Health Turkey / January'15

H

ealth ENGLISH EDITION

This Magazine is the Subsidiary of Medikal & Teknik Magazine / January 2016 / www.medikalteknik.com.tr

Turkey’s Healthcare industry expands rapidly!

23rd Expomed to open in March 2016

“Healthcare and Life Sciences Predictions 2020” REPORT

For Country Cooperation Strategy, WHO reports

Turkey’s Healthcare expands

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urkey occupies 779 452 km² at the cross-roads between Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Since the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the country has

strived to develop a secular democracy.

It is the third most populous country in the EUR Region. In the last decade, stability characterized Turkey’s political life with a majority govern-

ment since 2002. Political stability has ensured the implementation of long term strategies and policies; provided a favorable context for coherent public sector action and health reform.

HEALTH & DEVELOPMENT Health Care Reform in Turkey (Health Transformation Programme) - The health status of people in Turkey has sig nificantly improved in recent years.

Improvements in the health status are mostly attributable to the successes of health reform, the so-called Health Transformation Program (HTP) with the tag line “People First”. The Government of Turkey is implementing the second phase of a major health sec-

tor reform that aims to improve the governance, efficiency, and quality of the health sector. A serial legal change was enacted within the frame of health reform with the new legislation re-structuring the Ministry of Health (MoH) and re-organizing functions of her units and affiliates.

Re-structuring aims at strengthening the stewardship function of the Ministry and enhancing its role in health system policy development, planning, supervision of implementation, monitoring and evaluation. A new Public

the MoH on preventive health care services.

Family Medicine Programme (FMP) HTP aims at strengthening primary health care services through the use of a family medicine system. At the end of 2010, the Family Medicine Programme (FMP), assigning each patient to a specific doctor, was established throughout the country.

Community Health Centers (CHC), providing free-of-charge logistical support to family physicians for priority services such as vaccination campaigns, maternal and child health and family planning services, were established. Both Family Health Centers

Health Insti- tution has been established to support the work of

Estimated total population: 74 724 269 % under age 15: 25.3 Population distribution % rural: 28.2 Life expectancy at birth: 75.0 Under-5 mortality rate per 1000 Live births: 11.3 Maternal mortality rate per 100000 live births: 15.5 Total expenditure on health % GDP: 6.1 General government expenditure on health: 12.8 (as % of general government expenditure) Human Development Index Rank: 90 (out of 186 countries) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita: US$4- 10,469 Adult (15+) literacy rate: 94.1 Adult male (15+) literacy rate: 97.9 Adult female (15+) literacy rate: 90.3 % population with piped water system in the house: 97.6 % population with toilet (indoor) in the house: 91

and CHC are under the supervision of Provincial Health Directorates (81 provinces) which are responsible for planning and provision of health services at provincial level and accountable to the MoH. Social Security Institution (SSI) The fragmentary financing and service delivery system was replaced with strengthened financial and organizational structure. The Ministry of Health is the main provider of health care services. The Social Security Institution (SSI) has become a monopsony on the purchasing side of healthcare services, financed through payments by employers and employees and government contributions in cases of budget deficit.

The health services delivery system was dramatically expanded and improved through investments in infrastructure, equipment, and supplies as well as through training of staff. The proportion of total health expenditure to GDP was 5.4 % in 2002 and increased to 6.1 % in 2008.

This slight change indicates that improving people’s health status de-

pends on effective use of the funds rather than magnitude of it. The proportion of public health expenditure to GDP increased to 4.4 % in 2008 from 3.8% in 2002. On the other hand, public health expenditures constituted 14.7% (2002) of noninterest public expenditures and the figure increased to 15.2 % in 2008.

Performance-Based Supplementary Payment A system called performance-based supplementary payment for family physicians and key hospital personnel was implemented in order to reward productivity, and the provision of high impact health services at primary level is ensured for family physicians.

As Turkey has a low ratio of doctors and nurses per population compared to other countries in the WHO European Region, the government attaches utmost importance to human resources for health. The total number of health professionals working in the MoH reached 482.000 in 2011, increasing from 256.000 in

2002. A human resources vision for the year 2023 was developed with all relevant agencies and institutions for the purpose of improving the status of human resources for health.

The Strategic Plan of the MoH which covers the period of 2010-2014 was reformulated according to the legislative changes made in line with the HTP. The new Strategic Plan covering the period of 2013-2017 embeds the new European Health Policy, Health 2020, and reflects the principles outlined in the Tallinn Charter.

Urbanization The health status of Turkey has improved in recent years – As a result of rapid urbanization process since the mid-20th century, currently 76.8 % (in 2011) of the population lives in urban areas. Population growth has steadily declined since the 1980s and the immigration rate slowed down in parallel to overall economic development. Socio-economic development in the last decade significantly improved living conditions and wealth as well as health indicators.

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Although significant improvements have been observed in the general health status of population, it still requires further efforts to ensure progress in some health indicators that still remain behind the average of the WHO European Region.

In addition to giving special importance to maternal and child health care services and immunization programmes, ensuring higher accessibility to health care services also played role in improvements in health status. Major health indicators such as infant mortality and maternal mortality have been improved considerably. The IMR decreased to 7.7 per 1000 live births in 2011 from 31.5 per 1000 live births in 2002. The MMR decreased to 15.5 per 100.000 live births in 2011, from 64.0 in 2002. Increasing immunization rates and expansion of immunization programmes contributed to this decline. Average life expectancy reached 72.0 for men and 77.0 for women in 2009. In recent years, higher emphasis was given prevention of important dis-

eases by public health centers and primary health care institutions. Incidence of malaria cases was 0.1 per 100.000 populations in 2009 and only agent for autochthonous malaria cases was Plasmodium vivax.

OPPORTUNITIES • Health reform agenda, the “Health Transformation Programme”, has led to comprehensive improvements in the health system. Universal Health Insurance which has been in effect since October 2008 and Green Card Scheme that covers the poor have increased share of population under health insurance and ensured higher access to health care services. Integration of three main security institutions to eliminate inconsistencies in the health financing system under the Social Security Institution has ensured development of single benefit package by the major health service purchaser and higher equity in access to services.

• Government commitment to health reform with a people cen-

tered vision and higher investment in health has increased accessibility to health care services in equity and reduced out-of-pocket payments.

CHALLENGES • Incompleteness of HTP’s remaining reform initiatives (DRG) in terms of execution.

• Promoting the decentralization of health care governance.

• Improving health information systems including vital and health statistics that hampers monitoring and analysis of major health risks as well as long term policy development and planning.

• Covering human resources (HR) gaps in health sector at different levels; eliminating inappropriate skill mix.

• Ensuring good coordination and cooperation with refunding institution and with health insurance system to ensure financial sustainability and cost containment.

• Approaching local and national political elections in 2014.

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MIXTA DESIGNS THE HABITS! ucts are being used in many health organizations both in domestic and foreign countries securely and admiringly. Acknowledging the absolute customer satisfaction as the basic existence philosophy, it strives to offer the most righteous servicing to the health sector without sacrificing from its constantly increasing quality within the trained personnel and social responsibility frameworks.

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t produces medical-purpose products certified by national and international standards under the titles of: • The central sterilization units stainless steel equipments, • Surgery stainless steel equipments, • General hospital stainless steel equipment, • Morgue - anatomy units.

We, as the Mixta family, would like you to see the change and innovation in the world. The value given to human and nature is increasing some more every passing day. Health and life quality becomes more crucial as days pass. We are a brand manufacturing hospital fixtures for every organization where the health services are rendered.

Each of the products we manufacture is at the feature to add maximum value to human and environment health at innovative perspective.

Mixta designs each of the products it manufactures for a healthy, peaceful and happy future.

MIXTA offers quality products under this conscious.

Now, Mixta prod-

Our Mission: To provide a quality life with its solutions in medical device procurement, and render the most sufficient service fully and in time within a universal context. When the human health is in question, all the values making human being a human are our mis

sion. More importantly is to offer your servicing mind at peace without deviating this mission.

Our Values: We continue to find solution with our leading, entrepreneur and innovative spirit. We present our collection consisting of invaluable products to the taste of the health organizations.

We offer the most righteous and better products from the smallest

health organization to the largest health complexes in all scales no matter in which geography and at which capacity they are. We make a claim to the full extent to these values of ours making us a firm.

Our Vision: To be a renowned and preferable organization in the health sector and maintain this vision. When we depart for achieving the perfection, the successful results become inevitable.

The employees working in health sector and the ones seeking health and a benefit from these organizations deserve cheerful and sincere services. Offering new and modern products to the human health is really very important for us with this vision. For instance, a medical-purpose product used in Afghanistan must not be different from the other same purposed product used in Germany. The health products must not have a quality and vision problem.

Mixta arranges the required environments to establish, implement, develop and provide sustainability of the human resource management system by means of existing legal legislatives in the hospital fixture production. Technical and managerial trainings, information shares and human resources are the most important commitments of ours so as to improve our skills. We offer our employees a peaceful workplace, sound friendships, team synergy and profitable job opportunities in the determination of career plans of our employees as we give weight to production and responsibility. Our quality policy as Mixta is to produce products and services whose added value is high, faithful and ensuring

Our viewpoint to the sector: Being established in 2007, Mixta is the product of a more than 15-year experience in the health sector. customer satisfaction.

