Impressions of External Innovation Think Tank (eITT) Exhibition 2019

Twelve diseases that afflict mankind
It begins with unborn children: how can expectant mothers reduce their child’s risk of disease? How can we improve the diagnosis, treatment and the handling of breast cancer, for example? The “Innovation Think Tank” (ITT) has for the first time developed complex treatment plans for twelve diseases which pose the biggest risk to mankind. The core idea: technological innovation. Some treatment plans were presented internationally at the annual external ITT Exhibition on July 11, 2019.
One in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. According to the WHO, it is estimated that 627,000 women died from breast cancer in 2018 – that is approximately 15% of all cancer deaths among women. For the patients themselves and their social circle the disease is tragic and traumatic, much the same as many other sometimes fatal diseases. “We want to change that. That's why at ITT we’re analyzing the most difficult points in the treatment paths of the deadliest and most costly diseases over the entire life and disease cycle of humans. This begins in the womb and ends with aftercare,” explains Sultan Haider, founder and head of ITT at Healthineers at this year's Innovation Think Tank exhibition (eITT 2019) in Erlangen. 

Basis for joint research and development
He addressed the 130 participants from around 40 international organizations: “We are aware of the problems with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and aftercare of diseases like breast cancer. Action must be taken, and that’s exactly what we are doing: our response is technological innovations which will help patients, doctors and others involved to prevent the disease or to halt its progress. The technology is available! The important thing now is that all of us - technology companies and start-ups, research institutes and universities - work together to make it operational.” The health system is also groaning under the weight of the worst diseases, says Haider, so much of it is also about reducing the financial burden along the whole treatment pathway. Again, new technologies are the key here.

How do technological innovations help?
They are designed to save time, and therefore money, improve the patient experience and enable access to important information for the doctors, hospital administration or governmental bodies. Specifically, it is about three fields of technology: digital technologies, such as the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), the 5G mobile communication standard, artificial intelligence or Blockchain which we are combining in the treatment pathways with automated solutions – focusing here on robotics and sensors – and clinical innovations such as new diagnostic methods, digital pathology or minimally invasive procedures for example.

Which diseases are being looked at?
Haider’s ITT team have identified twelve diseases whose global burden – both social and economic – is particularly high: