25 giu 2015
METAV 2016: Medical technology gathers momentum Medical Area showcases medical and production technology in tandem
Frankfurt am Main, 25 June 2015. – Manufacturers of medical technology and production technology for medical products are equally called upon to put a continual series of innovations on the market, for the benefit of the patients. Orthopaedic technology, for example: “Leg prostheses are tasked with giving the wearers their mobility back,” says Markus Rehm, a master mechanic for orthopaedics, a top athlete, and wearer of a lower-thigh prosthesis. “In terms of functionality and safety, however, the optimum is still a very long way off,” adds Markus Rehm. Jumping, dancing, jogging, swimming, climbing or simply just walking – to enable all these movements to be optimally performed, this nowadays still requires several prostheses. Improving the wearing comfort even further, matching the prostheses more responsively to the movement sequences involved, rendering them more sensitive in regard to feeling heat or cold: “Here I would like to see quite a lot more improvements for the very near future,” says Paralympics winner and long-jump world champion Markus Rehm.
Markus Rehm, Paralympics winner in long jump in 2012, and a qualified orthopaedics mechanic, Rahm Zentrum für Gesundheit, Troisdorf
Individuality is the trump card here. Companies like the Rahm Zentrum für Gesundheit (Rahm Health Centre) in Troisdorf, Markus Rehm’s own employer, purchase prefabricated prostheses from industrial suppliers, produce customised shafts as the link between the prosthetic and the human body, and modify them individuallyto the situation of their future wearers.
The materials used are lightweight ones like aluminium, carbon-fibre materials, titanium, silicone, etc. or material combinations. They are in many cases machined using conventional processes like milling, drilling or grinding. Also required are a goodly portion of skill and a steady hand. Furthermore, additive manufacturing is becoming progressively more important for customised medical technology.
New technologies, miniaturisation, a paradigm shift away from an exclusively product-focused approach and towards complete-system and process solutions, the integration of ultra-modern information and communication technologies, personalisation, and individualisation are trends determining everyday reality in the field of medical technology. Every innovation in medical technology demands appropriate production technology for manufacturing it.
Medical technology increasingly in demand at the METAV
The interrelationship between medical and production technologies is the thematic focus of the Medical Area at the METAV 2016 in Düsseldorf from 23 to 27 February.
Medical technology is progressively evolving into a high-growth customer segment with ultra-rigorous stipulations in terms of quality, safety and dependability. This demands machining technologies that supply precision and perfection in every phase of the manufacturing process, irrespective of whether customised or standard products are involved.
High-precision craftsmanship is essential for rendering high-tech usable. The shaft of the prosthesis is matched meticulously to the user concerned
Starting life as a special show called “Metal meets Medical” at the METAV 2010, the subject has meanwhile gathered so much momentum that it has been anchored in the Medical Area as a fixed constituent of the METAV 2016. It will be spotlighting the entire spectrum available for production processes in the field of medical technology. New materials will be on show, as will surface treatment technology, product dimensioning and medical engineering, or the subjects of certification and production systems. For the premiere of the Medical Area at the METAV 2016, the existing exhibitor listing has been expanded to include a separate nomenclature with more than 30 entries for medical technology.
Four METAV areas invigorate the fair’s core section
With this profile, the Medical Area fits admirably into the METAV’s overall concept, which focuses on the entire value creation chain for metalworking applications. As from 2016, four areas will be appended, themed around Additive Manufacturing, Moulding, Quality and Medical, substantively conceived for mutual fructification. Manufacturers of medical technology, and of tools and moulds, are all exacting purchasers of machine tools. Medical technology manufacturers use moulds and tools for their production operations. Both sectors have ultra-rigorous stipulations for quality in their manufacturing processes. Solutions to this are offered by the Quality Area. Finally, visitors to the Medical Area can additionally familiarise themselves with the new options for additive manufacturing in the eponymous area. Inside an area, vendors showcase their corporate capabilities either as individual exhibitors or on shared stands. Each area features an integrated forum for presenting topical issues.