Designing – producing the medical-purpose products defect-free and responding the requirements of the customers accordingly is the policy of both our company and quality.

Today, our products are being used in high spirits and mind at peace in many of the countries of the world for many years. We have made tens of friends and customers from far-near many countries to which we sold our products. All of them are happy with the quality, prices and services of ours. Mixta continues to go forward in its own way it considers to be true without any deviation from its quality and control targets at every stage of its services.

Mixta is in an endeavor to offer product and service suitable to the requirements by identifying the customer.

Our environment policy: Hello to the future with the borneout and lasting environment policies...

Mixta primarily assumes the minimizing and degrading the wastes composed during the production in their source, regain to recycling and disposing with the most convenient methods as the basis of the environment policy. It uses proper technology to arrange training activities with the intention of raising awareness of its employees and suppliers on the protection of the environment, keep the potential effects on environment under control and minimize them.

For the purpose of preventing environmental pollution, it undertakes a constant improvement, utilizing the natural sources consciously and comply with all the regulations on the issue unconditionally on every stage of the production and all the activities it carries out. In that, the destructive power of the environment pollution on the nature and human being is becoming more crucial every passing day.

Teamwork and intellectual project management: Mixta has displayed high performance with the foreign and domestic exhibitions, congress, courses and symposiums it has participated and the projects it managed in 2015 under the scope of marketing activities in total and obtained rather satisfied results with the customer relations in short and long term. Es-

pecially, it has perfectly fulfilled all its liabilities with the projects it has committed in foreign countries; and appended its signature on effective and high calibration projects with both its vision and rich product collection. It has reached over health organizations in many countries from Peru in American Continent, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria in Africa, Turkic Republics in Near Asia to United Arab Emirates and Vietnam in the far Asia, to Balkans in Europe. It has shared product management, intellectual project vision and information with the customer in all kind of tundra and carried out universal labors in the context of human health improvement. Mixta is at the point where flexibility, sensitivity, knowledge and experience sharing is focused in the project management.

Smart Products: Who uses Mixta products...

Providing an easy and speedy works of the health professionals and obtaining fruitful results are a must of our job. How do you expect benefit from the people working in the restless atmospheres... Or can you imagine the pain that an endoscopy cabinet harasses a person for which the height of an employee has not been taken into consideration? If the height of the employee is short, how an effective easy-to-use step right before it will be better.

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Mixta always priorities the human factor, his/her needs and requirements with all of the products it has manufactured and designed.

It fulfills all provisions required for an easy, fast and correct use.

It follows the updated technology closely for this. It necessarily uses the technological renovations and inventions in the modernization of the products.

It tries on the uses of the products and tests their benefits. It offers the products which only pass these tests successfully. It is not easy for each of the product to receive MIXTA label today. The quality control and product advisors primarily create the most righteous product laboring with superior effort. It primarily ensures an easy work of the employee with the smart technologies it uses in its systems and to render service with high performance of the product it uses for long years.

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While Mixta designs smart products: Designs the time: Fictionalizes in how much time the product renders the requested service. Plans and disciplines all the data accordingly for the management of the time and wise use.

Designs the labor force of the employee: Designs the product in this concept knowing the needed per-

sonal energy for the use of product and achieve a solution. Provides the health professional to do his duty with the least effort.

Designs the information use: Calculates how much it forces the brain of the user and requires brain speediness. The purpose is to design products with simple uses.

Designs the economy: Calculates all stages from how much of the cost of the product is manufactured to how much of cost it would serve.

Proves that you may do the same job spending less money and tries to minimize the expenditures.

Designs the habits: Designs how to use the work discipline and vision which the health professional is used to doing for many years and is a part of his/her life during the use of the product and proposes constructive solutions to this.

While Mixta designs smart products: It inspires from universal knowledge, fellowship, friendship, contribution, and affinity, protecting the nature, trees, poles, rain forests, blue sky, yellow fall and smiling baby.

We wish wellbeing and healthy days!...

We produce with the 18 years of experience Orthomed was founded by experts and young entrepreneurs in 2005.

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fter the dealership of many arthroscopic and auxiliary products manufacturer companies Orthomed has decided manufacturing and opened the production facilities and finally has taken ISO 13485 ISO9001 and CE certificates according to the light of technological developments in the world in 2013.

The aim of this subject is to improve the daily quality of life of patients and ensure improvement in the shortest time.

Orthomed is the first and only wide range of manufacturer company for production of special products and implants for joint repair and ligament reconstruction surgeries with specialized technical staff in the arhroscopy field in Turkey.

Our products include special bond roping, tie fixing systems, anchors are, shaver blades, meniscus repair systems, fluid transport cannula, a bond stabilizing screws and special orthopedic surgical sutures reinforced. We are increasing our product range daily in our adnanced machine

park with following technology and scientific developments Our innovative and competitive firms has started to give dealerships in the world market as well as the Turkey market with its High quality products and reasonable prices

◗ Diyabetlilerin Ayaklarında Oluşabilecek Sorunları To prevent problems those may occur in feetÖnlemek of Diabetics ◗ Diyabetlilerin Ayaklarında Oluşabilecek Sorunlarımake Önlemek To provide solution for available problems, rehabilitation

Specially Manufactured for anatomic foot disorders ◗ Diyabetlilerin Ayaklarında Oluşabilecek Sorunları Önlemek ◗ Diyabetlilerin Ayaklarında Oluşabilecek Önlemek 100% Leather (Interior and Exterior),Sorunları Hand Made

Take Care of your Feet!

Ayaklarınıza iyi bakın!

Ayaklarınıza iyi bakın!

Ayaklarınıza iyi bakın!

Ayaklarınıza iyi bakın!

TDO Therapy has created the notion of diabetic foot wear in Turkey and it manufactures completely hand made foot wear made of 100% leather via advanced technological materials. TDO Therapy foot wear those are antibacterial, light, air permeable and heat balanced having anti-shock footbed, leather foundation without interior stitches, are prepared specially based on scientific data.

TDO Therapy footwear make your feet light and relaxed during the day with easy-wearing, flexible calf skin and special foam. They are adaptable to special underlays.

Millions of people in our country and on the World complain and suffer from feet problems affiliated with diabetes. Neuropathy, that is known as nerve fibre damage, affects almost 1 of three diabetics.

If you are diabetic, burning, stinging, tingling at feet, electrical shock and similar complaints may be foreshadow of diabetic neuropathy. Researches indicate that specially designed and manu-

Hand

Antişok Tabanlı Anti-Shock Sole Antişok Tabanlı tilmiş ayakkabıların, diyabetik nöropatisi (his Antişok Tabanlı kaybı ya da ağrıyla sonuçlanan sinir hasarı) factured footwear protects diabetics having tilmiş ayakkabıların, diyabetik nöropatisi (his Antişok olan diyabetlileri, ayakdamage yaralarına, ısınma ve diabetes neuropathy (nerve resulting in Tabanlı

kaybı ya da ayakkabıların, ağrıyla sonuçlanan sinir nöropatisi hasarı) tilmiş diyabetik (his enfeksiyona karşı koruduğunu göstermektedir. numbing or pain) against foot wounds, heating olan diyabetlileri, ayak yaralarına, ısınmasinir ve hasarı) kaybı ya da ağrıyla sonuçlanan tilmiş ayakkabıların, diyabetik nöropatisi (his and infection. enfeksiyona karşı koruduğunu göstermektedir. olan diyabetlileri, ayak yaralarına, ısınma ve Diyabetli ayakları rahat ettirmek, sorunlarına kaybı yafeet da and ağrıyla sonuçlanan sinir hasarı) Relaxing diabetic finding solutions for enfeksiyona karşı koruduğunu göstermektedir. bulmak uygun olan ayakAyağınıza yaralarına, ısınma ve theçözüm problems isdiyabetlileri, ourbizim work. işimiz.

Please contact us for Diyabetli ayakları rahat ettirmek, sorunlarına anatomik ortopedik modeller için enfeksiyona karşı models koruduğunu göstermektedir. anatomic and ve orthopaedic suitable forlütfen çözüm bulmak bizim işimiz.

Ayağınıza uygun Diyabetli ayakları rahat ettirmek, sorunlarına bizimle irtibata Ayağınıza Sağlık! your feet. ve Health forgeçiniz. your modeller feet! anatomik ortopedik için lütfen çözüm bulmak bizim rahat işimiz.ettirmek, Ayağınıza uygun Diyabetli ayakları sorunlarına bizimleanatomik irtibata geçiniz.

Ayağınıza Sağlık! ve ortopedik modeller için lütfen çözüm bulmak bizim işimiz.

Ayağınıza uygun bizimle irtibata geçiniz.

Ayağınıza Sağlık! anatomik ve ortopedik modeller için lütfen It is determined that feet are protected in 50% of people using therapeutical foot wear having bizimle Ayağınıza Sağlık! protective and treating features. Therapeutical footwear protect feet irtibata against geçiniz. risk of neuropathy; circulation disorders, heat differences, callus and ingrown toenails, edema and skin lesions.

Source: Center for Disease Control

Economic

Pioneer

Head

TDO therapy for Protecting Your Feet

Solution for Diabetic and Orthopaedic Foot Problems!

