From Monday until Thursday, the entire medical world and health care sector will once again meet in Düsseldorf. With a record participation of a good 5,500 exhibitors from 69 countries, MEDICA 2019 is off to a good start. The world’s largest and leading medical trade fair will run from 18 to 21 November and expects visitors from 170 countries. “Three quarters of the exhibition space has been booked by international participants. After Germany, the largest share of bookings come from China, Italy, the USA and South Korea, and then we already see bookings from Turkey, followed by France and Great Britain,” explains Horst Giesen, Global Portfolio Director Health & Medical Technologies at Messe Düsseldorf. Accordingly, Horst Giesen sees that MEDICA is well-positioned across international borders. "No other event in the world offers such a comprehensive, international offer of innovations that covers the entire spectrum of needs for outpatient and inpatient care,” says Horst Giesen. 

This year, once more in parallel to MEDICA, COMPAMED will take place for the 28th time, with around 800 exhibitors (in Halls 8a + 8b). COMPAMED, a supplier trade fair, has become the ultimate hotspot for complex high-tech solutions and services throughout the entire value-added chain for the medical technology industry and is now the international leading event in its segment. 

This time, the increasing digitalisation of processes in health care that directly includes the patient is once more a leading topic. This prevailing trend will not only be represented by exhibitor innovations at MEDICA 2019 but is also reflected in the programmes of the accompanying conferences and forums. 

For example, the 42nd German Hospital Conference (which looks at digitalisation projects within clinics, among other elements), the MEDICA HEALTH IT FORUM (on IT topics such as big data, artificial intelligence and cyber security), the MEDICA CONNECTED HEALTHCARE FORUM (hardware and software solutions for connected healthcare) and the MEDICA MEDICINE & SPORTS CONFERENCE, held entirely in English, which takes a close look at the use of applications which are used in close proximity to the body and wearables for monitoring vital signs, along with other items. The star of this conference is top triathlete Sebastian Kienle, who was once again successful at the recent Ironman competition in Hawaii and claimed the bronze medal. 

New themed organization of the trade fair halls 

The main focal points at MEDICA are: Electromedicine / medical technology (approx. 2,500 exhibitors), laboratory technology / diagnostics, physiotherapy / orthopaedic technology, commodities and consumables, information and communication technology, medical furniture and specialist furnishings for hospitals and practices. 

As a new addition at this year’s event, the allocation of these topics to the trade fair halls has been changed. Due to the increasing convergence of software and hardware, especially in the fields of medical technology, the MEDICA information and communication technology segment will be moved from Hall 15 to Hall 13, where it is directly connected to the halls for medical technology and electromedicine. 

Manufacturers of surgical instruments, on the other hand, will leave Hall 13 to move thematically closer to providers of imaging technology (e.g. endoscopy) as well as complete solutions for modern hybrid operating rooms in Halls 10 and 11. “With regard to performance and cost aspects, the operating room segment is possibly the most relevant interface of every treatment workflow and therefore particularly important for a clinic’s success. At MEDICA, we show top decision makers state-of-the-art technology and operating room organisation with short distances in concentrated spaces,” says Wolfram Diener, CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, emphasising the clear benefits the new hall structure offers visitors. 

The exhibitors in the laboratory technology & diagnostics area will be placed in the newly built Hall 1 for the first time ever. Here, Abbott and Euroimmun are two of the biggest stars on our list of renowned returning exhibitors. 

Trailblazers welcome: many start-ups will take part 

Along with digital health applications and the medical technology, start-ups deserve special attention. The number of start-ups at MEDICA has grown constantly over the past few years, making this event the international top spot in the start-up arena too. Now, several hundred young and mostly digitally driven companies come to Düsseldorf to present their innovations to the international specialist audience. 

Pioneering innovations are, for instance, present in the live presentations in the MEDICA DISRUPT programme (held within the scope of the MEDICA CONNECTED HEALTHCARE FORUM in Hall 13). In the pitches, we take a look at new solutions for diagnostics and health monitoring from the start-ups. The health monitoring includes taking blood pressure, lab-on-skin technology and biomarker analysis, to give a few examples. Another topic is the exemplary use of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to classify and document ulcers and wounds.  

Whilst the forum’s stage provides entertaining presentations, the MEDICA START-UP PARK (also in Hall 13) has been designed as a fixed meeting point at which interested parties can approach company founders and discuss possible business cooperations. The German start-up Rehago from Reutlingen University, for example, is among the 37 participants from 17 countries. Rehago specialises in virtual reality applications that can be used as a training activity in rehabilitation of hemiplegic patients, patients with muscular spasms or hemispatial neglect. 

Robotic applications are also still on the rise in the health care sector. KUKA, one of the leading providers for robotics and automation solutions, for example, will be taking the opportunity to choose a winning team of developers from five finalists for their “Innovation Award”, which takes place at MEDICA on 20 November. The spectrum of award topics ranges from a robot platform with magnetic capsules for early detection of bowel cancer to an application that provides robot-supported laser treatment for varicose veins and robot-assisted, personalised back massages. ‘temi’ is another innovation at MEDICA. This home-care robot is manufactured by Medisana and is a digital everyday aid that aims to help people live in their own four walls into old age.