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Image: Person stands in front of an operating table and holds VR glasses in his hand; Copyright: PantherMedia / Romaset

Fostering Digital Health Competency Skills with Continuing Education

01/12/2021

Digital health solutions play an increasingly important role among physicians and healthcare professionals, which means they must gain the relevant competency skills to succeed in this area. The digital transformation of the healthcare sector has opened many new opportunities that are now permeating the work of medical professionals.
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Image: Surface of the CASUS-Software; Copyright: Universität Augsburg

Learning at your own pace: virtual patients in medical education

22/07/2021

As an important part of their education, medical students learn clinical skills by practicing on patients. Unfortunately, this was sometimes not an option amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The solution? Training with virtual patients. Even post-pandemic, they are a great learning tool for future medical professionals.
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Image: Two surgeons with Virtual Reality headsets look at a floating model of a human heart; Copyright: PantherMedia/Gorodenkoff

Surgery in 3D: Virtual Reality in the OR

01/04/2021

Surgeons do not only have to gather theoretical knowledge and practice to perform successful interventions. They also need a good visual thinking and have to know the anatomical characteristics of each individual patient. Some of these tasks will become easier when Virtual and Mixed Reality bring three-dimensional, digital models into their profession.
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Image: A man wearing a VR headset is holding a surgical instrument that is attached to a robotic arm; Copyright: Dynamic HIPS

Hip replacement: virtual surgical training with haptic technology

01/04/2021

Surgeons have only limited options to practice surgical techniques before they enter the operating room. The implantation of an endoprosthesis requires extensive practical training since it necessitates strength and utmost precision. The "Dynamic HIPS" project develops a virtual reality hip implant simulator that provides realistic haptic feedback.
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Image: A hand is touching a three-dimensional rendering of a human skull with blood vessel; Copyright: Brainlab

Surgical planning with immersive mixed reality

01/04/2021

The job of surgeons starts long before they step into the operating room. They must use two-dimensional MRI or CT scans to plan the surgical steps on a three-dimensional patient, relying on their experience, skill, and spatial sense. Using mixed reality (MR) to view human anatomical models allows for better visualization and navigation.
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Image: A physician in scrubs is putting on a Virtual Reality headset; Copyright: PantherMedia/Gorodenkoff

Broader perspective: how Mixed and Virtual Reality transform surgery

01/04/2021

For surgeons, nothing is more important than intimate knowledge and a spatial understanding of their operating field. Yet even three-dimensional imaging methods only provide limited assistance because the data is viewed on two-dimensional screens. When it comes to surgical planning or medical education, Mixed and Virtual Reality foster a better spatial understanding of the human body.
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Image: three men at a table with laptop and tablet from above; Copyright: PantherMedia/FancyStudio

Medical technology: desperately seeking digital professionals

24/03/2021

The global COVID-19 pandemic has fast-tracked digitization in many companies. Yet it has also highlighted a digital skills shortage and pent-up demand for experts in this field. Medical device companies are no exception to this trend.
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Image: View of a robot-mounted system from above; Copyright: panthermedia.net/wedmov

Robots in the Operating Room: Improving Training and Safety

04/05/2020

Surgical robots are transforming the operating room. They deliver many benefits but also present new challenges. That is why the efficient handling of robotic mechanisms must also be reflected in the respective training courses.
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Image: young woman makes an ultrasound with the new system and shows patient the image on her smartphone; Copyright: Universitätsklinikum Bonn

Ultrasound to go: versatile partner on hospital rounds

08/04/2020

The University Hospital Bonn has recently introduced an ultrasound device that's small enough to fit in your coat pocket. It's ready to use once you have connected it to a tablet or smartphone. The portable system makes bedside physical exams possible. The device primarily benefits students as it allows them to combine basic knowledge and clinical application.
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Image: A little toy figure of a man in a suit is standing on a print-out of DNA sequencing; Copyright: panthermedia.net/filmfoto

MEDICA LABMED FORUM: full speed ahead for careers in laboratory medicine

04/11/2019

Laboratories are medicine’s secret weapon because they handle the lion’s share of diagnostics often without patients even realizing it. That’s why the continuing workforce shortage in both laboratory medicine and companies is especially troubling. The MEDICA LABMED FORUM 2019 plans to address and counteract this development.
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Image: A physician wearing VR glasses. An image of the human heart floats in front of him in the air; Copyright: apoQlar

Virtual Surgical Intelligence: Microsoft Hololens in the OR

22/07/2019

Modern imaging opens news doors to surgeries. Yet it also poses major problems for surgeons: They use two-dimensional images to navigate through a three-dimensional surgical environment, while they continuously have to switch their focus back and forth between the images and the patient. Now help is on the way in the form of interactive 3D projections and mixed reality (MR).
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Image: triangular table at which three patients do various robotic rehabilitation exercises; Copyright: Hocoma, Switzerland

Walking is an issue of mind over matter – how robots assist rehabilitation

03/06/2019

Humans are living longer than ever but still want to continue to live independently as they age. Meanwhile, our motor and cognitive abilities decline as we age, sometimes as the effects of a stroke. The number of people in need of long-term care is growing at breakneck speed. At the same time, fewer and fewer young people choose stressful careers as caregivers.
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Image: A hospital room with different monitors and medical devices; Copyright: panthermedia.net/Christopher Boswell

Hospital cybersecurity: secure technology and trained employees go hand in hand

02/05/2019

When it comes to IT, the medical sector has a dilemma: On the one hand, digitization and networks are designed to save both time and money. Yet on the other hand, medical systems, physician offices, and hospital networks don’t have nearly the same levels of protection as online stores, payment service providers or financial institutions. That’s also partially due to an absence of risk awareness.
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Image: A male and a female physician look at a tablet together; Copyright: panthermedia.net/Wavebreakmedia Ltd.

Cybersecurity in the hospital: securely networked

02/05/2019

Digitalization and networking are supposed to serve the health care system well: In times of staff shortages and demographic change, they are able to support the exchange of patient data and the management of chronic diseases as well as to improve the workflow. But it is still often ignored that both individual devices and complete networks can become lucrative targets for cybercrimes.
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Image: Hands in front of a computer and tablet; Copyright: panthermedia.net/Andrew Lozovyi

Human firewall – keeping your resources safe

02/05/2019

Digitization impacts many areas of life. It is also remapping the healthcare landscape and is becoming increasingly important, ensuring that patients receive comprehensive care as quickly as possible. To make this a reality, data is stored digitally and medical devices are connected.
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Image: Female hospital employee with green OR cap is wearing AR glasses, a screen is floating in front of her; Copyright: IT4process GmbH

Augmented Reality: supporting sterile processing services?

08/06/2018

Every day, hospital staff has to manage complex processes to guarantee quality and patient safety. Yet in some areas, the use of checklists and manuals tends to be more cumbersome and not useful – as is the case in sterile processing. A new project studies how augmented reality can take all the necessary information into the staff's field of view.
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Image: young woman with VR-glasses in the VR-Lab, in front of it a young man at a computer, on which a virtual heart can be seen; Copyright: Kompetenzzentrum eLearning in der Medizin Baden-Württemberg

VR Lab for medical students: linking theory and practice

22/03/2018

Virtual reality and medicine are increasingly mentioned in the same context. In addition to the development of applications that support the treatment of patients suffering from chronic pain and anxiety, this technology also benefits medical staff. Two months ago, the Ulm University Hospital has opened the VR Lab, where medical students can train and learn with the help of 3D organs.
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