27.08.2024
Over 2 billion rapid test (lateral flow assay) kits are produced every year, adding tens of thousands of tons of used materials to the growing global volume of medical waste. Every test kit contains around 12 grams of plastic and is designed for single use. The company Okos Diagnostics, founded in 2022, aims to reduce the waste with a sustainable rapid test solution.10.11.2023
The AgWearCare project resorts to wearables to collect and digitalise data, supporting agricultural tasks and preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders.07.11.2023
There is a low-cost way for you to protect yourself and reduce your risk of respiratory diseases such as flu, RSV, and COVID-19. Build yourself a Corsi-Rosenthal box (CR box) in 30 minutes with just $60 worth of common hardware store supplies.22.09.2023
Researchers from the University of Waterloo completed the first-ever assessment of a Canadian hospital to reveal its total environmental footprint and specific carbon emission hotspots.22.08.2023
In a pilot project, the University Hospital of Würzburg has succeeded in significantly reducing the CO2 footprint in endoscopy. The focus was on consumables. Prof. Alexander Meining initiated the project together with his colleague Dr. Dorothea Henniger.07.07.2023
A study by researchers at Mälardalen University (MDU) describes what our future healthcare industry may look like.20.06.2023
The World Health Organization presented the new design recommendations for new hospitals to be built in the European Region, the result of a research partnership with the Politecnico di Milano. The document was prepared by the Design & Health Lab in the Department of Architecture, Construction Engineering and the Built Environment at the Politecnico.23.05.2023
A study conducted by the Department of Molecular and Medical Virology at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, has shown that temperature is a major factor in this process: at room temperature, a monkeypox virus that is capable of replicating can survive on a stainless steel surface for up to eleven days, and at four degrees Celsius for up to a month.17.04.2023
The health care system and its activities consume a lot of resources. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the existing problem due to the increased need for hygiene and protective equipment. Urgent action is needed to protect the environment and combat climate change by reducing consumption and improving resource efficiency.17.03.2023
Building a hospital is a large project that involves many experts and countless workers and contractors. They are all coordinated to reach a common goal: a building that serves the wellbeing of patients. MEDICA exhibitor Axis Medical has a lot of experience with this – read more in our interview!27.02.2023
Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have found a way to use small shocks of electricity to disinfect water, reducing energy consumption, cost, and environmental impact.23.01.2023
In light of climate change, the healthcare industry is putting increasing emphasis on sustainability besides digitization and labor shortages. In the future, hospital facilities will be judged by their carbon footprint and their contribution to climate neutrality.03.01.2023
Particularly in hospitals, a lot of waste is generated due to the large number of disposable products. In the case of cardiac catheters, this is doubly annoying, as they contain precious metals such as platinum and copper. A pilot project has therefore been launched at the Heart and Diabetes Center NRW to return used catheters to the raw materials cycle.21.12.2022
Researchers from the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung now have proven in a paper published in the “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health” that face masks - both FFP2 and surgical masks - strongly reduce lung exposure and thus the dose.15.11.2022
Occupational accidents also happen in medicine. One of the most common are injuries with cannulas and needles. These are not only painful, but also carry a risk of infection. At MEDICA 2022, Owen Mumford will be showing solutions for safe drug administration and blood collection. In the video interview, we also learn more about the company's sustainability goals.01.07.2022
When we think of modern hospitals, we often think of high-tech medical devices, patient beds surrounded by machines, or networked operating rooms. Yet it is not only the equipment in patient rooms that leads to a better and faster recovery. A hospital that delivers a positive experience for patients, their families, and medical staff centers on smart design from the very beginning.01.03.2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a global increase in healthcare commodities and medical consumables: demand for face masks, gloves, protective apparel, and other personal protective equipment has soared as a result. This also applies to rapid tests, reagents, laboratory equipment and supplies. But all this sparked a myriad of problems.01.03.2022
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the use of disposable face masks. Discarding them has become an environmental challenge on a global scale. This has prompted the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE and the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT to develop an innovative recycling process for used plastics.01.03.2022
Medicine produces a lot of waste through medical consumables like protective gear or laboratory equipment. All of this gets destroyed due to hygiene reasons after use, but it is nonetheless true: Our resources are not unlimited and medical waste is a burden for the environment, too.18.01.2022
The global food system today directly and indirectly impacts personal and planetary health and burdens the health care system and climate as a result. Rethinking our diet and food choices and using technology can make a lasting difference on the health of people and our planet.16.12.2020
Large hospital complexes such as the University Hospital Bonn can save millions when they implement well thought-out energy-saving measures. Michael Körber reports how the UKB is already implementing this with the help of combined heat and power units and a comprehensive sustainability concept. Manuel Merges describes how these projects were also possible with the help of external financing.01.07.2020
The REGIOMED Klinikum Lichtenfels is the lighthouse project of the "Green Hospital Initiative Bayern" (Bavarian Green Hospital Initiative), which launched in 2014 and aims to increase energy efficiency and promote sustainability in Bavarian hospitals. Lichtenfels took things one step further by constructing an optimized new building where sustainability is an integral part.01.07.2020
Each day, a hospital consumes as much energy as a small city. Medical facilities work around the clock to provide excellent patient care. Environmental protection tends to play a secondary role as high safety and hygiene standards seem to be incompatible with optimized resource utilization – but is that really the case? Green Hospitals prove that environmental sustainability is possible.01.07.2020
In times of climate change, interest in ecological alternatives and solutions has grown in the health sector, too. However, for the complex organism of a hospital this sometimes poses a great challenge. How can energy be saved despite continuous operation? To what extent are hygiene standards and waste reduction compatible? And what costs are associated with the Green Hospital?