others, Innocon Systems GmbH was awarded the Altmark Business Prize in the “Services” category in 2016. “We have had new products for a long time with which we can take part in the competition again,” says Hagen Woecht, adding that this business award not only helps to raise the profile of the winner, but also that of the region. Woecht describes himself as someone who is committed to his region of the Altmark. Whenever he embarks on a business trip, he speaks highly of its attractive attributes as a location for living and business.

New diagnostic possibilities

Data for good "is the current motto of the Nielsen company, which works worldwide in the fields of marketing and advertising research. A company was founded here in Magdeburg under the name Telemedi GmbH and is testing a groundbreaking EEG headset together with neurologists from the University Hospital: The brain activity of high-risk patients can be measured using dry electrodes in the home environment. This opens up completely new possibilities for monitoring and diagnosis.
MediGlove: Diagnostics tool, magic glove, hand laying instrument - the "MediGlove" already had many names in the media - and all of them are somehow correct.  With the medical glove that combines heart rate monitor, stethoscope and thermometer.
New ways for diabetics: Intelligent sole measures pressure and temperature. The company Thorsis Technologies thus links research and users. This sole can make life easier for diabetics and give them back their quality of life. Because this sole is "smart". It continuously determines pressure and temperature distribution at the foot and helps to detect incorrect loads and warn wearers.

Great value basic research

While telemedicine is easing the burden during daily life and reducing the time needed to travel to the doctor and for waiting, Saxony-Anhalt researchers are also addressing fundamental questions in the field of medicine, in which data processing plays a key role. In this context, Prof. Dr. eng. Bernhard Preim and Dr. eng. Benjamin Köhler, a computer visualist at the Institute for Simulation and Graphics in the Faculty of Computer Science at Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, have developed a software package known as "Bloodline", which analyses the blood turbulence on the walls of the coronary arteries. Both are computer scientists. Bernhard Preim admits to being personally "infected" with the subject of medicine: he is married to Dr. Uta Preim, who is a radiologist. "The project was initiated by my wife, who worked as a radiologist for a year at the Cardiology Centre in Leipzig and naturally knew that we, as computer scientists, could contribute to the evaluation of blood flow data." The development of the algorithms and software has been managed almost entirely by Benjamin Köhler." Professor Preim is proud of his “extremely proficient doctoral student". The topic as a whole is as relevant in the world of medical research as it is in computer science research. Taking third place in the area of basic research as part of the Hugo Junkers Prize 2016 was an additional reward for their work – in addition to the recognition that they have gained at the professional level.

What will become of Bloodline? "The software is a prototype for research purposes only. The 4D PC-MRI measurement technology, which is the official name of Bloodline, is still a long way from being suitable for use in everyday clinical practice,” explains Benjamin Köhler. The software is, however, currently being used for studies and further research at the University Hospital in Magdeburg and in the Cardiology Centre in Leipzig. Both Uta Preim and PhD students work with the software, and regularly give their feedback to Benjamin Köhler. The ultimate purpose of the software is to provide predictive – and therefore better – treatment options for diseases of the coronary arteries.

Time is health

Otto-von-Guericke-University is also committed to the practice of telemedical research, however, so as to enable stroke patients to receive the rapid help that they require when no specialist hospital care is available in their immediate vicinity. "With our Telemedical Acute Stroke Care, or TASC, we have been able to ensure that patients who suffer a stroke receive the medicine they need as quickly as possible in the immediate aftermath – so that they benefit from significantly improved chances of recovery," highlights Peter Knüppel. The University has founded a network in which several clinics in the northern part of Saxony-Anhalt have participated. The patient data has been evaluated at Magdeburg University Hospital and the treatment has been provided on-site. Short decision-making paths, rapid help, better recovery. "We have now reached a point at which the research potential has been exhausted, so we have stepped down from our role of medical technicians. The TASC is still going strong, however." Computer scientist Knüppel is happy with the project’s sustainability. The ASTER project has emerged as something of a follow-up development. In this project, businesses and the university have joined forces to optimise the equipment available in ambulances for the optimal care of stroke patients.

