Tuttlingen – The 15th Innovation Forum Medical Technology will take place on Thursday. The dialogue plays a key role, because the example of mediMESH GmbH and KREATIVRAUM GmbH shows what can develop from it: They appear together as exhibitors - exactly where their success story began a year ago.
Know-how in medical technology and clinical environment analyzes on the one hand, experience in interactive 3D visualizations, virtual reality experiences and metaverse solutions on the other - combined by the goal of making highly complex issues visible, understandable and accessible: The mediMESH GmbH and KREATIVRAUM GmbH appear together as exhibitors at the 15th Innovation Forum Medical Technology. So exactly where their success story began a year ago.
Two different professional careers, but one claim
“At the previous evening’s event we started talking over a beer,” Enrico Pannicke and Jochen Knecht remember October 2022. They didn’t know each other personally until then, but they were aware of each other’s skills. Enrico Pannicke, doctor of medical technology engineer, managing director of mediMESH GmbH, a spin-off of the STIMULATE research campus in Magdeburg. Jochen Knecht, digital evangelist, founder and managing director of KREATIVRAUM GmbH in Karlsruhe. Two startups, two different professional careers, but one goal: to make complex products, processes and connections more understandable. mediMESH GmbH focuses on processes and working environments in the medical environment, which are made intuitively accessible. KREATIVRAUM GmbH focuses on transforming medical devices and technical equipment into a virtual, interactive and collaborative experience space. It didn't take another beer to be convinced of the benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration and each other's strengths. That evening, medical technology and the metaverse came together.
Database of clinical interventions complements visualization skills
Enrico Pannicke and Jochen Knecht use the example of a virtually experienceable and award-winning design study of an MRI prototype to demonstrate what they understand by the “interface between the real and virtual world” and how they advance it together. In an interactive virtual reality experience, the complex device can be introduced and evaluated as a digital twin in a wide variety of usage scenarios. How does it fit into the operating room environment? Is the handling correct? Teams of doctors can test the prototype in the virtual environment, train processes and give feedback: for example, that control panels should be arranged better, the lighting situation should be optimized or the arrangement of the monitors should be reconsidered from an ergonomic point of view. “This means that product and process planning can be intervened at an early stage, even before the first cost-intensive, real prototype is built,” says Enrico Pannicke. An important addition to KREATIVRAUM's visualization skills is mediMESH's database of clinical interventions, which allows the relevant application scenarios and their requirements to be quickly identified. “An immensely important basis for the evaluations that are possible with VR technologies,” says Enrico Pannicke.
A simulation is also worthwhile later, when hospitals are considering procurement, because such new developments are large, expensive and usually require a lot of explanation. Here too, mediMESH and KREATIVRAUM go together. “With virtual showrooms, product and room configurators, our partners accelerate time- and personnel-intensive processes,” reminds Jochen Knecht. Interactive workflow simulators as well as training and education solutions offer intuitive communication tools for process optimization.
“The collaboration is really exciting”
“These are stories we like to hear,” says Britta Norwat, department head at MedicalMountains GmbH. Exchange and dialogue are core components of the forum, but “we don’t always see what results from it”. She therefore draws confirmation and motivation from the cooperation to further expand the communication offerings. Which should also be in the spirit of mediMESH GmbH and KREATIVRAUM GmbH, who are exhibiting together this year. “The collaboration is really exciting,” says Enrico Pannicke and receives approval from Jochen Knecht. “We are two young companies and we see the potential.” At the moment we see ourselves as an individual service provider, “in the future it should become something standardized.” The right contacts to manufacturers, developers and users may exist again
