Digital phenotyping, the measurement of human behavioral phenotypes using personal devices, is rapidly gaining popularity. Novel initiatives, ranging from software prototypes to user-ready research platforms, are innovating the field of biomedical research and health care apps. One example is the Behapp project (www.behapp.com), which offers a fully managed digital phenotyping platform as a service. The innovative potential of digital phenotyping strategies resides among others in their capacity to objectively capture measurable and quantitative components of human behavior, such as diurnal rhythm, movement patterns, and communication, in a real-world setting. (Jagesar et al., 2021)

In this workshop, we will first present to you how we use both active assessed questionnaires and passive digital phenotyping to study social functioning in mental health, and look ahead to the possibilities of using digital monitoring for the early detection of disease, the prediction of relapse and personalized medicine. We will use the second half of the session to think together about the potential (future) applications of digital phenotyping in your own field of research or clinical practice.

This workshop will be hosted by Renate Kat and Anna Langener (Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen)

Every year, more than 1 million people in Europe die of cancer. Ursula von der Leyen – president of the EC – “the fight of those battling cancer is our fight as well”. The EC its ‘Beating Cancer Plan’ focuses on the prevention, treatment and care of cancer. It includes all phases of cancer-development, from prevention to the quality of life of cancer patients and people who have survived cancer.

The Northern Netherlands can and wants to share an essential contribution to the battle against cancer, and in doing so, becoming a recognizable part of the Europe Beating Cancer Plan. The collaboration with the University of Groningen, the Universities of Applied Sciences, the University Medical Centre Groningen and SHINE Veendam dreams about becoming a European-acknowledged center of knowledge, innovation and production for nuclear medicine – for all Europeans and far beyond.

In this innovation Booster we invite you to discuss the future of medical isotopes and nuclear medicine in general in the North, both from fabrication and application perspective. What do you think is needed? What would you like to contribute? Let’s think big and put some common goals!

Dr. Sytze Brandenburg – Nuclear medicine and the use of medical isotopes

Research of Prof. Brandenburg: https://www.rug.nl/staff/s.brandenburg/research

Wim Boeckx/Robin Schellevis – Building a factory for medical isotopes in Veendam

https://www.shinefusion.com/europe/

Dr. Walter Noordzij – Applications of modern medical isotopes

Research of Dr. Noordzij: https://www.rug.nl/staff/w.noordzij/research

Limb amputation has large impact on the patients’ participation and quality of life. In this innovation booster workshop on Artificial Limbs, we want to discuss the surgical procedures, the engineering and clinical methodologies towards rehabilitation, and the outlook to the future.

Organised by Prof. Dr. Raffaella Carloni and Prof. Dr. Han Houdijk

Programme:

• Opening session by chair Schelto Kruijff (surgical oncologist) and Femke van der Zant (medical student)
• Annemarie Leliveld (urologist UMCG): Wanted! Solution for the pollution.
• Daniek Hakkers (medical student): How to reduce waste in a large academic hospital; the UMCG project
• Edita Jurak (biochemical engineer): First aid microbes – utilizing natural machinery to convert operating room plastic waste
  Summary: While there is still a long way from being able to remove non-biodegradable plastic materials from hospital operating rooms due to strict hygiene requirements, d eveloping efficient, green conversion options by using microbes is a promising source of new technologies that can provide results within a short research timescale.
• Jon Salt (consultant biobased and circular economy) & Wybren Kalsbeek (specialist Circular &biobased polymers) on Sustainable Plastics: on the way to green healthcare
  Summary: Take a dive into a variety of projects focussed on using biobased and recycled plastics to improve the sustainability of healthcare in the North of the Netherlands. From injection moudling and 3D printing with recycled hospital packaging waste, to alternative plastics as replacements for current materials, the possibilities are endless.

Nanomedicine is the application of nanotechnology to achieve innovation in healthcare. It facilitates personalized, targeted and regenerative medicine by delivering the next level of new drugs, treatments and implantable devices to clinicians and patients for real breakthroughs in healthcare.

Nanomedicine also enables early detection and prevention and drastically improves the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of many diseases. 

