A Sept. 12 biophotonics workshop in Brussels looks to improve health care by sharing insights on how to make medical devices more reliable. Hosted by the European Commission, the workshop will examine the latest developments in clinical diagnostics and how to improve device prototypes, which organizers said will eventually reduce health care costs.

The event is planned as a forum to allow researchers, clinicians, end users, academics, hospitals, and anyone involved in the health and medical industries to share best practices, discuss methodologies, and raise awareness of issues in developing medical devices. The workshop also seeks to improve EU competitiveness and will feature topics such as facilitating the development of industry standards and open data. 

Anna Pelagotti, an event organizer, said biophotonics plays a major role in health care for diagnostics and treatment.

“It has outstanding possibilities related to chemical specificity and functional information,” she said. “It is generally noninvasive, potentially noncontact, and allows deep sensitivity within the tissue, quantitative operator independence, and production of scalable devices. These factors make biophotonics unique from other modalities, but despite many good ideas in the laboratory, few of these reach the market. 

“Renowned speakers from across the world will present their views in their respective medical fields, and participants will gather in smaller groups to discuss specific subjects in more detail and present their ideas on ways forward,” Pelagotti said.

The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union and is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties, and managing the day-to-day business of the EU.