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Nîmes University Hospital Making innovation accessible to all
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sion will open its doors in February 2022 and a second extension to accommodate start-ups in this field is under study. An international expert in the application of industrial techniques on a very small scale for personalised medicine, the university hospital also has a platform for manufacturing placebos for randomised double-blind clinical studies and is exploring promising avenues: phages, transplantation of faecal microbiota and therapeutic cannabis.
© CHU de Nîmes
In 2020, we launched around one hundred research projects, including twenty on Covid-19, and participated in 150 new projects for industrialists and other institutions,” explains Anissa Megzari, Director of Research, University Hospital and International Partnerships. With some twenty patents and software, the institution has formed partnerships with the CCI du Gard and the SATT AxLR to support its teams and disseminate their inventions. Two events are planned for the autumn: the third edition of the Innov’Action trophy, which rewards a project carried out by a CHU professional, and an eponymous awareness day, to inform and decomplex. The Nîmes University Hospital supports industrial innovation through its Medical Device Evaluation Institute (IDIL), the organisation with Eurobiomed and AD’OCC of an annual national day dedicated to MD (the next one is scheduled for 21 October 2021), its biological resource centre and its co-development partnerships (surgical robotics, serious games, etc.). The credo of this regular buyer of the latest technical innovations? “Cross-disciplinarity and partnerships to promote innovation in health and the economic influence of the region.”
Galenics and robotisation Spearheading innovation at the CHU, the Medicines Production Unit offers customised galenic preparations and works on 3D printing of medicines - with a national leadership position for publications on this topic. “This unit will soon be equipped with new premises that comply with pharmaceutical industry regulations for 3D printing and the manufacture of innovative medicines,” says Dr Ian Soulairol, hospital pharmacist in charge. This first extenSeptember 2021
Another area of innovation is robotisation. “Automated machines are being acquired to secure and rationalise the delivery of medicines,” explains Dr Clarisse Roux-Marson. Their advantage? The automation of the preparation of doses to be administered and the preparation of unit doses. The aim is to prevent medication errors; in the long term, the unit doses will be provided with a data-matrix code for optimal tracking from preparation to administration. A first for a university hospital. Another first is the CEPRIM (Centre for the Evaluation and Prevention of Iatrogenic Drug Risks). The multi-disciplinary team provides longterm ambulatory monitoring of complex patients who are most at risk of an adverse event. “The aim of this centre is to improve therapeutic adherence and to guarantee the proper use of drug treatment.” Radiology: a multifaceted innovation Anchored in the field and concerned with the medical service rendered, radiology research is closely associated with industry in four areas. “The physics of ionising radiation (diagnostic radiology) is the first area,” explains Prof. Jean-Paul Beregi, head of the Radiology and Medical Imaging Department. 3D scanners, which use low or very low doses, improve patient safety and offer a competitive alternative to conventional radiography. Second axis: interventional radiology for oncology
© CHU de Nîmes
Innovation is an integral part of the DNA of the Nîmes University Hospital. It supports it in two ways: its own production and support for industrial or academic projects.
(precise ablation of the areas to be treated) and vascular applications, the development of new embolisation particles to calm osteoarticular inflammations, tumour destruction by cryoablation (a specific industrial partnership of the CHU), the exploration of new indications for the prostate, liver and thyroid. The third area is imaging. “AI software allows us to detect anomalies in MRI images that are predictive of Alzheimer’s disease and antiphospholipid syndrome or APS.” The fourth and final area is public health and health monitoring. The result of a partnership with the Toulouse start-up Medexprim, the creation of a warehouse of imaging and ancillary data is aimed at cancer prevention and the production of AI software to predict the response to a treatment. “Radiology promotes innovation, 6P medicine and public-private alliances around data.” Today it can replace surgery. There is an ethical imperative: the human guarantee with regard to technologies and data. The carer remains responsible for the machines… and master of their interpretation.
CHU de Nîmes Place du Pr Robert-Debré F-30029 Nîmes cedex 9 Tél. : +33 (0)4 66 68 30 52 E-mail : anissa.megzari@chu-nimes.fr http://www.chu-nimes.fr/
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