Light and Comfortable

Air Permeable

Antibacterial

100% Leather It adapts to physiological change of foot during the day (swelling and edema). Our specially designed footwear makes the pressure on the feet sole homogenous with suspension feature;

prevents calls, cracks, heel spur and feet sores.

Easy to Wear

We have tailor made footwear those will help you during your treatment, sole plates, and foot wear special for amputated feet.

Rasimpaşa Mahallesi Nakil Sokak No. 21/1 Kadıköy İstanbul Türkiye Tel & Fax: +90 216 348 73 03 E mail export@tdotherapy.com.tr www.tdotherapy.com.tr TPE Utility Model TR 2006 05 199Y EN ISO CE

BioRegen Biomedical CO., Ltd. A Sino-USA Company

Bilar Medical offers innovative and technological medical solutions

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degradation of natural HA (within gen® gels are injected into 48 hours in vivo) may contribute to the area, the primary reasons for the failure.

Crosslinking modification is an effective way to enhance the material viscosity and reduce the degradathey tion profile and will act as hence enable physical barriers the HA mateand thereby prevent adrial to cover the hesion formation. MateRegen®, traumatized tisHyaRegen® and PureRegen® gels are sue surface during the critical period of wound healing. also hydrophilic and will absorb the Crosslinked hyaluronan gel has solution, which will provide a prolayer to the damaged tissues been used to successfully prevent Bilar Medical Ltd. BioRegen Biomedical CO., Ltd. tection and a moisture environment to readhesions.

MateRegen® gel (anti-inA Sino-USA Company The Middle East-Middle Asia Distributor of BioRegen Biomedical CO., Ltd. trauterine), HyaRegen® gel (abdom- generate and to repair the damaged hasatbeen reported that cavity) and PureRegen® Hyaluronan (HA) is a non-sulfated Callinopelvic us at +90 532 323 18 73 to meet the Bilartissues.

Medical It Team Arab Health 2016. glycosaminoglycan consisting of re- gel (nasal dressing) are crosslinked hyaluronan molecules have angiowww.bilarmed.com bilarmed@bilarmed.com genic function to induce blood vesin such a chemically gentle |appeating disaccharide units (-1,4Dgproach that the biological sels formation in the damaged area, lucuronic acid and -1,3-N-acetylproperties of HA mol- which would facilitate the regeneraD-glucosamine) and ecule are not signifi- tion of the damaged tissues. naturally presents cantly changed. Clini- MateRegen®, HyaRegen® and Purin all connective cal study showed that eRegen® gels do not contain any anitissues as a maMateRegen®, HyaRe- mal components and therefore have jor constituent gen® and PureRegen® much better biocompatibility. Alof extracellular gels are safe and signif- together, MateRegen®, HyaRegen® matrix. HA has icantly reduced adhesion and PureRegen® gels are able to been reported after adhesiolysis. After Ma- prevent adhesions and improve the with unique biological properties in teRegen®, HyaRegen® and PureRe- condition of the damaged tissues. wound healing.

Natural HA has been used for anti-adhesion after surgery with unsatisfactor y results.

The fluid feature and rapid Bilar Medical Ltd. ilar Medical has been operating in the Turkish health sector since 1987. Introducing innovative and technological products to the Turkish market, sales policy of Bilar is based on openness and accuracy. There are unique and exclusive products such as MateRegen Gel, HyaRegen Gel, PureRegen Gel Sinus, PureRegen Gel Oto, Fentex Balloon, Nasoneb, Palatal Implant, EarPopper and Hilotherapy in Bilar’s product range.

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The Middle East-Middle Asia Distributor of BioRegen Biomedical CO., Ltd. Call us at +90 532 323 18 73 to meet the Bilar Medical Team at Arab Health 2016.

BioRegen Biomedical CO., Ltd. A Sino-USA Company

Bilar Medical Ltd. The Middle East-Middle Asia Distributor of BioRegen Biomedical CO., Ltd. Call us at +90 532 323 18 73 to meet the Bilar Medical Team at Arab Health 2016.

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Turkey builds 34 city hospital complexes within 3 years Turkey’s Minister of Health Mehmet Müezzinoğlu; “The number of city hospital complexes, a new hospital concept in Turkey aiming to modernize health infrastructure, will be increased rapidly over the next three years.”

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urkey’s Minister of Health Mehmet Müezzinoğlu said that new hospital concept in Turkey aiming to modernize health infrastructure, will be increased rapidly over the next three years,.

Müezzinoğlu also said that 34 city hospitals with a total capacity of 43,000 beds throughout Turkey will be completed by the end of 2018.

Totally 100,000 beds After the 34 new city hospitals and other hospital projects under the construction put into operation, citizens will take the advantage of healthcare services improved up to 100,000 beds capacity in 3 years.

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Biggest in Europe and the biggest as a whole in the world Turkey’s Minister of Health Mehmet Müezzinoğlu visited “Bilkent Integrated Health Campus” construction area in Ankara, inspected and obtained information about the ongoing construction. Müezzinoğlu: “Bilkent Integrated Health Campus has 3,680 beds capacity and 1,300,000 square meters indoor space. It is the biggest hospital complex in Europe and biggest hospital complex as a whole in the world. It is going to be come into service in August 2016.”

City Hospitals will be completed by the end of 2018

Müezzinoğlu remarked that turkey is having another transformation with these huge healthcare projects. Also stated that 16 city hospitals with a 27,000 bed capacity being built in Ankara Bilkent, Ankara Etlik, Yozgat, Elazığ, Adana, Gaziantep, Konya, Manisa, İstanbul Başakşehir, Isparta, Kocaeli, İzmir Bayraklı, Bursa, Kayseri and Mersin will be put into service in years of 2016 and 2017, Müezzinoğlu said, “34 city hospitals with a total capacity of 43,000 beds throughout Turkey will be completed by the end of 2018.”

Stressing that with city hospital projects Turkey’s standard in the field of heath will increase one more step, he said thus Turkey will be able to surpass developed countries’ standards.

Turkish manufacturers are going to be preferred Transportation services are going to be reprogrammed according to new giant health complexes; in related areas. Müezzinoğlu also stated that Turkish manufacturers are going to be preferred for the equipment provision of these giant projects.

Turkish Economy

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ere is the short text quoted from “Colliers International Healthcare Overview�, which provides a brief snapshot of Turkish economy.

The Turkish economy has demonstrated strong fundamentals over the past decade, achieving positive indicators, compared to its neighbouring markets. The Turkish government increased its efforts fol-

lowing the global financial crisis to attract private investors into the services and infrastructure sectors through establishing initiatives and incentive programmes that support their PPP policies. Accordingly, the government provided various tax and non-tax incentives to foreign investors, in line with those provided to domestic companies. These include customs and VAT exemptions

on various imported or locally delivered goods, including machinery and equipment, as well as priority regions offering incentives such as free land and energy support.

Investors are also able to benefit from R&D support and market research with the aim of encouraging exports and increasing the competitiveness of Turkish firms in international markets.

An overview of Turkish economy from the Colliers International’s point of view EU average. As of the second quarter of 2013, the Turkish economy achieved actual growth of 4.5%, surpassing the IMF initial estimates which were set at 3.1%.

The general government budget deficit was realized at 2.0% in 2012, satisfying the Maastricht criteria of 3.0% and outperforming 18 EU economies in the process.

Since 2002 the GDP per capita in Turkey has tripled from USD3,492 to USD10,504 in 2012.

The inflation rate was 7.4% in 2013, According to the Ministry of Economy in Turkey, declining from 10.6% at the end of 2011.

The debt-to-GDP ratio in Turkey is one of the healthiest in the world, currently standing at a sustainable 36.1%, compared to higher ratios exhibited by several developed economies such as Germany, England and France.

The unemployment rate dropped to 8.8% in 2013, compared to 10.1% at the end of 2012, in accordance with positive economic performance. According to the World Bank, Turkey has the fifth largest qualified labour force amongst the EU countries, after Russia, Germany, England and France.

In recent years, the Turkish

Following the global financial crisis, the Turkish economy recovered from a –4.8% contraction in 2009 to achieve positive growth in subsequent years due to the aforementioned stimulating policies and procedures.

The Turkish economy achieved GDP growth of 2.2% in 2012, surpassing developed economies such as Japan, Brazil, UK and even the

banking sector has taken an increasingly large role in brokering major project finance deals, benefiting in many cases from its increasingly liquid balance sheets.

Nevertheless, in spite of the declining interest rates to record low levels, the Turkish central bank interest rate is still high in comparison to most European countries as the Central Bank holds off matching monetary-policy tightening, prevalent in other developing countries.

In conclusion, following a temporary economic slowdown in 2009, the Turkish economy started recovering from 2010, and is expected to grow by a CAGR of 7.9% (real GDP) during the 2013 – 2015 period.

Impact on Healthcare: The overall positive performance of the Turkish economy ultimately fares positively on its healthcare industry. Anticipated increase in GDP growth rates supported by the government’s efforts to establish a transparent market, will assist in strengthening the market fundamentals and encourage private sector investment from both; the local market and increased FDI in the coming years.

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Turkey, one of hottest healthcare markets in the world!

