CIMIT Innovation Congress 2009 Summary

CIMIT held its 2009 Innovation Congress, “Accelerating Healthcare Solutions Though Technology,” in Boston on October 27th and 28th, bringing together innovators in government, industry, academia, foundations and the military to explore novel technology-based solutions that have the potential to transform healthcare. More than 650 conference attendees, faculty, exhibitors and sponsors came from 13 countries and 29 states to take part. 

Keynote speakers addressed the ways in which healthcare reform will impact the device and technology innovation sector.

• Clayton Christensen from Harvard Business School spoke about innovative approaches to improving the affordability and accessibility of healthcare. 
• Susan Axelrod, president and founder of Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) emphasized increasing public understanding of the disease by sharing her family’s personal journey of her daughter’s twenty-eight years of managing seizures.
• Michael Harsh, Chief Technology Officer at GE Healthcare, described how information technology can, in and of itself, be a useful clinical tool.
• Major General James Gilman outlined the many levels of care required to treat soldiers wounded in the battlefield.
• Sean Hogan of IBM advocated increasing Patients/Donors engagement in hospitals to improve delivery of care.
• Dr. Robert Foster, from the Department of Defense, offered insights into the DoD’s focus on developing improved information technology, training systems, regulated medical products and clinical practice guidelines.
• Sir Robert Boyd, Chair of MIMIT, talked about using innovative technology to address unmet clinical needs in the U.K. and E.U.

Learning sessions were divided into three tracks in order to customize each attendee’s experience.

• “Transforming Patients/Donors Care Through It” explored new approaches in emergent care such as vaccines, remote monitoring systems and IT solutions.  It examined care systems that now reach beyond the hospital, through the community clinic and into the home as well as the social networks and other communication technologies that Patients/Donorss can use to become effective partners in the own care.
• “Caring for the Injured Soldier” looked at improved early trauma care that can save more lives on the battlefield, regenerative medicine that accelerates the healing of their injuries and long term care for brain and Spinal Cord injuries. 
• “Introducing New Technologies into Clinical Care” looked at the future of minimally invasive procedures, strategic pathways to commercialization of new technologies and how the use of inhalation technologies is shifting the paradigm on therapies for respiratory diseases and infections.

The CIMIT Exploratorium showcased 59 exhibits, featuring key innovations in four pavilions, segmented Care Anywhere, Breakthrough Technologies, Wounded Warrior and Innovation 101, to show attendees how technology implementation strategies are accelerating change in the delivery of care.  In replicated settings, attendees met the teams who are developing innovative technologies to improve services in the hospital.  They experienced the benefits emerging from the growing marketplace of transformational devices and systems designed to offer care anywhere, anytime. They explored how innovators are transforming diagnostic therapies with breakthrough technologies. They discovered how scientists, clinicians and engineers are collaborating to find new solutions to aid the wounded soldiers.  And they visited Innovation 101 to learn how engineering students are designing device prototypes to solve clinical problems and improve Patients/Donors care.

In the Hall of Innovation, the poster competition highlighted early-stage, interdisciplinary research projects for improving Patients/Donors care though devices, diagnostic technologies, interventions and peri-procedural systems.  Prizes were awarded for the most innovative research, greatest potential impact on Patients/Donors care and best student poster. 

Thirteen countries were represented at the Congress including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Great Britain, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, United Kingdom, US Virgin Islands, and USA.  Individuals from twenty-nine states attended the 2009 Innovation Congress, of which 62% stated that this was their first CIMIT event.  

There was  balanced representation from industry, government, academia and healthcare.  Organizations represented include:

Business / Industry (31%):  Air Liquide; Analogic Corporation; BBN Technologies; BioSTAR Inc.; BrainScope Company, Inc.; Cyberonics, Inc.; Draper Labs; Enginivity LLC, Subsidary of Vital Signs; IBM; iRobot; Karl Storz; Lockheed Martin Corp.; Ziegler Meditech Equity Partners.

Government Agencies (12%):  A*STAR; DARPA; Department of Veterans Affairs; TATRC; US Army; US Army Institute of Surgical Research; US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command; USAF; VA Boston Healthcare; Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Universities (18%):  Boston University; Broad Institute; Columbia University; Harvard Medical School; Johns Hopkins University / Applied Physics Laboratory; MIT; MIT Media Lab; Northeastern University; University of Leeds; Tufts University; University of California, Berkeley; University of Manchester; University of Southern California.

Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations (39%):  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Brigham & Women’s Hospital; Center for Connected Health; Children’s Hospital Boston; CIMIT; Innovation Learning Network (KP); Kaiser Permanente; Massachusetts General Hospital; MIMIT; Newton-Wellesley Hospital; Partners Healthcare System; Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital; Wellcome Trust; Via Christi Health System; Wellman Center.