4/22/2021
2nd Virtual Edition MedtecLIVE & SUMMIT comes to an end after three days of dialogue, special highlights and high-calibre guests
After three days of intensive networking, the second virtual edition of MedtecLIVE & SUMMIT has drawn to a close. Exhibitors and other participants were impressed by the high quality of the presentations and the contacts they made as well as the exclusive format.

“The best virtual event we have ever taken part in” – “Very well done on the organisation; not every trade fair gets this so right” – “Fantastic team and great support” – “Awesome event, professionally run”: The concept for MedtecLIVE & SUMMIT 2021 impressed participants and set new benchmarks for digital events in respect of quality and the experience factor. Live moderation, a supporting programme with quiz night, and a well-structured and intuitive networking tool ensured the best conditions for dialogue and knowledge-sharing within the entire medical technology sector. And to top it all, the community enjoyed TV-quality event moderation live from an impressive LED-XR studio for the first time.
Alongside the high-calibre programme in the trade fair and congress, all participants benefited from interdisciplinary networking among their peers. Leading medical technology experts from the fields of R&D and practical applications, and numerous policymakers, also took part in MedtecLIVE & SUMMIT.
“I am thankful to have had so much support from the industry and am extremely pleased about the high calibre of the participants and the lively discussions that resulted. The effort we put into producing this second virtual round of MedtecLIVE & SUMMIT was very much appreciated by all players,” stresses Christopher Boss, Director MedtecLIVE at NürnbergMesse. “At MedtecLIVE, the movers and shakers of the medical technology sector meet up in a genuinely exclusive setting. The event gathered the people who are driving medical technology forward in Germany and the rest of Europe, whether they are suppliers, manufacturers, clinicians or politicians. Together they had a great many discussions, underpinning the innovative capacity of the sector in the process.”
MedtecLIVE Startup Contest
One of the highlights of every MedtecLIVE is the Startup Contest in collaboration with EIT Health. This year too, highly promising young companies delivered their pitches to win the approval of the prestigious jury and professional audience. As well as attractive monetary rewards, participants could also win coaching sessions, prizes, and vouchers for an individual “company roadshow” presented by Medical Valley, as well as the opportunity to participate in MedtecLIVE 2022. In 2021, eight start-ups faced up to the challenge and presented their business ideas in the virtual space in the form of five-minute pitches. The third prize went to the start-up Kumovis, while MethinksAI came in second place and the first prize of €15,000 was won by the prosthetics start-up Amparo. The “People’s Choice Award”, which all MedtecLIVE participants are eligible to vote for, went to Visseiro.MedtecLIVE Young Talent Award
For the first time this year, the Young Talent Award was presented at MedtecLIVE. Organised in collaboration with various partners, this award is designed for students and young professionals and acknowledges outstanding bachelor’s or master’s theses. The 2021 jury included Rainer Birkenbach (Brainlab AG), Professor Wolfgang Böcker (Medical Director Department of General, Trauma and Reconstructive Surgery at the University Hospital of Munich), Dr Filipa Campos-Viola (FSQ Experts GmbH), Professor Björn Eskofier (Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Department of Artificial Intelligence in Biomedical Engineering) and Dr Christian Münzenmayer (Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS). The jury pre-selected five papers from the around 20 submissions. The five authors were given the opportunity to present their work to the trade fair audience and jury in brief presentations. There were prizes to be won as well as individual business meetings with exhibitors and the publication of extracts of their work in a trade journal. Charlotte Pradel won the jury over with her work and her presentation of it to become the recipient of the first MedtecLIVE Young Talent Award.MedtecLIVE programme: focus on knowledge for practical application
As well as participating in the virtual exhibition, a large proportion of exhibitors also got involved in the programme, giving participants access to a wide range of presentations, talks and pitches with specific practical application. The topics included interoperability in hospitals, laboratory automation, digital health applications, MDR compliance, international market access and many more. The round table discussions on additive manufacturing on the second day of the event put the spotlight on 3D printing in medicine. This session was developed in collaboration with the Augsburg trade fair Experience Additive Manufacturing. The third day of the fair featured a slot with presentations on the topical issue of wearables in medical technology. Exhibitors were able to give a high-speed demonstration of their expertise in 90-second elevator pitches delivered from 1 pm every day. Registered participants can continue to access all lectures and presentations online.MedtecSUMMIT: Say yes to innovation!
The theme of this year’s MedtecSUMMIT was: Innovative – Interactive – Inspiring. In nine sessions in total, more than 80 high-calibre international speakers and partner organisations delivered sound practical input on the latest megatrends and challenges in the medical technology and health sectors. Clinical applications were also given optimal coverage for the first time thanks to collaboration with the DGOU (German Society for Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery). Dr Jörg Traub, Director of the MedtecSUMMIT, was extremely impressed: “Thanks to the tireless dedication of all those involved, especially the event team and the speakers and moderators, trans-disciplinary knowledge-sharing and high-quality networking within the sector were possible even in the virtual format.”The tenor of the session “Regulation: don’t hesitate, innovate” was to see the MDR not as a challenge but above all as an opportunity to thrive in the market in future. In this context, transparent communication within the company and with external partners is crucial.
In the lecture series “Innovation in Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery”, experts from the medical, industrial and research communities presented a wide range of innovations, e.g., from the fields of intra-operative medical imaging, musculoskeletal research or virtual facial reconstruction. In this context, everyone is talking about trends like bioprinting, VR/AR, robotics. The consensus in the community is that only systematic collaboration between hospitals and the medical technology industry will drive medical innovations forward, and that ultimately, this always benefits patients. Clinical robotic systems, some of which have already made inroads into clinical practice, continue to drive innovation. The session “Clinical Robotics – Status Quo and Future Perspective” impressed the audience with manifold possibilities, from research and industry to clinical applications. Professor Thomas A. Schildhauer, Chairman of Forum MedTech Pharma, summed it up thus: “To drive the digitalisation process forward and strengthen and unite the MedTech ecosystem at a time when personal meetings are not always possible is exactly what the medical technology sector needs. In the last three days I personally made several very promising new contacts who had specific project inquiries.”