Medical Device Manufacture is One of the Most Innovative Industries

The manufacture of medical devices has a long and very successful tradition in the Czech Republic. This is evidenced by a number of worldwide Czech patents and innovative products and inventions such as polarography, contact lenses, biodegradable stents, etc.

Some of the latest Czech products priding themselves on high quality are hospital beds, armchairs and other medical devices, as well as implants. One of the world´s largest production lines turning out high-standard hospital beds is to be found in the production halls of the Czech firm LINET, which exports its products worldwide and is the most successful exporter in the area of medical devices. Another international success was achieved by the Czech manufacturer of microscopes. Owing to the small Czech market, most other manufacturers in the healthcare sector, too, are export-oriented and sell their products to countries all over the world. The Czech export leader in the sector is LINET, with its affiliations in many countries. Its most successful export markets are the countries of the former Soviet Union, the South American markets and traditional European states, such as Germany, Italy, and Spain. In general, the trend is to continuously improve and innovate medical devices and other equipment. This process always takes place in collaboration with physicians, universities, etc. Another trend on which Association of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Medical Devices wants to focus, partly thanks to the foreign development cooperation project, is the preparation and realisation of a more comprehensive offer of the products of our members, for example, the construction and furnishing of hospital wards, operating theatres, field hospitals, and also larger projects. This naturally requires closer collaboration of firms – members of the Association.

TASKS FOR THE ASSOCIATION

The Association´s emphasis is on research that will lead to high technical parameters and innovativeness of new products and methods of treatment. Medical device manufacturers know that good medicine cannot do without technical devices. Medical practitioners themselves say that progress in medicine requires innovation, such as visualisation systems, equipment and instruments for microsurgery and the use of computers. That is why manufacturers also focus on other branches, such as nanotechnology and microsystems for the construction of apparatus, equipment for the minimisation of invasive methods, introduction of information technologies in healthcare, urgent medicine, cardiac surgery and other branches of modern medicine. To achieve these aims, firms must collaborate with university research workplaces and top doctors and hospitals. In their research projects, firms are also using different forms of support and grants controlled or administered by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The Association also collaborates with the academic sphere.

CZECH FIRMS JOIN IN FIGHT AGAINST CORONAVIRUS

Firms are putting into practice new technologies and adjusting their production to new requirements. They often switch their production, despite the potential risks associated with the launch of new products and the need to have them certified so that they can be sold at home and in other countries. The certification process, confirming the required parameters and properties of the product and its absolute safety, often takes up to several months. Especially in the case of health protection, the product must undergo a number of tests. An advantage is having people with experience and knowledge of all the legislative requirements. One such person is, for example, Prof. Karel Volenec of the Ella-CS firm, which operates successfully on the international medical market. Prof. Volenec forged ahead with the development and certification of a swab for sampling used in coronavirus testing. “The swab, seemingly a simple thing, must fulfil a number of functions. Besides absolute medical safety, it must be designed so as to ensure accurate examination. For practical reasons, we test both its flexibility and the material used at its tip,” explains Prof. Volenec. A manufacturer of the prototype was promptly found: ISOLIT Bravo, a firm in Jablonné nad Orlicí. Another Czech firm, Robot Protect, supplies protective sleeves for robots, machines and automation equipment. Last April, it switched part of its production to the manufacture of protective suits and sleeves for people. Hundreds of its protective suits have been supplied to the Czech Mountain Rescue Service. CzechInvest Agency has published a list of Czech manufacturers of protective devices with the necessary certification, which are assisting in the struggle against the coronavirus pandemic. The list is available at https://spojujemecesko.cz/vyrobci/.

SUCCESSFUL FIRMS WITHIN THE SECTOR

These are mostly companies whose production is closely linked with their own development, thus showing their way to success in competition with rival firms. An example is ELLA-CS, s.r.o., a purely Czech company without any foreign capital, which operates worldwide. It is represented in more than 70 countries all over the world. The company specialises in the development and production of stents for the gastrointestinal tract, which include oesophageal stents, pyroduodenal stents and biliary and colorectal stents. ELLA-CS is the only manufacturer of the following medical devices: biodegradable stents – a globally unique product, allowing a new approach to the treatment of benign oesophageal strictures, without the need for stent extraction; danis stent – a unique medical device used for stopping acute bleeding of oesophageal varices; extractor – original instrument for the removal of oesophageal stents which are no longer needed within the oesophagus. On the basis of own development, BMT Brno supplies a wide range of steam, hot-air, and chemical sterilisers, laboratory driers and incubators. The firm has a tradition of more than 80 years and more than 40 years of export experience. BTL, founded in 1993, is one of the world´s largest manufacturers of medical equipment. It develops and manufactures physiotherapy equipment, such as electrotherapy devices, ultrasound devices, lasers, magnetic therapy devices, lymphatic drainage instruments, fullbody and limb bathtubs, therapeutic beds, gynaecological chairs,

AVDZP/CZECHMED AVDZP members currently employ nearly 9 000 people. Their average revenue is CZK 19 billion per year, with exports accounting for more than 40 per cent. In the case of certain manufacturers, it is more than 80 per cent. Their medical device portfolio is wide, comprising approximately 500 000 items, from dressing material to orthopaedic implants and cardiostimulators. Another organisation is CzechMed, the Czech Association of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Medical Devices, which is also a member of MedTech Europe, the European association representing the medical technology industry, as well as CZEDMA, the Czech Association of In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Manufacturers and Suppliers. Export trade in medical devices is showing a favourable balance.

pneumological and cardiological devices, patient monitors, infusion equipment, devices for general practitioners, and aesthetic medicine instruments. EGO Zlín is an important manufacturer and supplier of complete biological protection systems, logistic decontamination systems, urgent medicine devices and long-term care equipment. The firm is working on development programmes based on the specific requirements of clients or prompted by urgent worldwide needs. MZ Liberec is continuing its tradition of medicinal and technical gas distribution system manufacture dating back to 1958. The company designs, manufactures, supplies and installs medicinal and technical gas distribution systems. An indivisible part of its production programme is the manufacture of end distribution elements, such as ramps, source bridges, revolving ceiling, systems and medical equipment for operating theatres, intensive care units, anaesthesiology and resuscitation departments, and standard inpatient wards all over the world. The company also ensures the delivery and assembly of medicinal gas distribution systems, i.e. oxygen generators and compressors, vacuum, reduction, and evaporating stations.

THE ASSOCIATION HAS BUILT A VIRTUAL 3D HOSPITAL AVDZP has successfully realised a unique offer of a comprehensive solution in the area of healthcare and the supply of medical products, technologies and services in the form of a visual 3D hospital. This is a follow-up of its previous successful project aimed at strengthening the capacity for becoming incorporated into foreign development cooperation projects. Currently the project serves as a functional platform of manufacturers of medical devices for sharing experiences and know-how. In its framework the Association has created an electronic catalogue, Czech Healthcare Solutions (offering comprehensive solutions for hospital departments and other thematically oriented brochures with the offer of innovative products for ensuring healthcare especially in the developing world). A number of AVDZP firms have joined the project and have realised a unique joint offer of a comprehensive solution in the area of ensuring healthcare and the supply of medical products, technologies and services in the form of a visual 3D hospital. It is a unique way of presenting the offer of products on eight levels with eighteen hospital departments. The complete offer of the 3D hospital is available at www.avdzp.cz/vrcatalogue.