Sustainability and waste from medical consumables
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Image: An environmentally friendly rapid antigen test placed on a green leaf; Copyright: Okos Diagnostics

Okos Diagnostics

From waste to sustainable wins: Rapid tests with biomaterials

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.
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Image: Duarte Dias explains the Agwearcare technology in the final event of the project. He stands in a room next to a dummy; Copyright: INESC TEC

INESC TEC

How can wearables help to protect farmers well-being

10.11.2023

The AgWearCare project resorts to wearables to collect and digitalise data, supporting agricultural tasks and preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
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Image: inexpensive do-it-yourself (DIY) “Corsi-Rosenthal Box” air purifier; Copyright: UConn photo

UConn photo

EPA testing shows the power of D-I-Y air filters to trap viruses

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.
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Image: Empty hospital bed with partition in a clinic; Copyright: davidpradoperucha

davidpradoperucha

Sustainability: What is the carbon footprint of a hospital bed?

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.
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Picture: A man in a white coat holds a medical tube in his hands; Copyright: UKW / Stefan Dreising

UKW / Stefan Dreising

Sustainable endoscopy: Würzburg University Hospital reduces CO2 footprint

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.
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Image: Professional technician testing robotic bionic arm at prosthetic manufacturinge; Copyright: 1footage

1footage

Digitization, AI, robotics: how healthcare will change over the next 50 years

07.07.2023

A study by researchers at Mälardalen University (MDU) describes what our future healthcare industry may look like.
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Image: View on the main entrance of a modern hospital building, a car stops in front of it; Copyright: jdskiles2

jdskiles2

Hospital construction: WHO recommends Politecnico di Milano design guidelines

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.
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Image: The surface of a door handle is cleaned with disinfectant; Copyright: Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum

Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum

Hygiene: monkeypox viruses relatively stable on surfaces

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.
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Image: Female physician in a hospital is throwing trash into a trash can; Copyright: karrastock

karrastock

CirculAid: funding for a circular economy in healthcare

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.
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Image: Hospital buildings behind a forest and a wheat field; Copyright: IndustryAndTravel

IndustryAndTravel

Hospital construction: challenging projects for good healthcare

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!
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Image: Xing Xie is holding holding a chip in close up; Copyright: Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech

New ultrafast water disinfection method is more environmentally friendly

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.
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Image: Overview graphic on sustainable growth; Copyright: mihacreative

mihacreative

Green Hospital: Carbon neutral thanks to sustainable technology

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.
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Sustainable hospital – Cardiac catheter in the raw material cycle

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.
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Image: Top view of FFP2 class clean face mask on blue background; Copyright: Photology75

Photology75

Radon: Face masks reduce radiation exposure

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.
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Safety for healthcare professionals – Owen Mumford Ltd.

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.
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Image: A female nurse is pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair through a park; Copyright: s_kawee

s_kawee

Smart hospital design – it benefits all of us

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.
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Image: A blue surgical glove is hanging over the edge of a trash can; Copyright: PantherMedia/srikijt

PantherMedia/srikijt

Sustainability and medical consumables – where to put the waste?

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.
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Image: A used surgical mask is hanging from a branch in the woods; Copyright: PantherMedia/Valery Vvoennyy

PantherMedia/Valery Vvoennyy

Medical consumables: Will the pandemic inspire more sustainable practices?

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.
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Image: Several medical masks as well as other disposable waste products in a trash can; Copyright: PantherMedia / Fotofabrika

PantherMedia / Fotofabrika

How to reduce plastic waste: innovative process promises recycling of single-use face masks

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.
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Image: A vegan to flexitarian diet; Copyright: PantherMedia / marilyna

PantherMedia / marilyna

Climate Change: "Meat Should be Reserved for Special Occasions"

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.
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Green Hospital - Sustainability at the University Hospital Bonn

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.
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Image: Shaking hands of two people, one of them wearing a doctor's coat, in front of wind turbines and solar panels in the sun; Copyright: PantherMedia/Wavebreakmedia (YAYMicro)

PantherMedia/Wavebreakmedia (YAYMicro)

Hospitals go green – helping patients and Mother Nature

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.
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Image: A modernly furnished hospital entrance hall with large windows; Copyright: REGIOMED

Green Hospital: not only ecological, but holistic sustainability

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.
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Image: Hands formed into a bowl holding a green hemisphere with buildings, wind turbines and solar panels; Copyright: PantherMedia/sellingpix

PantherMedia/sellingpix

Green Hospital: on the way to more sustainability

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?
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