Smart Medical Devices

The focus area Smart Medical Devices was created from the former focus area Cyber Medical Systems. Due to demographic change and the increasing shortage of healthcare professionals, especially in the nursing sector, smart medical devices will help to overcome the discrepancy between supply and demand for healthcare professionals. Topics such as robotics in rehabilitation and care, human-machine interaction and various telemedical applications can be further developed by means of already collected expertise and existing structures. In the field of telemedicine, many successes have been recorded in recent years. Telemedicine has become a standard procedure in emergency medicine. Furthermore, telemedicine in intensive care medicine is already in the implementation phase. In addition to the successful realization of the interdisciplinary projects SmartOR (BMBF), Smart Life Support (DFG PAK 183/2), THALEA, OR.net (BMBF), Gerontotechnology (Robert Bosch Stiftung) and EIT Health, a new networked geriatric research station was successfully established at Franziskus Hospital and the further expansion of geriatrics with a focus on gerontotechnology was started. Furthermore, the OR.net project successfully demonstrated the establishment of a fully networked operating room as a demonstrator. Here, a standardized device interoperability (consolidation as OR.net network and introduction of the "IEEE 11073" standard) was established. In addition to these projects, the "Center for Robotics in Healthcare" was founded. Here, scientists from various disciplines work on medical applications that can be solved with the help of robotics. In addition to the priority program SPP 2014 "Towards Implantable Lung", further "highlight projects" have emerged from this priority area, such as the innovation fund TELnet@NRW and the BMBF SMITH.