Sharing the latest thinking in innovation

EACTS’ inaugural Innovation Summit

Attended by engineers, scientists, surgeons, cardiologists and industry leaders from Europe, North America and South Africa, presenters at the Summit included Anthony Atala, G. Link Professor and Director at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and William Cohn, Director at the Center for Device Innovation, Texas Medical Center, who holds more than 100 patents.

Over the two-day summit a total of 36 presentations were made with four presentations selected by a jury panel to be shared at this year’s 37th EACTS Annual Meeting in Vienna.

Driving better patient outcomes

The Summit is the first step in EACTS’ commitment to a renewed focus on innovation with the aim of driving better patient outcomes, with further announcements expected in the coming months. The presentations will provide those working in the cardiothoracic community with new information and thinking.

Friedhelm Beyersdorf, EACTS Immediate Past President (2022), said, “It has long been my vision that as an organisation we double-down on our commitment to innovation so that as surgeons we can continue to improve outcomes for heart and lung patients. There is already a lot of work looking into existing treatments and how to improve current techniques, but we are now aiming at the next level, how to develop new ideas and completely new concepts and make these part of everyday clinical practice. The conference in April was just the beginning – we owe it to our future patients to ensure we continue to learn and innovate across our profession and throughout our careers.”

Mark Hazekamp, EACTS past President, said, “This is an important first step. Our Association is looking to the future and innovation is fundamental for EACTS members, for the development of our profession and for our patients. The four presentations that will be shared in October are thought provoking and will provide valuable insights to our colleagues from all over the world to help stimulate more ideas and thinking outside of the box. At EACTS we will do our best to help turn concepts into reality.”

Franca Melfi, EACTS Vice President, said, “Sharing information freely among colleagues and a focus on practices that may become commonplace in the future is essential if we are to inspire the next generation of cardiothoracic surgeons. I’m very excited that through the Innovation Summit EACTS has committed to the cross-fertilisation of ideas and collaboration to further innovate developments in our profession.”

Read the EACTS Innovation Report 2023 here.

37TH EACTS ANNUAL MEETING HIGHLIGHTS OF EACTS INNOVATION SUMMIT 2023

Friday 6th October | 13:45 – 14:45

Presentations include:
Shock waves for myocardial regeneration
Opto-electronic implant for rhythm control
Mitochondrial transplantation
Multi-organ repair: controlled automated
reperfusion of the whole body (CARL