Innovabiomed takes off at Veronafiere
Biomedical innovation takes flight with drones! Remotely piloted medical transport aircraft are just one of the innovations on display at the third edition of Innovabiomed, the two-day conference and networking event for the biomedical industry, scheduled 24-25 May at the Veronafiere Congress Centre.
And not merely urgent medicines: drones developed by Israeli company Gadfin will soon be able to transport blood, organs for transplants and defibrillators, thanks to collaboration between the Higher Institute of Health and the Veneto Motorway Concessions. The project named “Sky53” will be presented at Innovabiomed during a meeting moderated by Francesco Gabbrielli, Director of the National Centre for Telemedicine and New Assistive Technologies of the Higher Institute of Health (ISS). The goal is to develop a plan for drones to fly along the motorway axis in accordance with the current regulatory framework and the local health system.
And Innovabiomed sees Veronafiere also become the testing ground for the first demonstration in Italy of a rapid medical transport flight in the area outside the show halls. The vertical take-off and landing drone has batteries ensuring a range of 250km, a top speed of 150km/h and a load capacity of 5kg.
Innovabiomed’s “confexpo” format typifies today the evolution underway in the international trade fair system, in combining the exhibition part with a conference component offering high-profile content, with ten conferences, workshops and demos illustrating the present and future of the biomedical sector.
And speaking of the future, artificial hearts, for example, are at the centre of the seminar held by Gino Gerosa, Professor of Cardiac Surgery and Director of the Heart Surgery Centre and the Heart Transplant and Mechanical Assistance Programme of the University Hospital in Padua. Given difficulties associated with the availability of this vital organ, research now has to turn to mechanical valves and move towards the development of an entirely total artificial heart.
The newly-elected President of Veronafiere, Federico Bricolo at his first official inauguration, said: “The avant-garde, medicine, health, research, innovation, technology and courage are increasingly strategic values in everyone’s lives and are the soul of Innovabiomed. Speaking of health today means referring to progress in research and consequently the most innovative materials and services applied to the medical field. This sector, according to Confindustria data for medical devices, sees Italy in the forefront on an international scale with 4,500 companies, more than 110,000 employees, turnover of more than 17 billion euros and the first European biomedical district set up near Mirandola, just a few kilometres from Verona. This sector attracts the interest of large foreign investors and has all the potential to continue to grow as a fundamental industrial value chain, finding since 2018 at Veronafiere an opportunity for comparison and promotion for its companies and exponents.
The Innovabiomed programme includes seminars, round tables and a business area attended by highly innovative companies. The intention is to encourage meetings and discussions between sector companies and specialist suppliers, doctors, administrators and health personnel, professionals, investors, start-ups, researchers, teachers and young people interested in this world.
The focus meetings at this edition include: NRP and funds for sector innovation, the use of drones in healthcare, artificial intelligence and cyber security, big data, hospitals of the future, personalized medicine, the man-machine relationship, artificial hearts/xenotransplants.
During the event, space will also be given to realities representing the best on the Italian market through the Innovabiomed 2022 Award, created in collaboration with the Cariverona Foundation and made to the most innovative company in the business area.
“Innovabiomed is a landmark for Italian and international markets,” said Carlo A. Adami, originator of the event and President of the Scientific Committee. “The goal is to promote a multidisciplinary approach and connect skills capable of expanding a sector that is fundamental for our society. Health is an important and indispensable value that involves a rapidly changing sector, which must give prompt and effective answers to every eventuality. We must be ready to take rapid action in situations that may arise in the future. An exchange of experiences between medical-scientific and corporate spheres is what we aim to achieve with the third edition of Innovabiomed today.”
The event is organized by Veronafiere and districtbiomedicale.it, in collaboration with RPM Media and Soluzioni Omnia Media, Confindustria Dispositivi Medici, Confimi Sanità e Fondazione Cariverona. Innovabiomed enjoys the patronage of the Veneto Region, the Province, City Council and University of Verona, the University of Padua, the Veneto Regional Federation of the Orders of Surgeons and Dentists.