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ith an ever growing patient base and a solid healthcare reform programme, investment opportunities in the region are vast, says Frost & Sullivan. According to a news at News-Medical.net; Turkey is a rising star in healthcare investments.

Driven by reforms and private investments, Turkey is steadily emerging as one of the hottest healthcare markets in the global arena. The country has doubled its healthcare spending in the last 10 years, reaching $62.3 billion, with its large population of 74.7 million and an increasing patient base.

Turkey was a key area of interest at Frost & Sullivan’s Breakfast Briefing on growth in emerging regions, which was held in Milan, Italy. The briefing focused on investment opportunities in Turkey, as well as CIS Countries and Africa, across all industries.

Philipp Reuter, Director South Europe and Turkey at Frost & Sullivan, who presented at the conference, comments: “In parallel to its economic growth, Turkey has gone through a significant socio-eco-

nomic transformation in the past ten years. Between 2005 and 2015, the number of patients for various chronic diseases has doubled in the country, reaching 9 million diabetes and 1 million cancer patients.

A fast aging trend is also observed in the country, which will lead to a larger patient base after 2020.”

Healthcare has been the greatest focus of the current Turkish government, who came to power in 2002 and immediately launched the country’s healthcare transformation programme, focusing on a national health insurance scheme.

While the government’s healthcare budget doubled during the reform period, the coverage of public insurance has increased from 50 percent

of 2003 to 100 percent in 2015.

“Another significant outcome of the healthcare transformation programme has been the increasing quality of healthcare services in the country,” adds Hilal Cura, Healthcare Consultant at Frost & Sullivan, who also discussed Turkish healthcare at the Breakfast Briefing. “Between 2006 and 2010, the number of private hospitals increased by 86 percent, while the rate of qualified beds increased from 12 percent of 2002 to 40 percent in 2011. In addition, the installed base number of MRI units increased by 12 fold, from 58 to 781.”

As an emerging hotspot in the global healthcare market, Turkey has attracted significant global investments in various segments such as private healthcare services, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. After 2010, many healthcare companies have made Turkey their CEE/MENA headquarters, whereas Turkey’s largest private hospital groups were acquired by private equity groups.

Currently, the top ten private hospital chains in Turkey comprise 30 percent of Tukey’s private healthcare services revenues of $10 billion, whereas the Turkish pharmaceuticals market is the sixth largest in Europe, with its $13.5 billion revenues.

“Turkey has vast potential for all types of companies accross the healthcare spectrum. Having always been regarded as a R&D hub in the healthcare industry,” concludes Reuter, “the country is now a huge and mostly unsaturated consumer market with significant opportunities in the area of healthcare services, innovative medical device technologies, pharma and clinical diagnostics.”

A Robot That Breaks the Kidney Stones Has Been Developed

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LMED Electronics which maintains its work in Ankara has produced a ‘İbn-i Sina’ named robot that brings a solution for kidney stones without applying to the scalpel. ELMED General Manager Ahmet Sinan Kabakcı has given some information about the robot produced with the support of TEYDEB (Technology and Innovation Funding Programs Directorate) and expressed that this robot is a first in the world and thanks to this robot kidney stone problems are not a frightening nightmare any more.

Kabakcı, saying that they, as a company, developed high-technology and qualified products, told that ‘We

have conducted an important work in the field of medicine. We have developed a robot as a way of kidney stone breaking method through flexible urethroscopy and this robot is unique and a first in the world.

When this operation is made manual, it is made under hard condition and with limited acts. However, we break the stones via laser light. Our robot provides the mentioned operation’s being conducted in a sensitive and comfortable way.’

Kabakcı, stating that the operation initiates after the kidney stone breaker device is connected to the robot, mentioned that ‘We connect the present device used in the opera-

tion to robot in less than a minute.

The device is controlled remotely with the robot. First entrance is made and the other procedures after the entrance can be made by the robot. Some breakings can occur in especially the exit point in the operation in which a robot is not used and so operations can be cut. Robot prolongs the endoscope’s life. Thus, the stones, in 2, 3 and 4 cm dimensions, can be broken.’

Kabakcı, saying that the robot is essential for the patient and a doctor, stated that there are very few experts on kidney stone breaking and its training is very challenging but the operations in which a robot is

A robot that can break the kidney stones remotely has been developed with the support of TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey). The robot, named as İbn-i Sina (Avicenna), has got the credits of American doctors in USA Urology Congress.

used can be easily taught and made after a short training process.

Kabakcı, expressing that they will provide the robot’s breaking the stones itself after showing the stone to the robot in the forward steps of the project, told that ‘In the forwarder steps, the robot itself can break the kidney stones but it is not true to leave the robot alone, it will be under control of the doctors, all the time.

We are ready for mass production of this robot. Now, 5 robots are in the production process. The 3 of them is in the last step.’

Kabakcı, saying that the robot has been used in Europe Urology Congress, organized in Stockholm in

April, explained that ‘We have used İbn-i Sina for the first time in a live operation in a university hospital in Stockholm as a high-technology product completely made in Turkey.

The implementation made has been monitored by more than 2000 urologists, participating from the various countries in the world in the auditorium of the congress via live broadcast.

The Robot Video, of which presentation is made in video presentation category in this congress, has received the third prize. While following the positive feedbacks of this successful congress, our robot project has been granted a first prize

in the category of Small Company Product Category of the 11. Technology Prizes Competition, organized

by TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) – TTGV (Turkey Technology Development Foundation) and TÜSİAD (Turkey Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association). Our robot will be mantled in SLK Kliniken Hospital situated in Heilbronn province of Germany in the next days and will be used by Prof. Dr. Jens Rassweiled, one of the most famous urologists of Europe. These achievements have been the source of joy and pride.’

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FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) inflow to Turkey up 36 percent, reaches USD 11.8 billion Turkey attracted USD 11.8 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) during the first eight months of 2015. Corresponding to a 36 percent increase over the same period of 2014, Turkey’s investment appeal remained strong despite the turmoil in some of its neighboring countries, and the upcoming general election.

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ccording to data from Turkey’s Central Bank, in August alone, USD 1.9 billion has been channeled into the country, with the chemical sector being the main beneficiary. The top recipient sectors in the January-August period were respectively, manufacturing, financial services, and energy. In the given period, 46 percent of the country’s current account deficit was financed by FDI inflow.

Commenting on the country’s FDI performance during the first eight months of the year, the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT) President, Arda Ermut, said that Turkey maintained its status as a safe haven for foreign investors.

“Having established itself in its region as a safe haven for investors, Turkey’s investment appeal rests on the economic accomplishments of the last 12 years. As we can observe from the FDI figures, the turmoil in some of our neighboring countries and upcoming elections has not deterred foreign investors, who have confidence in Turkey and its poten-

tial. We are optimistic about exceeding last year’s FDI total,” the ISPAT President stated.

World Bank elevates Turkey’s growth forecast According to an article published in the Akşam newspaper; The World Bank has revised Turkey’s 2015 GDP growth forecast to 3.2 percent up from 3 percent, reflecting the country’s stronger than expected secondquarter growth.

The institution’s 3.5 percent forecast for the years 2016 and 2017 remained unchanged in the Global Economic Prospects’ October revision.

Driven by domestic consumption and private sector investment, the growth in Turkey’s economy reached 3.8 percent in the second quarter following first-quarter growth of 2.5 percent. The Turkish government’s medium-term program predicts a growth of 3 percent this year.

Turkish lira and stock market jump after election result BBC news website reported that Turkish lira and the Istanbul stock market rose sharply after the surprise win by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The lira was up almost 4% against the US dollar to 2.8 in afternoon trading after falling by 25% this year.

The main share index in Istanbul was 5.5% higher in late trading.

A coalition government had been expected, so the prospect of a potentially more stable administration has boosted confidence. Turkey’s economy is expected to expand about 3% this year, below the government’s official target of 4%. Inflation, which hit 7% in August, is a growing concern for policymakers.

Turkish Pharmaceutical Industry Exports to

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170 countries all around the world

stanbul Chemicals and Chemical Products Exporters Association (IKMIB)’s Chairman of the Board Murat Akyüz, made a brief statement about Turkish Pharmaceutical Industry.

Being one of the leading powers of the Turkish economy, the chemi-

cals industry grew significantly in the last 10 years together with its sub-sectors. Being one of the top exporting sectors in our country, chemicals industry is breaking its own records.

As İKMİB (Istanbul Chemicals and Chemical Products Exporters Asso-

ciation) we have been supporting the development of the chemicals industry in our country since our inception. We continue our hard work in the chemicals industry which carries the major load in Turkey’s exports, to become even stronger in the foreign markets

ities enhance the export potential.

The Turkish Pharmaceutical industry has a long standing culture of production as well as a strong infrastructure. The industry complies with today’s international standards in terms of its production technologies, capacity and qualified human resources.

Our production facility and product quality is mostly higher than USA and EU countries. It’s a pleasure to receive positive comments about our industrial quality and image abroad. In the last few years we manufactured more than 3,000 items of pharmaceutical products and the number rose to 8,000 items lately. We manufactured 73% of the pharmaceutical products in Turkish market last year.

We exported only the 27% of our market capacity.

