An online meeting hosted by the European Industry Photonics Consortium (EPIC) will bring together experts from across the field later this month
From start-ups and SMEs to larger companies, EPIC has hundreds of members operating in the photonics sector (Credit: Vladimir Nenezic/Shutterstock)
An online event hosted by EPIC (European Photonics Industry Consortium) later this month will see industry leaders come from far and wide to discuss how medical lasers can be used in everything from diagnostics and therapeutics, to patient monitoring and surgical procedures.
The Online Technology Meeting on Photonics for Medical Devices will feature several speakers from across the medtech sector – including Mirko De Melis, a senior principal scientist at medical device giant Medtronic, and Douglas Albagli, a principal engineer at GE Healthcare.
Attendees will discuss challenges the industry is currently facing and how people can come together from across the entire supply chain to address these challenges, creating the “perfect foundation” to establish business relationships and collaborations between manufacturers, end-users, component suppliers and system integrators.
The event – which takes place from 3pm to 5pm CET on 9 December – can be viewed live on YouTube by anyone, while industry figures are able to register via the EPIC website and participate in the meeting directly.
It will also be recorded and uploaded to YouTube at a later date for anyone who misses out on the day.
Dr Elena Beletkaia – project leader for sensing and healthcare technologies at EPIC – will be hosting the session alongside the consortium’s chief technology officer Dr Jose Pozo.
“Medical procedures are always aiming for less invasive and more precise procedures,” said Beletkaia. “Photonics is the key enabling technology for next-generation medical devices.
“And, during this meeting, we will discuss how medical lasers allow new approaches in surgical procedures and new treatments for cancer; how photonic technologies improve point-of-care devices and enable non-invasive continuous monitoring.
“We will also address the role of integration of medical devices and IoT [Internet of Things], with the era of digital medicine having already started.”
European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC)
EPIC is an industry association that promotes the sustainable development of organisations working within the field of photonics in Europe, and hosts the largest network of member companies in this sector.
Its members encompass the entire value chain, including LED lighting, photovoltaic solar energy, photonics integrated circuits, optical components, lasers, sensors, imaging, displays, projectors, fibre optics, and many other photonics-related technologies.
EPIC fosters an ecosystem within the photonics sector by maintaining its member network, and acting as a catalyst and facilitator for technological and commercial advancement.
It also runs a European photonics database, manages several focused LinkedIn groups and hosts numerous online events every year.
EPIC is owned and operated by its members – with its being annual budget being supported by membership fees ranging from €500 to €10,000.
This is scaled to encourage participation of start-ups, SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and large companies alike – as well as research organisations and other stakeholders in the photonics industry.