Ulrich Krenzer, Managing Director of Mapal Kompetenzzentrum VHM, Miller in Altenstadt, is fully persuaded of the new concept’s advantages. “Medical technology offers an enormous amount of potential, but also necessitates the development of concomitantly distinctive solutions. The requirements encountered in dental technology, for instance, are met by means of responsively adapted geometries and special cutting materials. We are delighted that the sector will be represented with an area of its own at the METAV 2016,” he says.
One of the Medical Area’s partners is the VDMA’s Medical Technology Working Group. Since being founded in March 2014, it has successfully positioned itself as a platform themed around issues of production equipment for medical technology. To quote Jürgen Lindenberg, Managing Director of Citizen Machinery Europe GmbH in Esslingen, a member of this Medical Technology Working Group and one of the METAV’s long-standing exhibitors: “The new areas at the METAV are a fine opportunity to purposefully target customers from the sectors concerned. We want to familiarise ourselves still more thoroughly with the requirements entailed by medical technology, and to further upgrade our high levels of competence in terms of micro-machining for this customer grouping. The METAV provides an ideal opportunity for this.”
Medical Technology Cluster North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the METAV’s partners
Dr. Oliver Lehmkühler, Executive Director, Cluster MedizinTechnik.NRW, Düsseldorf,
In regional terms, the Medical Area is supported by the Medical Technology Cluster North Rhine-Westphalia, headquartered in Düsseldorf. To quote its Executive Director Dr. Oliver Lehmkühler: “With the new Medical Area, the METAV is bringing together two vital sectors in North Rhine-Westphalia: metalworking and medical technology. This underlines the high quality of the technologies and products from North Rhine-Westphalia for the medical sector. As a partner of the Medical Area, we are delighted to be able to offer enhanced visibility for the highly innovative companies from North Rhine-Westphalia operating at this interface."
Background to the METAV 2016 in Düsseldorf
The METAV 2016 – the 19th International Exhibition for Metalworking Technologies – will be held in Düsseldorf from 23 to 27 February. It showcases the entire spectrum of production technology. The principal focuses are machine tools, production systems, high-precision tools, automated material flows, computer technology, industrial electronics, and accessories, complemented by the new themes of Moulding, Medical, Additive Manufacturing and Quality, which are now permanently anchored in what are called “areas” with their own nomenclature in the METAV’s exhibition programme. The METAV’s target group for visitors includes all branches of industry that work metal, particularly machinery and plant manufacturers, the automotive industry and its component suppliers, aerospace, the electrical engineering industry, energy and medical technologies, tool and mould-making, plus metalworking and the craft sector.
Portrait of the VDMA’s Medical Technology Working Group, Frankfurt
Within the VDMA, the Medical Technology Working Group constitutes a platform themed around questions of production equipment for medical technology. The network is targeting the entire value creation chain, from the material supplier, the machinery manufacturer and the medical technology producer all the way through to actual utilisation in the clinics. Besides producers of medical technology and research institutes, the working group’s members also include companies from the entire specialism spectrum of the mechanical engineering sector.
Portrait of the Medical Technology Cluster North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf
In 2011, the Medical Technology Cluster North Rhine-Westphalia began its work on behalf of the state’s Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research. The defined remit for the cluster’s activities is to reinforce North Rhine-Westphalia’s already-strong position in in the field of medical technology and to upgrade it still further by means of intelligent strategic networking. The Medical Technology Cluster North Rhine-Westphalia aims to synergise the capabilities of all parties involved, from the business community, academic/research institutions and the health care sector, so as to support the ongoing process of innovation. In line with the “Progress for North Rhine-Westphalia” research strategy being pursued by the Ministry of Science, social aspects and patients’ interests are also to be accorded more attention than hitherto, as are demographic change and the other major challenges of our era.
