On 10th July, Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH (Konica Minolta) participated in the final event of the ‘Global Health Challenge’, an initiative of the MedTech OneWorld Student launched by the Center for International Medical Engineering of the Institute of Medical and Polymer Engineering at the Technical University of Munich. Konica Minolta has sponsored the initiative and supported the event as part of the jury.
The Center for International Medical Engineering was founded in 2017. It focuses on the implementation of new medical technology R&D projects for emerging and developing countries. In May 2019, the second MedTech OneWorld Student challenge was launched and more than 30 students participated with several projects including 3D-printed Surgical Tools, Automated Infusion Control, First Aid Scooter, Colposcopy for developing regions, Life Cycle Development of Medical Devices and Low-cost Oxygen Concentrators. The ultimate goal is to develop prototypes that can be low-cost, locally produced products in developing countries.
Four of these prototypes were presented in the final pitch round, in front of a jury in which Konica Minolta was represented by Marie Piraud, Digital Healthcare Research Specialist in the Konica Minolta Global R&D laboratory in Munich. The team ‘Automated Infusion Control’ won the challenge, with a very simple drop counter device that can save precious time for the nurses of developing countries. They won a place in the next MedTech BootCamp organised by the UnternehmerTUM, the Center for innovation and business creation at TUM, to further develop and refine their project.
Building upon a constantly growing network, which includes local Universities (Addis Ababa University), vocational training colleges (Tegbareid Polytechnic College Addis Ababa), regulatory bodies (EFDA – Ethiopian Food and Drug Administration) and local companies, as well as German and international companies, MedTech
OneWorld focuses on the creation of medical technology for developing and emerging countries. The developments include sufficient functionality, local production and maintaining an affordable price level without the need for external support. This approach ensures knowledge sharing allowing local maintenance and creation of spare parts.
Med Tech One World:
https://medtechoneworldstudents.wordpress.com/
Center for International Medical Engineering:
https://www.medtech.mw.tum.de/en/medtech-oneworld/
About Konica Minolta Global R&D
Since its establishment in 1873,
Konica Minolta has a long history of innovation. Konica Minolta Global R&D is a worldwide, connected and adaptable team, operating across research laboratories and development groups in Japan, Europe and United States. The team has the singular objective to anticipate ever-changing market requirements in order to empower existing and future customers with AI and IoT platforms that include hybrid cloud computing, data-centric applications and assistive services.
Dedicated to supporting Konica Minolta’s evolution into a leading edge solutions provider of platforms, Global R&D creates end-to-end pipelines for innovation in the contexts of digital workplaces, Industry 4.0 and digital healthcare. From concept design, through research, agile development and testing, to initial stages of productisation – Konica Minolta Global R&D drives an iterative process starting from customers’ understanding and targeting the creation of meaningful values for people and society.
