Challenges, advances and proposals for the health sector from
UC3M Conferences
3/18/16
Researchers in the area of health at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), from the public hospitals that are involved in the Plataforma de Innovación en Tecnologías Médicas y Sanitarias (ITEMAS – Platform for Innovation in Medical and Health Technology) and from technology centers and companies met to discuss the main advances and challenges in terms of innovation in this field.
The III Conference of the Health Research Institutes (Institutos de Investigación Sanitaria) of the Madrid regional hub of the ITEMAS platform and UC3M was held on March 17 on the University’s Madrid-Puerta de Toledo campus, with 200 participants in attendance. The Conference was organized by the UC3M Science Park and the innovation units of the Madrid hospitals that are part of the ITEMAS platform, with the support of the firm PONS Intellectual Property.
The conference was inaugurated by Javier Prieto, vice-chancellor of UC3M’s Science Policy, and Manuel Desco, coordinator of the ITEMAS Platform, who spoke about the importance of generating value using the results of, and about the growing importance of innovation in European projects. In addition, different specialists discussed the possibilities presented by new medical devices and sensors, developments in the area of biomechanics, digital health and M-Health, Big Data in the health sector, medical imaging and simulation, as well as biomaterials, tissue engineering and 3D printing.
Among the attendees were more than 130 researchers from UC3M and the eight hospitals that are involved: Gregorio Marañón, Puerta de Hierro, La Paz, Clínico San Carlos, Ramón y Cajal, 12 de Octubre, Fundación Jiménez Díaz and La Princesa. Also participating in this year’s conference, were approximately fifty representatives from technological centers, who were attending for the first time. They came from centers such as Tekniker and Prodintec, as well as from companies connected to the themes that were presented and to research activity in Spain, such as Atos, Everis, GMV, Indra, Regemat 3D, Samsung and Simumak.
Several projects have been born of the collaboration between the University and the research centers of the region’s hospitals; some of these are currently in the process of being commercialized or patented. Among these are a prototype that can do skin biopsies in five minutes and a simulator for training doctors in minimally invasive surgery. “We are now waiting for these teams to begin working in companies, working on projects or as part of consortiums, as well as working on obtaining joint public and private financing so that carrying out R+D leads to the development of innovative products that will be of use to society,” the organizers explain.