Turkish Pharmaceutical industry exports to 170 countries. But the biggest obstacle in front of the sustainable export is domestic market price regulations. As a result of it companies serving to pharmaceutical industry are having hard time to reach their pricing goals.

Despite all it is very hopeful that pharmaceutical industry accepted as a strategical industry and investments upon high technology on the field are beand increase our export volume.

Value added Turkish pharmaceutical industry which is one of the top 20 pharmaceutical markets in the world has more than 10% share in whole chemical industry. As well as implementing qualification standards successfully, high quality facil-

Murat Akyüz, Chairman of the Board, Istanbul Chemicals and Chemical Products Exporters Association (IKMIB) ing encouraged.

A “Pharmaceutical Sector Council” is formed by İKMİB to increase the pharmaceutical products export.

We organized Industrial Trade Delegation visits to Nigeria, Ghana, Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Thailand and Vietnam during the last two years. And we received positive feedbacks. These activities will continue in the years to come.

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23rd Expomed to open in March 2016

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ighly anticipated medical show of Eurasia is set to take place in March 24-27, 2016 in Istanbul’s Tüyap Fair Convention and Congress Center with the organization of Reed Tüyap Exhibitions.

The show will put suppliers face-toface with key medical sector both in Turkey and emerging neighboring

Eurasian markets.

711 exhibitors from all over the world represented their brands in the latest edition over an area of 60,000 sqm. 2015 edition was visited by 35,997 attendees, 4,899 of whom were from the overseas. The upcoming Expomed expects to host over 800 Turkish and international

exhibitors and more than 40,000 professional visitors.

Labtechmed simultaneously takes place with Expomed The must-see laboratory equipment and technologies show offering a wide range of products and services is being simultaneously organized with Expomed.

Thanks to the VIP Elite+ Programme both the exhibitors and the hosted professional visitors will make the best of Expomed and Labtechmed shows. All visitors on this programme are closely vetted to ensure that only serious business professionals are accepted.Â

the ideal distributors in the targeted regions, it will also let the willing companies find the right brands to represent in their distribution range.

Visitor focus country: Iran Expomed and Labtechmed shows are welcoming special buyers from Iran. With its emerging potential this year Iran is going to be the visitor focus country. Executives, managers, buyers and decision-makers of hospitals, clinics, laboratories, blood banks, and also healthcare authorities in Iran are going to be visiting the shows running from 24th to 27th of March 2016 for the purpose of business transaction.

As in the previous editions a busy side event programme awaits both the exhibitors and the visitors of the shows running simultaneously during Expomed and Labtechmed that will add a plus value to the shows.

Attendees will be able to obtain indepth information about the latest developments in the field of medicine. More information yet to come in the days ahead. Check www. expomedistanbul.com and www. labtechmed.com for further information about the programme.

A satisfying seminar and panel programme throughout the exhibition

Germany is the country of host Having a great experience and knowhow in the field of medical engineering Germany is the country of host of the upcoming Expomed and Labtechmed exhibitions.

19th edition of Labtechmed is ready to bring the exhibitors together with the visitors in Istanbul coming from all across the world targeting to be the meeting point of laboratory industry.

Hosted buyer programme offers great business opportunities throughout the shows

A dedicated lounge area for distributors Exhibitors looking for distributors in Turkey and also in Eurasia will be able to use the special lounge area located in the fairground to hold prearranged B2B meetings with their potential distributors. This will not only enable the exhibitors to find

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Turkey to quintuple health tourists

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orld’s 6th top medical tourism destination; Turkey is having a massive increase in health tourism recently.

According to the report published

by TURSAB (Association of Turkish Travel Agencies) 583,000 tourists from all over the world preferred Turkey for medical procedures, with a quintuple increase over the last five years. About 188,000 came for surgical procedures, from hair transplant and liposuction to operations for serious ailments, generating over $2.5 billion in revenues and representing a growing fraction of tourism receipts.

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60% Cheaper In consideration of a report released

by Reuters; Turkish health tourism is

drawing global attention.

Health professionals and patients say surgery costs, including travel and accommodation, can be up to 60 percent below comparable programs in Western Europe. For example; cardiac by-pass surgery costs; $39,000 to $43,000 in Spain while it costs $8,500 to $21,000 in Turkey. Hair transplant operations which cost €10,000 in European countries, costs only €5,000 in Turkey. 35,000 of 76,000 health tourists from Gulf Countries had hair transplants in Turkey.

The government aims to double medical tourist numbers to half a million annually over the next two years and raise revenues to $7 billion by attracting them to higher-margin healthcare.

$25,000 revenue expected The Ministry of Health hopes to reach the $25 billion in medical tourism revenue by 2023, and expects 15-20 percent growth in the sector by the end of the year.

Parliament passed new regulations to make private investment in the healthcare sector easier; a move it hopes could unlock billions of dollars of investment over the next few years. Private equity investors favor Turkey’s fast-growing services industries, including healthcare and education, because of a near tripling of nominal, per capita gross domestic product over the past decade and a young population of 75 million.

583,000 health tourists preferred Turkey for healthcare services over the last five years

Tax-Free Health Zone Turkey’s status as a medical tourism destination could add to the allure. Though the idea is still on the drawing board, the government is considering airport-accessible, taxfree health zones which would aim to attract up to 85 percent of their patients from abroad, while offering tax incentives for investors.

Under the new law, which facilitates public-private partnerships, the state will rent city hospitals built and run by the private sector for 25 years.

Ministry of Health budgeted $2 million for healthcare infrastructure R&D projects in 2014 to empower Turkey in the region.

Cooperation with Iran Iran is a main healthcare services provider in the region, particularly serving to Iraqi and Azerbaijani patients. After the embargo quitted, Iran is in the spotlight of Turkey.

Iran and Turkey is expected to make cooperation about plastic surgery, oncology and organ transplantations.

Patients from Gulf Countries poured in Turkey for thermal tourism, in vitro fertilization, orthopedic operations, physical therapy and rehabilitation programs and gynecology. After Iraq, Dubai, Tunisia; health tourists from Egypt and Libya derived Turkey to be the favorite healthcare services provider for Arabic Countries.

Top 9th in the world by number of plastic surgeons Thanks to over 1,200 plastic surgeons serving to Turkish healthcare system. According to health tourism report 2014, Turkey is ranked the top 9th in the world by number of plastic surgeons. Jully and August are very busy periods for plastic surgery operations in Turkey. Antalya is the most popular city within this perspective.

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Sterilization Revolution!

Sterilization and washing in the same device!

Sümer A.Ş. has followed the developments abroad by its research and development team and application staff having engineering infrastructure and continued to manufacture high tech devices having this technology developed in line with these innovations and develop them so as to be most efficient for the human life and Turkish medicine sector since 1981.

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he aforesaid products are in compliance with latest technology and were manufactured with the same quality as its Western equivalents and incorporate all specifications required by the EU Standards. The company conducts the projects supported by TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey), KOSGEB (Small and Medium Industry Development Organization) and Ankara Development Agency. The company was granted with R&D award of 2011 and ASO (Ankara Chamber of Industry) Achievement Award of 2012 on 27.12.2012 by Ankara Chamber of Industry. The company continues to employ qualified labour force and tries to improve its R&D activities.

The company renders service with a

large product range including Steam Sterilizers, Washer and Steam Sterilizers, Bottle Washer and Steam Sterilizers, Washer Disinfector, Formaldehyde and Steam Sterilizers , Warming Cabinets, Blood Bank Refrigerator, Medical Refrigerator in the areas of Neonatology, Sterilization and General Surgery as well as Mother Milk Refrigerator/Freezer ,Baby Bottle Warmer, Syringe Warmer and Human Milk Pasteurizer for the New-born Units of the hospitals. The company has the capacity to fully design an operating room. The company which can manufacture for special projects also renders engineering and consultancy services.

Sümer SM-YKD Series Washer Disinfector manufactured in Turkey for the first time by the company particularly offers the functions of

washing, disinfecting and drying the glass materials, operating room instruments, glass containers, plastic and rubber materials and baby bottles. The device is in compliance with the 93/42/EEC Medical Device Directive and it also acquired the ‘’type test’’ certificate at the end of the tests performed by HYGCEN which is an Accredited German Institution.

Moreover, SM-4 Series Washer and Steam Sterilizer of which patent belongs to the company and that was manufactured with latest technology in line with the 93/42/EEC Medical Device Directive as a result of the research and development efforts is a revolution in the area of sterilization. This device offers the combined washing and sterilization functions in the same device.

Designed and manufactured

by Turkish engineers

STEAM STERILIZER SINGLE/DOUBLE DOOR

WASHER AND STEAM STERILIZER

WASHER DISINFECTOR SINGLE/DOUBLE DOOR

MOTHER MILK REFRIGERATOR/FREEZER

BLOOD BANK REFRIGERATOR MEDICAL REFRIGERATOR

WARMING CABINETS

HUMAN MILK PASTEURIZER

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BABY BOTTLE WARMER

SINGLE/DOUBLE DOOR

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www.sumeras.com sumer@sumeras.com

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M.Office : G.M.K. BULVARI 7/11, KIZILAY / ANKARA- TURKEY Phone: +90 312 4182646 - 418 57 88 Fax: +90 312 425 49 83

We are embracing the world with our instruments Strong Foundation Established 45 years ago in 1968, NÜVE is one of the fastest expanding manufacturers of laboratory and sterilization instrumentation in the world today with a steadily increasing product range.