Nowadays, nanomedicine has hundreds of products under clinical trials, covering all major diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular, viral infections, neurodegenerative, musculoskeletal and inflammatory. Nanomedicine already accounts for approximately 80 marketed products, ranging from nano-delivery and pharmaceutical to medical imaging, diagnostics and biomaterials. The most recent and well-known case is the development and clinical application of the COVID-19 nano vaccines that have unprecedentedly revolutionized both healthcare and the pharmaceutical and nanomedicine fields.

In this workshop, invited speakers will present and discuss the current status of the nanomedicines, the benefits (and challenges) in translating them to the clinic, how to move from bench to successful pharmaceutical businesses, specific successful case stories, and provocative questions to engage with the audience.

Finally, you are convinced that your innovative product is ready. After months of testing, adapting and asking for feedback, you’re about to try your product first-time in-human or, after having successfully conducted human trials, launch your product to the market. Then you are confronted with the hurdle of passing the METC or legislative bodies, and you need to provide data you never thought of. Moreover, this is the first time you notice the full impact of some vague term from the past: MDR!

It sets you back months and, considering all unexpected costs mounting at your expense, it puts the whole launch at a business risk. If you recognize or fear such a situation, this booster is definitely for you! On 17 June, experts in the field of Medical Device Regulation or the Medical Ethical Review Committee and business people who experienced what MDR can do to your business share their experiences and recommendations. 

This HTRIC MDR Booster aims to make you aware of the MDR regulatory issues and how to turn this into a competitive advantage for your business. 

ZiuZ is a leading innovator in AI and computer vision for Health Care and Forensic applications. Their solutions ensure that patients receive the correct medications, support efficient and safe diagnosis of medical conditions and prevent the spread of child abuse online. ZiuZ’s customers are located in over 50 countries around the world and they work closely with universities and research institutes to develop novel technologies that solve socially relevant challenges.  

During this workshop, ZiuZ will reflect on the technical and entrepreneurial challenges the company faced over the past twenty years in growing ZiuZ from a startup to a market leader in computer vision for healthcare applications. ZiuZ’s founder, Gerrit Baarda, will share insights into how the company develops and launches novel products comprising a combination of algorithms, software and hardware – often successfully, but certainly not without failures along the way. Research Engineer Joost Calon will delve into the technology behind ZiuZ’s recent innovations and cut through some of the hype surrounding AI for healthcare to explore what we can and can’t expect from algorithms in the healthcare and medical imaging space. This informal workshop will take the form of a ‘fireside chat’ and leave plenty of room for questions from and knowledge sharing with participants.

Games have proven to provide attractive applications in many healthcare areas. Examples can be found e.g. in training games, diagnosing aids and behaviour changes. However, to launch a successful game in the healthcare environment, many challenges need to be overcome: a serious approach is required from the start of the game development!

On the 17th of June, NHL Stenden university will host an Innovation Booster Workshop to provide insights into the complex development process of Games for Health. By using a practical case as an example we will illustrate the steps we take from the exploration of the issue to the design and evaluation of the implementation. By joining this workshop you will experience yourself how the game design process has changed by co-creation with the audience involved.

If you ever thought about developing games for healthcare applications, or work as a healthcare professional and are looking how a serious game can help boosting your daily professional work, then this Innovation Booster Workshop is for you. Don’t miss out!

Programme:

Innovation on the area of health technology, including the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), moves quickly and with high expectations. It offers opportunities to contribute to a high quality and affordable health care, but it also raises a lot of questions. A question such as which ideas and expectations people have of AI. Are these expectations too optimistic or too pessimistic?

How do our social and political values influence these expectations? And what does this mean for the development and implementation of AI and what can art mean in this?

To promote the development and implementation of trustworthy and human-focused AI, several ELSA (Ethical, Legal, and Societal Aspects) labs are set up in the Netherlands, in which researchers, societal partners, companies, citizens and patients work together.

In this Innovation Booster we will explain how the ELSA lab Northern Netherlands wants to contribute to the responsible development and implementation of AI in health care.

During the ELSA lab Innovation Booster, Dr. Mirjam Plantinga and Dr. Ritumbra Manuvrie will take you into the research that ELSA Lab Northern Netherlands is planning to do, to get more insight into these questions. Moreover, Dr. Judith van Elst will focus on the meaning of art in this process.

Finally, we will play a serious game in which the possibilities of the contribution of AI in health care will be explored in a playful way, and we will discuss the challenges of responsible development and implementation of AI in health care.