Winners of the German High Tech Champions Competition by Fraunhofer awarded at RSNA2011 

In November 2011, the German High Tech Champions (GHTC) Award in Medical Imaging went to five outstanding German technology developers from German University Medical Centers and Research Institutions. Competition was fierce – for the first time, the nationwide GHTC competition had called for tailor-made business cases specifically in the field of medical imaging to be presented at RSNA2011, the world’s premier scientific forum in medical imaging.

???aural:Bildanfang??????Großansicht des Bildes???Winners of the German High Tech Champions (GHTC) Awards 2011 in Medical Imaging, from left to right: Markus Fangerau, Daniel Sonntag, Frank Duffner, Ulrike Wedegärtner, Michael Herbst. © Fraunhofer???aural:Bildende???

Since the beginning of 2011, the Award has turned the spotlight on a total of nine German researchers, each endowed with prize money of € 10,000. All 30 proposals for medical imaging were peer-reviewed and judged on originality, technical, financial, and commercial viability, as well as potential market impact by an independent expert panel, from Healthcare Manager to Professor of Radiology.

"The winning business cases provide an inside view of their authors' fascinating projects while combining substantial advances in the quality of diagnosis and treatment of diseases with excellent business opportunities,” says Dr. Carsten Wallenhauer of Fraunhofer’s Patents and Licensing Department. “The main areas of innovation cover add-on devices for MRI-scanners and software packages for improving data access, distribution, and communication between specialists and unifying interfaces. Business opportunities emerge from unique device features and increased efficiency.”

The festive Award Ceremony was held at the Renaissance Blackstone in Chicago on November 29, 2011. Aiming at exchanging information between scientists and industry as well as identifying R&D needs and fostering international collaborations, the event featured Business Case pitches and live demonstrations by the five awardees and a coveted German Night Networking Reception attended by over 80 guests from the medical imaging sector. In addition, the Champions were presenting their latest technologies within the German Pavilion at the RSNA2011 Technical Exhibit.

The five GHTC Awardees 2011 in Medical Imaging (click here for details on each business case and the author's contact information):

???aural:Bildanfang??????Großansicht des Bildes???Prof. Dr. med. Frank Duffner - Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tuebingen Winning Business Case: NeuroComrade – The New Way of Video Microsurgery. © Fraunhofer???aural:Bildende???

???aural:Bildanfang??????Großansicht des Bildes???Prof. Dr. med. Ulrike Wedegärtner - Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Department, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Winning Business Case: EasyTrigger for Cardio-Vascular MR Imaging. © Fraunhofer???aural:Bildende???

???aural:Bildanfang??????Großansicht des Bildes???Michael Herbst - Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Freiburg Winning Business Case: X-PACE – Prospective Motion Correction in MRI. © Fraunhofer???aural:Bildende???

???aural:Bildanfang??????Großansicht des Bildes???Markus Fangerau Division of Medical and Biological Informatics, German Cancer Research Center HeidelbergWinning Business Case: MITK pocket – Live the Mobile Dream. © Fraunhofer???aural:Bildende???

???aural:Bildanfang??????Großansicht des Bildes???Dr. Daniel Sonntag German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence Winning Business Case: RadSpeech – Mobile Speech Dialogue for Radiologists. © Fraunhofer???aural:Bildende???

“The German High Tech Champions validate Germany as a top location for research and production while making an important contribution to healthcare all over the world,” states Gabriel Flemming, Senior Manager Healthcare of Germany Trade and Invest.

The GHTC Award is issued by Fraunhofer, Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization, and is a constituent part of the collaborative project »International Research Marketing« which is a joint initiative by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. All activities within the project are part of the “Promote Innovation and Research in Germany” initiative under its brand »Research in Germany«. The initiative is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

For information about this event, please visit www.research-in-germany.de/ghtc

or contact:

Natalie Percsy & Vera Baumgartl
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
International Business Development
Hansastraße 27c
80686 München
Germany

Contact via E-mail: ghtc@fraunhofer.de