Quickly becoming market leader in our home country, the major proportion of our production is today exported to over 100 countries worldwide and the brand is established as a driving force in the development of new products.

Quality & Reliability Quality is a keyword for NÜVE. This is proven by its certification to ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 13485:2003. Combining this with a strong ethic of providing outstanding value, NÜVE incessantly strives to increase efficiency through evolution of its working practices and investment in the latest machine tools.

Top class components and high grade raw materials ensure that the final product is something that the user can be proud of. An important factor in the high level of reliability is the commitment of the production team, half of which has been with the company for over 20 years.

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DF 490 Ultralow Temperature Deep Freezer

Investment & Expansion Substantial investment in R&D enables NÜVE to offer an ever-widening range of quality products. A team of highly qualified and experienced engineers has been producing instruments with unique characteristics bringing additional benefits to our customers. The offer in the field of biology in particular has significantly expanded and the level of technological innovation is proven by the large number of trade-marked features recently introduced in the range.

NÜVE has been growing continuously and strongly, even during the recent worldwide economic crisis. With its dedication to customer service, NÜVE is committed to ensuring the supply to its customers on time. During the last seven years, the size of the production plant was doubled as were the number of machine tools for production.

Wide Ranging Markets NÜVE products are designed and developed for a broad spectrum of markets including clinical laboratories, medical research, biotechnology, agriculture, veterinary labs, food, beverage and dairy, chemicals, automotive, aerospace, ceramics, water and pharmaceutical industries.

A complete range The NÜVE product range is comprehensive, covering the essential core products for most laboratories, whether this is for ovens, incubators,CO2 incubator, centrifuges, climatic and test chambers, dry or steam sterilization devices, -41°C and -86°C freezers, laminar flow and safety cabinets, water baths and distillers, blood bank instruments... you are certain to find a product to please you.

EMS-Innovative In Approach, Outstanding In Quality “We operate under the motto of innovative in approach, outstanding in quality,” say EMS officials.

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ctually, EMS Emergency Mobile Systems and Hospital Materials Industry and Trade Inc. has turned out to be a global player in its area of specialization.

In addition to special customer requests and project-based designs, EMS’s manufacturing line focuses on the following product groups: -Diverse range of ambulance production, including intensive care ambulances, snow track ambulances, wheeled snow track ambulances

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-Ambulance equipment -Mobile Health Care Vehicles (Van, midibus, bus, truck, container types) - Mobile Command Control Vehicles -National Medical Rescue Teams Tool (Designed for operation in disasters and extreme cases) - Mobile Laboratory Vehicles - Mobile Screening Vehicles -Ambulance stretchers -Stretcher platforms -Medical devices - Medical materials

By keeping the pulse of the sector, EMS has been participating in major medical fairs and exhibitions for years. This month, EMS participates in the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress (27-30 January 2014 Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre) to display its emergency mobile vehicles, equipment and systems.

EMS puts emphasis on R&D in order to serve its customers in efficient manner. The ambulances, medical products and equipment manufactured by EMS comply with the international technical standards.

According to EMS officials, innovation and dynamism have become a way of life for us in order to survive in the competitive markets. They noted: “Innovation is a major business priority; simply put, companies become more competitive when they have a clear process that produces a reliable stream of new and innovative products. As known, permanent change is the rule of the game in the global markets.” “Competitiveness at the domestic level has been replaced with competitiveness on a global scale. Technology and competitive power would always be the two keys for the survival of the sector. Therefore, in line with growing demand from abroad, we have been diversifying and expanding our export markets. We think that the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress would pave the way for a series of new business opportunities.”

Healthcare &

Pharmaceuticals

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omestic and international investors are ramping up their investments in the pharmaceutical sector to take advantage of Turkey’s attractive market, where the healthcare and the pharmaceutical sector grew by 5.8 percent and 8.9 percent respectively from 2012 to 2013. Expenditures on pharmaceu-

ticals are expected to reach to TRY 20.66 billion in 2015, a 10.3 percent increase on the TRY 18.72 billion figure of 2014. Expenditures on healthcare, meanwhile, are expected to increase by 10.4 percent from TRY 96.01 billion in 2014 to TRY 105.98 billion in 2015, while the growth in real GDP is projected to be 3.5 percent for the same period.

Turkey has one of the largest and youngest labor pools in Europe, with more than 42 percent of the population aged between 24 and 54, and the strength of Turkey’s labor force is reflected in the pharmaceutical sector. In the 2011-2012 academic year, more than 41,000 students graduated from vocational training schools and universities in fields related to the pharmaceutical sector.

The Turkish healthcare system has undergone the largest transition in its history over the last decade. The successes of health reforms, specifically the Health Transformation Program (HTP), have brought about a

marked improvement in the healthcare system and have enhanced access to healthcare facilities.

The Universal Health Insurance (UHI) program was put in place to provide healthcare to every Turkish citizen; and as a result, the Social Security Institution (SGK) has become the number one buyer on the purchasing side of healthcare services.

A rapidly growing young population is one of the key factors driving demand for healthcare. Over the next two decades, as the current young population of Turkey ages, there is likely to be a sharp rise in healthcare demand as almost 80 percent of a person’s healthcare requirements typically occur after the age of 40-50.

Turkey will experience continued economic expansion and rising incomes which, in turn, will create more demand for health services and products, and these increases are reflected in the healthcare spending projections. According to Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) forecasts, the

Turkey’s pharmaceutical market became the 6th largest in Europe and the 16th largest in the world in terms of sales in 2012. In 2014, pharmaceutical sales saw a 37 percent increase compared to USD 6.2 billion in 2004, reaching a stunning USD 8.6 billion. healthcare sector in Turkey is set to boom by a CAGR of 5.6 percent between 2013 and 2017, while most developed countries will be experiencing relatively lower growth rates.

Turkey is also expected to surpass the forecasted world average with this growth rate.

The social security system now covers approximately 82 percent of the total population, with 62.8 million people now covered. Investments in the healthcare sector are expected to continue as the government strives to increase the number of hospital beds per 10,000 population to 32 in 2023, up from the current figure of 27.2. The Turkish government has also taken on an ambitious healthcare PPP program.

The Ministry of Health is planning to open health “free zones”, which will include hospitals, rehabilitation centers, thermal tourism facilities, nursing houses, health techno-cities and R&D centers, to be built in big cities where transportation will be relatively easy.

According to PPP professionals, Turkey is the second most attractive market globally for PPP projects in the medium to long term, and official targets related to the adoption and development of e-health systems present significant investment opportunities for ICT infrastructure companies.

Turkey’s healthcare expenditure will continue to grow over the long term due to underlying fundamentals driving demand for healthcare

services, its population dynamics, increasing urban migration and the burden of disease in the country.

Furthermore, significant private sector investments in healthcare facilities will see the country rise in importance as a medical tourism hub.

There are plans to increase health tourism revenues to USD 20 billion by 2023, and as a result, healthcare spending per capita has been targeted to almost triple by 2023, reaching USD 2,000.

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Fıratmed: A reliable brand for laboratory equipment

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lastik’s brand FIRATMED producing medical equipment is producing urine collection container, pneumatic and PP urine specimen container, conic tube, stool container, stool container with screw cap, petri dish, polystyrene and PP test tubes, falcon tube, eppendorf tube, medium and non-medium transport swab, multi-purpose sample container , pipette tip, processing cassettes with or without cover and tube covers. FIRATMED having an experience in the plastic sector provides secure service to many healthcare centers.

Fıratmed has started producing disposable plastic laboratory equipment of in vitro diagnostic equipment group by 3 types of equipment in the year of 2003. The company has become the catalog firm of the sector that produces laboratory equipment by 25 equipment in 2009.

16x100 CONICAL BOTTOM POLYSTYRENE TEST TUBE High transparency 10 ml volume High resistance for shatterproof Graduation indicator

STOOL CONTAINER WITH

PNEUMATIC SYSTEM NON-STERILE URINE SPECIMEN CONTAINER 100 ml volume Special area to write Specific design Non-sterile Screw cap

Sterile, non-sterile

SPOON Polypropylene Container with plastic spoon Special design 25 ml volume

60x15 PETRI DISH High quality High transparency High resistance for shatterproof Suitable for all filling machines Special design

50 ML CONICAL TUBE Polypropylene Graduation between 5 ml and 50 ml Leak-proof Sterile, non-sterile Footless

AUTOMATIC PIPETTE TIP 100-1000 ul Ependorf, Socorex, Gilseon Brand Compatible with Treff Polypropylene

ISEK – Istanbul Health Industry Cluster

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SEK – Istanbul Health Industry Cluster (www.i-sek.org) is a collaboration of various industrial companies with the related university research centers, public institutes and NGOs in Istanbul Metropolitan Region. Industrial companies differ from large-scale corporations to SMEs and start-ups with a focus on medical devices and biotechnology as well as pharmaceutical fields.

