CX 31- Innovation Showcase

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This CX session provides an opportunity for leading clinicians and industry professionals to interact over the development of new technologies in the vascular and endovascular device field. It includes a “Dragon’s Den” style competition.

Dr Peter Hinchliffe, the 2008 winner puts the programme in context; “The innovation showcase is extremely important in allowing new companies to air their new technologies in front of seasoned, unbiased professionals. I think this gains them exposure to the end user community all in one venue,” he says.


Chas Taylor, CEO of Veryan and competition judge says, “Europe (and the UK in particular) has lagged behind the USA in the development of medical device start-up companies and any forum that allows likeminded individuals to converge, network and swap experiences is useful.” Also, he says, “In these challenging financial times – it is a great opportunity to share our thoughts with others on the well-trodden path to raising finance.”


This year’s showcase is kickstarted by Professor Frans Moll, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands, who presents on “The role of European biobanks.” Moll says current biobanks have proved that plaques contain hidden information on what type of life a patient will have. In fact, information that can be retrieved from these plaques can directly help predict clinical outcomes.


Moll said: “Traditional risk factors appear to be largely insufficient to predict cardiovascular events and to discriminate between high and low risk patients. There is a high need for diagnostic tests to identify patients at high risk of developing heart attacks and strokes and for developing preventive strategies.”


Professor Iris Baumgartner from Bern, Switzerland, then presents data from a randomized, controlled trial on the clinical efficacy of therapeutic angiogenesis with intramuscular NV1FGF. Other speakers in the session include Peter Gaines from Sheffield, UK, who will speak on outcomes with helical superficial femoral artery stents and Dieter Mayer from Zurich, Switzerland, who outlines his experiences of using extracorporeal shock wave therapy treatment for wounds. Mayer finds that, “Unfocussed, low energy extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) has been shown to be a feasible treatment option in acute and chronic nonhealing wounds with complete healing rates of up to 75%.”


Also on the innovation showcase is Dr Reto Bale, from Innsbruck, Austria, who explains exactly how improved imaging can lead to improved intervention. He says, “The number of endovascular interventions has increased rapidly over the last years. Due to the complexity of the vasculature, precise positioning of the guide wire is sometimes difficult, leading to prolonged examination times and increased exposure to radiation for the patient and the medical staff. During the last decades significant developments have been made in the field of imaging which will have direct bearing on intervention.”

Register now on www.cxsymposium.com.
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