Medical and healthcare systems

Research in the health sector aims to improve the quality of care for patients, establish the most efficient healthcare system possible and identify trends in medical technology. Today's medicine offers many possibilities to facilitate and improve prevention, diagnosis, therapy planning, treatment and success control with the help of IT. Interactive assistance systems in everyday clinical life make it possible to obtain diagnostic and therapy-relevant information. Software systems support the work in medical practices, clinics and pharmacies. Digital process chains, for example on the basis of an electronic patient file, enable individual forms of treatment. Thanks to health telematics, consultations as well as treatments can be carried out from any location. On the other hand, they require sustainable standards for data protection and information security.

Tomorrow's medical technology is completely computer-controlled. From image-based diagnostic procedures and telemedical solutions to prosthetics and robotics, IT applications can be found in healthcare. Software also supports the workflow, for example with preoperative planning or intraoperative support for therapeutic interventions. Such new applications not only preserve our high quality of life, they also counteract the increasing cost pressure in healthcare.

Networked databases enable reliable, rapid reporting and patient-specific treatment. Information on current and past medications, allergies, but also on operations performed and x-rays of a patient can in future be combined in a digital patient file. This enables doctors to select the optimal treatment for each individual case. Since all important information about the course of the disease is available digitally, entire patient groups can be compared in detail. Modern encryption technologies and security standards are used to ensure the security of this highly sensitive data.

Intelligent sensor systems are among the pioneering technologies of age-appropriate assistance systems for a self-determined life. They adapt to the needs of users and relieve the burden on the lives of elderly but also mobility-impaired people in their home environment. Sensor systems are also used in the fitness and health sector to improve the personal health of every user. They measure vital parameters such as heartbeat and respiratory rate, but also certain movement sequences during rehabilitation exercises at home. This allows individual training plans to be developed and implemented and health care to be optimized.

Fraunhofer experts have succeeded in considerably accelerating the image acquisition of magnetic resonance tomography examinations and thus expanding the field of application of the method. The real-time MRI now makes it possible to record films of the beating heart at 30 to 50 frames per second with free breathing and without ECG. This allows the reactions of the heart muscle or blood flow to be observed directly during physical exertion.

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