ISEK comprises 97 firms, 16 universities (relevant research centers), 13 NGOs, 2 public institutions and 1 hospital. The missions of the ISEK are determined as • Increasing the dialog and improve cooperation among industrial companies and universities and developing and strengthen the existing academic research and service infrastructures to meet the urgent and specific needs of the local health tech industry, • Providing joint labs, support spaces and other common purpose infrastructures for pre-competition research needs, • Focusing on new entrepreneurs: establishment of a set thematic preincubators, advanced incubators and

specific pilot production infrastructures, • Providing support services to project teams in capacity building, technical consultancy, technology transfer, intellectual property; either in house or via effective referral to its supporting partners and • Organizing events (seminars, meetings and workshops) to facilitate collaborations by bring people together in focused events and develop and offer new training programs to help, expand and improve the regional industrial workforce • Developing shared exhibition/

demo areas and specific national/international marketing strategies for the whole cluster • Assisting in the development of regional healthcare industry innovation districts and physical infrastructures, including industrial parks dedicated exclusively to health tech.

Within the context of Medica 2015, we will introduce 5 member companies. The activity fields of these companies are given below: Argenit; established in 2009, develops digital microstructure imaging and analysis systems (www.argenit. com.tr) Durmaz; established in 2010, develops x-ray imaging platforms (www.durmazteknoloji.com.tr) Hayriya; established in 2012, develops wearable body sensors (EKG, EEG, EMG) and provides services in neuroscience, biofeedback and biomechanics (www.hayriya.com) Medimiks; established in 1993, offers R&D services and products to molecular pathology, molecular biology and genetics laboratories (www. medimiks.com) Szutest; established in 2005, provides CE Marking services and accredited by Turkish Accreditation Institute (www.szutest.com.tr)

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Aziz Sancar dedicated The Nobel Prize to Turkish People

Mapping how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard the genetic information made him won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

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he Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2015 to 3 scientists. One of them is a Turkish professor; Dr. Aziz Sancar, works for the University of North Carolina in USA and The title of the research is “Mechanistic studies of DNA repair” The cells’ toolbox for DNA repair The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 is awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar for having mapped, at a molecular level, how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguards the genetic information.

Their work has provided fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions and is, for instance, used for the development of new cancer treatments.

Each day our DNA is damaged by UV radiation, free radicals and other carcinogenic substances, but even with-

out such external attacks, a DNA molecule is inherently unstable.

Thousands of spontaneous changes to a cell’s genome occur on a daily basis. Furthermore, defects can also arise when DNA is copied during cell division, a process that occurs several million times every day in the human body.

The reason our genetic material does not disintegrate into complete chemical chaos is that a host of molecular systems continuously monitor and repair DNA. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 awards three pioneering scientists who have mapped

how several of these repair systems function at a detailed molecular level.

In the early 1970s, scientists believed that DNA was an extremely stable molecule, but Tomas Lindahl demonstrated that DNA decays at a rate that ought to have made the development of life on Earth impossible. This insight led him to discover a molecular machinery, base excision repair, which constantly counteracts the collapse of our DNA. Aziz Sancar has mapped nucleotide excision repair, the mechanism that cells use to repair UV damage to DNA. People born with defects in this repair system will develop skin cancer if they are exposed to sunlight. The cell also utilizes nucleotide excision repair to correct defects caused by mutagenic substances, among other things.

Paul Modrich has demonstrated how the cell corrects errors that occur when DNA is replicated during cell division. This mechanism, mismatch repair, reduces the error frequency during DNA replication by about a thousand fold. Congenital defects in mismatch repair are known, for example, to cause a hereditary variant of colon cancer.

The Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 2015 have provided fundamental insights into how cells function, knowledge that can be used, for instance, in the development of new cancer treatments.

Another Turkish Doctor is awarded Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tülay Güran received one of the prestigious awards in Europe named “Younginvestigatoraward” from ESPE Marmara University Assoc. Prof.

Dr. Tülay Güran, received the Young Investigator Award from ESPE (European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology) Dr. Tülay Güran is from Mardin Turkey, just like Nobel prize for chemistry 2015 winner scientist Prof. Dr. Aziz Sancar.

“Younginvestigatoraward” is given to the best projects selected among hundreds of investigators under age of 40 all around the world. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Güran stated that she is pleased to represent Turkey by courtesy of this award. Award is presented during the yearly congress of ESPE in Barcelona in front of 3000 delegates by ESPE Science Committee President Jan Lebl Assoc. Prof.

Dr. Güran said that it was another pleasure to receive the award from Jan Lebl as a Turkish doctor.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tülay Güran After İstanbul University Faculty of Medicine she studied for a post graduate degree at Marmara University as a paediatrician. Later she is updated her post graduate degree to master’s degree at Marmara University Faculty of Medicine Department of Paediatric Endocrinology with Prof. Dr. Abdullah Bereket . She is chosen for one of the most important Fellowship programs in European Union; Marie Curie Post-doctoral Research Fellowship.

Within the program she made scientific researches for 2 years at Birmingham University in England. She is particularly focused on scientific researches about congenital adrenal gland diseases which is very com50

mon in turkey due to frequent cross cousin marriages. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tülay Güran ‘s scientific researches are printed in prestigious medical journals like; “Journal of Clinical En-

docrinology and Metabolism” and “New England Journal of Medicine”.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tülay Güran is married with 3 kids and currently working at Marmara University.

Age of wearable health technology

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erox Group’s PARC and Smart Design recently discussed their vision of the future with printable tech and their intention to lead the way by creating small smart patches. These miniature wearable devices will either monitor health parameters or deliver medication in controlled doses to the user. Two companies are both working on this project.

The patch will be able to help in the diagnostics, monitoring and treatment for a patient.

For example, if the doctor suspects a patient has arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), the patient’s heart rate and ECG will be measured on-site

in the hospital or clinic. When the patients leaves, the doctor will have no way to know how his condition reacts to his daily activities or how the patient’s heart functions during sleep.

With the patch however, the heart rate and ECG of the patient is recorded in set intervals and will present a more accurate representation of the heart activity of the patient.

For treatment, a different patch will be designed to deliver the required doses at specific periods of the day or according the bodily needs of the patient. The concept for distribution is simple. Pharmacies will have

printers capable of creating the patches and patients will be able to install the patches themselves with minimal assistance from a pharmacist.

In cases such as antibiotics, which are meant to be never neglected, the drug will enter the bloodstream with no risk for human error (such as forgetting).

The medication patches could also come with diagnostic parts that will particularly be beneficial for medication taken as needed. At present, people with impaired insulin production often rely on cumbersome technology to deliver doses of insulin at set intervals.

PARC’s printable tech department plans to manufacture a patch that measures health or delivers medication; that can be applied to the skin like a BandAid

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The problem with these pumps are they are programmed to pump insulin but do not take into account blood sugar levels.

This means a wearer would have to do a blood sugar test, which involves pricking a finger and using a digital meter, usually four times a day. With the printed chip, delivery of medication could be closely linked to the body’s needs. This creates a better way to take medicine and allows a doctor to be more precise with treatments.

The chips will also be able to send information to the doctors to monitor the improvement of a medical condition over time. PARC envi-

sions these small patches to be disposable and cheap to produce.

PARC and Smart are dedicated to the future of printed technology.

According to them, the potential of the manufacturing process and capabilities of a printed device is a disruptive technology that affects all aspects of modern living, from smart packaging to entertainment.

The printable monitoring and medicating patches is part of PARC’s Printed and Flexible Electronics focus group.

According to them, the current market for the technology is valued at $1B and is expected to grow to $45B by 2016.

New application for drug detection A study has resulted in an application that allows researchers to automatically analyze drug rapid tests detection by using a mobile phone

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joint project between UPM and VincilLab Company has resulted in an application that allows us to automatically analyze drug rapid tests detection by using a mobile phone.

This new system, created by Computer Vision Group of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) in collaboration with VinciLab Healthcare, has a high reliability and can be helpful in different areas such as monitoring programmes of prevention, occupational health, risk prevention and control of traffic, transport and police. So far, results of drug rapid

tests detection have been visually explained in the same way as a traditional pregnancy test, that is, by the presence or absence of lines on a paper strip. Usually, visual interpretation can entail errors due to diversity and intensity of lines or lighting conditions when reading the results.

In recent years, some health companies have developed systems that allow us to automatically read tests of drug detection but, these devices are expensive and have limited portability and provide few options to focus and analyze de information of tests which are frequently dispersed.

The new system, VinciPort, is designed to automatically interpret rapid drug test on a mobile phone, being able to minimize errors and misinterpretations.

Relying on the connectivity and usability provided by mobile phone devices, this application simplifies documents, storage and aggregate data analysis in the same device or in the

cloud. The cloud can have a high impact on institutions or governments to assess and monitoring of real time prevention policies.

In order to guarantee the right interpretation, the system has integrated valid algorithms for next generation for Image Processing and Pattern Recognition developed by Computer Vision Group of the UPM. VinciPort is mainly designed for environments that require mobility, speed, reliability and accuracy in the interpretation of results of drug rapid tests.

The system is capable of adapting the workflow of each institution and results can be wireless printed from the same device. The application can send the results by mails or automatically upload them to the VincePport Cloud.

It is an ultraportable solution and has a significant reduction in acquisition cost compared to similar equipments on the market.

The application is available to download at AppStore.