The proximity between the physicians, computer scientists, computer visualists and other specialists in Saxony-Anhalt helps experts to apply their knowledge in networks on a focused basis. It is on this basis that they have succeeded in developing Bloodline and TASC, and are inviting participants to join the "Living 4.0" project. Saxony-Anhalt can be seen to punch above its weight – thanks to its well-educated and ambitious young researchers who want to invent "something which is useful".

App warns of Alzheimer's disease

What promotes a good memory and which factors have a negative effect on mental performance? The Magdeburg-based company neotiv has developed an app that uses short memory tests to analyze the impact of lifestyle on mental performance. A company that produces a series of products that support memory is Neotiv. A life-changing hybrid, Neotiv combines world-leading dementia research with software development, engineering and entrepreneurship expertise.

"Just like cardiovascular health, cognitive health can also be modified," explains Neotiv's CEO and co-founder Dr. Chris Rehse. "Since irreversible damage to the brain caused by Alzheimer's sometimes occurs more than a decade before the first symptoms appear, diagnostic research is increasingly focusing on early detection and prevention. Neotiv offers high-frequency monitoring of neuroanatomically specific memory functions that are particularly susceptible to Alzheimer's disease. And it is precisely for this reason that Neotiv is the ideal tool for monitoring the effectiveness of treatment and changing lifestyles.

In summary, Neotiv plans to read your brain like a book, flip to the last chapter and make sure there is a happy ending. Imagine Neotiv as neuroscience's answer to polio vaccination.

Tomorrow's incubation often revolves as much around the "where" as the "how". World-changing companies like Neotiv need local support to be successful. "The company's headquarters in Saxony-Anhalt is a unique opportunity for Neotiv," says Rehse. "The German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases [DZNE] of the Helmholtz Association and the Institute for Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research [IKND] are world-renowned dementia research centres in Magdeburg. They provide an essential environment for translating pioneering science into products of high value to users and patients. In addition, we benefit from the local network of researchers, entrepreneurs and the state government. The network is essential to bring together expertise on dementia, start-up procedures and design planning after the first meeting of the founding team".

Pilot Project Telemedicine

The best medicine is the doctor himself. Say studies. Says the life experience. But what if there is no doctor? Because in this sparsely populated region there was no successor for the family doctor's practice. Because the ageing population needs more medical time than there is capacity. Then telemedicine - an example of e-health - can alleviate the problem. Computer scientists in Saxony-Anhalt work closely with doctors, transforming measurement data into images, helping to transmit data and thus improve medical care.

The example of Halle an der Saale. Here the Hallesche Wohnungsgenossenschaft FREIHEIT eG is investigating the practicability of telemedicine in a pilot project with many partners. The possibilities offered by telemedicine can be used, for example, to support medical activities and ensure medical treatment services in the home environment or in critical supply regions. In addition, independence and quality of life can be significantly improved for the patients concerned.

Autonomy in old age research network

"Self-Determined Ageing in the Saxony-Anhalt Region"

According to current population statistics forecasts, the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt will be particularly hard hit by the consequences of demographic change in the coming decades. Against this background, it is important to develop technological and social innovations that take up and promote the potentials of an ageing society in order to support older citizens* in acting independently for as long as possible and being able to participate in social life.

At the beginning of 2016, 19 joint projects of the research network "Autonomy in Old Age" scientists* from Magdeburg, Halle and Wernigerode in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt started their research work. The research network is currently in its second funding period. The aim of the joint projects is to develop life-world-oriented and application-oriented strategies for society to deal with the challenges of demographic change in the region and thus contribute to autonomy in later phases of life. The network is supported by the ERDF/ESF funding programmes of the EU and financial resources of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.