24th April 2014

UK-to-NZ mission in Medical Technologies in June 2014.

The British High Commission in New Zealand is pleased to announce that it will host a UK-to-NZ mission in Medical Technologies in June 2014.

The mission will coincide with the Medical Technologies and Healthcare conference (http://www.healthcarecongress.org.nz/) in Auckland, New Zealand, June 10 and 11. The High Commission is cooperating with the Medical Technologies Association of NZ on this mission. Conference registration will shortly available on their website.

The conference, the health sector’s biggest event, brings together key stakeholders from health technologies companies, procurement agencies, clinicians and others – to explore new opportunities. It will afford an excellent opportunity to meet a wide range of NZ medical technology/ healthcare groups in one location. Sessions will include, inter alia:

·         The Environment for Health Innovation Today, with an overview of the environment today in which health innovation will take place, what is there to support innovation and what else needs to be done?

·         Interventional Technologies: Minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgical techniques are still evolving and there is a huge potential market for improved systems and techniques. The limitations of laparoscopic surgery illustrate the present problems, with an urgent need for better surgical planning techniques, improved pre-operative and intra-operative imaging

·         accuracy, and tailoring of operations to patient-specific anatomy and physiology. The CMDT research team has expertise in surgical techniques and physiological modelling which is the basis for the new technologies developed, while NZ companies are already spearheading aspects of this area with innovative products. This is an industry-research workshop which will discuss technology gaps in clinical practice, show case technologies that are in commercialisation by industry and new developments in the pipeline.

·         Telehealth: Tele-monitoring has the potential to improve efficiency of care in hospitals and the community, and provide secondary preventative measures for the management of chronic conditions and maintenance of healthy lifestyles. It needs both large-scale surveys and remote monitoring techniques to be successful. Research to date around the world has produced equivocal results, often because it has focused too much on the technology with little thought for practical utility, or because it has been too all-encompassing to provide useful information about what works for whom. Trials of telehealth technologies need to be carried out on a much faster timescale than is usually possible in separate or follow-on research proposals. Here we will discuss how telehealth should be approached and where it has been successfully implemented.

·         The Hackable Human: In this plenary session the speakers will highlight international trends in electronic assistive devices, telecare, telehealth and medical informatics system. The use of digital healthcare services brings with it the exposure to external risks for data to be accessed and corrupted. What are some of the measures that should be in place to protect the safety and confidentiality of that data transfer?

 

Some funding (up to £1500) will be available to R&D participants who seek to pursue a commercially-orientated collaboration with NZ (on a first-come basis for those who qualify). Earlybird registrations are due by 5 May, and the High Commission may be able to assist with discount for a UK group.

The High Commission, in collaboration with the conference organisers, may host a UK-NZ workshop during or immediately following the conference, where participants may make their own pitches and enter into personal discussions on potential collaborations with New Zealand organisations.

 

Please respond to the questions below and e-mail Steve.Thompson@fco.gov.uk if you would be interested to join the mission.

Questions for UK applicants:

1. Name and position of applicant, organisation name and address:

2. Nature of organisation’s business and R&D interest:

3. Organisations you would like to meet in New Zealand and collaborations you hope to pursue:

4. Your ‘pitch’ at any mission workshop: Please give a title or topic:

5. Any other comments.