Without the corresponding political will, such a development would have been difficult or even impossible. Since 2002, the medical technology cluster of the Upper Austrian business agency "Business Upper Austria" has acted as a central interface to promote know-how transfer and the interaction of more than 230 domestic players: manufacturers (19%), service providers (27%), health care institutions (12%), research and development institutions (20%), suppliers (14%), and networks (8%). Within the framework of the economic and research programme "Innovative Upper Austria 2020", the initiative "MED UP" was launched and - supported by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) - a "Lead Project in Medical Technology" was nominated and endowed with funds: MEDUSA ("Medical EDUcation in Surgical Aneurysm clipping").
The focus on "medical simulation" for educational purposes is no coincidence. Upper Austria is already one of the top international addresses in this field. The competences required for the MEDUSA project are already available in the province and will be bundled, strengthened and utilised in a targeted manner through the lead project. Beyond the project, the local proximity of all 13 consortium partners leads us to expect sustainable cooperation for medtech innovations "made in Upper Austria".
In turn, the systematic use of innovative concepts such as hybrid simulators or virtual anatomy promises a further advance in research-oriented teaching and medical training at the Johannes Kepler University and Kepler University Hospital Linz.
In addition to its immediate goals, MEDUSA has the potential to sustainably increase the visibility of existing medtech competencies in Upper Austria and to generate a signal effect far beyond Upper Austria as a economic and business location.
Location Upper Austria
Dipl.-Betriebswirtin (FH) Frauke Wurmböck, MBA
Cluster-Manager, Medizintechnik-Cluster
Business Upper Austria - OÖ Wirtschaftsagentur GmbH
Hafenstraße 47-51
A-4020 Linz