Laser Technique reverses tooth decay A low-powered laser can stimulate the growth of dentin

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he drill-and-fill approach to fixing cavities may eventually have new competition, thanks to Harvard University biomedical engineer David Mooney and National Institutes of Health assistant clinical investigator Praveen Arany. The pair, along with colleagues, reported in May that they had developed a new technique that stimulates the growth of dentin, the hardened tissue below tooth enamel, through the use of a simple, low-powered laser.

Arany drilled holes in the teeth of

rats, shined a light similar to a laser pointer into the false cavities for five minutes, then capped them.

Twelve weeks later, the dentin inside had grown back. By studying the same process in cultured cells, the scientists found that the light stimulated a molecular chain reaction that activated a normally dormant protein called TGF-beta 1. That protein, in turn, prompted nearby dental stem cells to differentiate into dentin-forming cells, which then differentiate into mature dentin. The protein also ac-

tivates other kinds of stem cells, which means the method could be used to regenerate other tissues.

The technique could combat tooth sensitivity and cavities. “It’s not going to replace the root canal,” Arany says, but you might be able to prevent one in the first place with dentin regeneration.

Revolutionizing Medical Tech with Dollar-Store Devices Maverick MIT inventor Jose Gomez-Marquez has seen the future of medical tech in the developing world: It’s made of Lego bricks, cheap cell phones and dollar-store finds

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n a summer afternoon, Jose Gomez-Marquez stands in the middle of a Family Dollar store, loading up his basket with colorful plastic toys. Down the aisle, two of his MIT students, Valentina Chamorro and Madeline Aby, are rummaging through kitchen supplies, deciding whether to buy an acrylic toothpick holder. “Remember, it’s only a dollar,” Gomez-Marquez says. “You might not know what you’re going to use it for now, but it’ll cost more than a dollar for us to come back here.”

Gomez-Marquez and his students aren’t shopping for goods so much as ideas. As head of MIT’s Little Devices Lab, Gomez-Marquez invents unconventional, affordable medical technologies for communities in need, replicating the functionality of hundred-thousand-dollar laboratory robotics with Lego Mindstorms kits and cheap, open-source Arduino circuits.

On this particular Thursday, he and his students are searching for ways to improve the

humble pill bottle.

“If we have a pill bottle, what do we care about?” he asks Aby and Chamorro. “We care about alerting people to use it. We care about whether it’s accessible. Can everybody read it?

How would you prevent somebody from overdosing?

Look around for things that you can hack the bottle with,” he urges. “Imagine we don’t have parts in the lab. If we were in Nicaragua, we might not even have a lab, but we would have a store like this.”

Aby picks up a toy phone that buzzes and beeps when the buttons are pressed, components that might be harvested for an alarm. Chamorro chooses a box of sequins, which can be glued on the bottle to make the labeling braille. GomezMarquez selects a pinball-style candy dispenser that might entice a hesitant child to take his medicine.

None of these innovations will individually revolutionize health care in Central America or Africa, but together they amount to a radical departure from the top-down initiatives that the World Health Organization has prescribed for decades.

Gomez-Marquez calls it “supply chain arbitrage”

— modifying existing materials to improve people’s lives today.

“The gridlock that exists in public health is ridiculous,” he argues. “Do you try to change the whole system, or do you work within the system and try to usurp it with technology?”

Gomez-Marquez believes that modifying a pill bottle — and helping locals to do so for themselves — is a powerful way to change the ground rules of health care.

Over the past few years, GomezMarquez — without a professorship, doctorate or even a bachelor’s degree

— has converted some prominent researchers, including Harvard Medical School virologist Lee Gehrke.

“The DIY stuff that Jose does forces us to think that you don’t have to do things expensively,” Gehrke says.

And Gomez-Marquez is having fun doing it on the cheap. “I don’t know many people who can buy a lot of toys with their lab budget,” he says, handing his school credit card to the cashier. “It drives the MIT accountants crazy.”

Laser-derived X-ray method finds hidden nuclear materials Unconventional laser-based X-ray machine can provide a new defense against nuclear terrorism

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esearchers say it could be used to prevent nuclear terrorism.

In proof-of-principle experiments, scientists used a laser-driven X-ray source to produce an image of a uranium disk no bigger than a stack of three nickels, hidden between 3-inch steel panels.

Physicists at the Diocles Extreme Light Laboratory at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have demonstrated that their unconventional laser-based X-ray machine could provide a new defense against nuclear terrorism.

In proof-of-principle experiments, the UNL scientists used the laserdriven X-ray source to produce an image of a uranium disk no bigger than a stack of three nickels and hidden between 3-inch steel panels.

“For the first time, we have used our new X-ray source to detect a nuclear material inside a shielded container,” said Donald Umstadter, director of the Diocles Laboratory and leader of the project.

The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office of the Department of Homeland Security funds the research.

The government is evaluating the technology.

Inspectors need tools to help find nuclear materials hidden behind thick shielding or smuggled inside any of the 100 million-plus cargo containers shipped around the world each year. Uranium is perhaps the easiest nuclear material to obtain and hide, Umstadter said.

The researchers demonstrated that laser-produced X-rays can detect an even smaller amount of uranium than the minimum amount required by current inspection standards (1 kilogram) and can penetrate much thicker steel than the walls of cargo containers.

The laser X-ray source offers a number of advantages. Much like a laser pointer can be directed across a large auditorium, the technology can shoot a thin X-ray beam long distances, enabling inspection of cargo ships before they reach port.

Yet it emits much lower levels of radiation than conventional Xrays, making it safer for use around workers and bystanders.

Unlike previous sources of similar X-rays, which require stadiumsized facilities, this X-ray source is portable and could be moved in a semi-trailer truck, increasing its potential for use as a nuclear site inspection tool.

Umstadter and his team announced in 2013 they had developed the laser-driven X-ray source, called a laser-wakefield-accelerator-driven inverse-Compton-scattering, or LWFA-ICS, source. At the time, they said the new source not only would

increase the availability of sophisticated forms of X-rays needed for physics research, but it could be used to detect hidden or smuggled nuclear materials. Since then, Umstadter and his team have set about proving that the X-ray machine would work for those purposes.

“It’s not unusual for scientists to go beyond basic research to develop new technologies, as we did with our device,” he said. “However, the great urgency and importance of detecting smuggled nuclear materials compelled us to go even further and be the first to apply the new technology.”

UNL holds a patent on the new detection method, Umstadter said.

The University of Michigan’s Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences provided numerical simulation support as a subcontractor on the project.

The next step in this project for Umstadter and his team is to improve the performance of the X-ray device as well as the precision with which it can identify shielded nuclear materials.

Umstadter and Shouyuan Chen, a UNL research assistant professor of physics and astronomy, presented their findings at the International Meeting on Laser-Driven Radiation Sources for Nuclear Applications at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 15. An article describing their findings will appear in the January issue of the journal Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, B.

Guided ultrasound plus chemotherapy cures tumors in mice Thermal ablation with magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS) is a noninvasive technique for treating fibroids and cancer

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ew research shows that combining the technique with chemotherapy can allow complete destruction of tumors in mice.

MRgFUS combines an ultrasound beam that heats and destroys tissue with a magnetic resonance imaging to guide the beam and monitor the effects of treatment. The effectiveness of the treatment can be limited by the need to spare normal tissue or critical structures on the tumor margins, as well as the need to eliminate micrometastases.

In a new paper in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Katherine W. Ferrara, distinguished professor of biomedical engineering at UC Davis, and colleagues report on a strategy that can destroy an entire tumor without thermal destruction of the tumor margin. Her group demonstrated a dramatic increase in the concentration of anti-cancer chemotherapy within several types

of MRgFUS thermal ablation-treated tumors.

“MRgFUS is already FDA approved for the treatment of uterine fibroids and palliation of bone metastases.

We hope to expand the indication for MRgFUS by supplementing it with chemotherapy,” said first author Andrew Wong, a graduate student with the UC Davis Physician Scientist Training Program.

Ferrara’s previous research has shown that ultrasound-induced mild hyperthermia can enhance the accumulation of tiny nanoparticles carrying anti-cancer drugs, but the accumulation is dependent on the type of tumor. Her group hypothesized that combining thermal ablation and chemotherapy could improve efficacy across multiple types of tumors.

The team used a variety of techniques including combined positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET-CT), magnetic resonance imaging, autoradiography, and fluorescence imaging to track nanoparticles loaded with the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin in a mouse model of breast cancer.

They found that as the ultrasound damaged the tumor and induced a local immune response, nanoparticles accumulated in the tumor and the local drug concentration increased 50-fold.

The high drug concentrations continued over several weeks, increasing total expo-

sure of the tumor to the drug.

Ferrara’s research team found that the enhanced drug accumulation induced by MRgFUS resulted in improved survival and a consistent cure in their preclinical model of breast cancer, even when part of the tumor was left intact.

They also demonstrated that an effective cure could be achieved with a carefully designed protocol involving heat-activated nanoparticles, which, when gently heated by ultrasound, release their chemotherapeutic payload in the vasculature surrounding the tumor.

Additional members of the team included Brett Z. Fite, Yu Liu, Josquin Foiret, Azadeh Kheirolomoom, Jai W. Seo, Katherine D. Watson, Lisa M. Mahakian, Sarah Tam and Alexander D. Borowsky. The work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

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