German medtech company Dräger will use the money to apply new secure standard for connecting point of care medical devices to hospital computer systems
The EU is to guarantee a €110 million European Investment Bank (EIB) loan to the German medical devices specialist Dräger, to fund the development of products that are compatible with a new international standard that allows devices used at the bedside to interoperate with hospital computer systems.
The loan from the EIB is guaranteed by the Juncker plan’s European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).
Dräger will use the money for research and development of point of care devices, such as anaesthesia machines and ventilators, that are connected to hospital IT systems using IEEE 11073, an international standard for secure communication of hospital equipment.
IEEE 11073 allows for real time communication with, and control of, medical devices. Data can be shared with other medical devices, to give an integrated view of the status of a patient, and can be displayed on remote screens, allowing patients to be monitored at a distance.
The standards are seen as laying the path for the automation of hospitals. Dräger says it will launch its first product embodying IEEE 11073 in 2019.
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