Healthcare & Biotech

Freiburg – – September 11, 2026 -- Intuitive Surgical has secured CE marking for Force Feedback instruments on its da Vinci 5 surgical system, clearing the technology for use across the European market alongside more than 100 additional system updates.

Force Feedback lets surgeons feel tissue resistance in real time

The instruments capture pressure, traction and lateral forces roughly 1,000 times per second, relaying them directly through the hand controllers on the da Vinci 5 console. A real-time force gauge, resembling a speedometer, displays the intensity of force applied to tissue during a procedure. Post-operatively, surgeons can review force data through Case Insights in the MyIntuitive+ platform to refine technique and reduce variability between cases.

Berlin – September 10, 2026 -- German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe) collected roughly 4.6 million euros in donations during a televised charity quiz special broadcast on public broadcaster ZDF.

Celebrity contestants earn 80,000 euros in quiz duels against subject experts

Actors Moritz Bleibtreu and Henning Baum, alongside model Franziska Knuppe, competed on "Der Quiz-Champion - Das Spenden-Special," hosted by Johannes B. Kerner, against five specialists: Anna Thalbach, Johann Lafer, Felix Neureuther, Elton and Katrin Bauerfeind. The three celebrities' combined quiz performance generated 80,000 euros for German Cancer Aid.

Frankfurt (Oder) – September 10, 2026 -- Dr. Dominik Treffer, chief physician of the Clinic for Acute and Emergency Medicine at Klinikum Frankfurt (Oder) since June 2026, has passed the examination for the European Specialist in Emergency Medicine, adding an internationally recognized credential to his qualifications as a specialist in anesthesiology with additional certifications in emergency medicine and clinical acute and emergency medicine.

Germany still lacks a standalone emergency medicine specialty recognized across many European countries

Unlike numerous European countries with an independent emergency medicine specialty, Germany has no equivalent formal credential. Care for acutely ill and injured patients in the country's central emergency departments is currently handled by physicians from a range of different medical specialties, making structured additional qualification in clinical emergency medicine increasingly significant.

Munich – September 09, 2026 -- More than 300 delegates from Germany's 17 pharmacist chambers and associations will convene in Munich from September 15 to 17 for the German Pharmacists' Day (Deutscher Apothekertag, DAT) 2026, as the country's pharmacy reform moves from legislation into implementation.

Munich – – September 09, 2026 -- Medical relief organization Ärzte der Welt has warned that the AfD's election victory in Saxony-Anhalt could jeopardize healthcare access for vulnerable populations across Germany, citing risks to uninsured patients, refugee families and homeless individuals.

AfD's potential Bundesrat entry raises funding risks for uninsured care

Ärzte der Welt Director Katri Bertram said that if the AfD takes over the state government and enters the Bundesrat, it could endanger patient health in Magdeburg and nationwide. She specifically flagged risks to families fleeing war zones, homeless people and those in poverty, warning that increased exclusion could worsen population-wide health outcomes, including unchecked infectious diseases.

Berlin – September 09, 2026 -- The German Congress for Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery (DKOU) 2026 has published its full program and opened registration, with the four-day event set to run October 20-23, 2026 at CityCube Berlin.

DGOOC president frames congress as a hub for continuing education amid staff shortages

In a video interview released as part of a three-part series under the motto "Neue Wege gehen" (Taking New Paths), Dr. Jörn Dohle, president of the German Society for Orthopaedics and Orthopaedic Surgery (DGOOC), described DKOU as a "market of possibilities" combining specialized clinical content, interdisciplinary exchange and cross-sector dialogue. Dohle pointed to workforce shortages as a central challenge for the field, noting that while digital tools can support parts of patient care, recruiting young physicians and providing structured learning and exchange formats remains critical.

Munich – September 09, 2026 -- Sky Labs presented new clinical data at ESC Congress 2026 showing its ring-shaped blood pressure monitor, CART, achieves an approximately 80% data-usability rate in continuous 24-hour monitoring of patients with atrial fibrillation, addressing a measurement gap left by traditional cuff-based devices in patients with irregular pulse or severe blood pressure fluctuations.

Chonnam University trial confirms 24-hour monitoring feasibility in atrial fibrillation patients

Professor Ki-Hong Lee of Chonnam National University Hospital reported that CART enabled precise observation of nocturnal blood pressure dipping patterns in atrial fibrillation patients, with a data-usability rate near 80% across continuous 24-hour recordings.

Munich – September 09, 2026 -- Sky Labs unveiled new clinical data at ESC Congress 2026 showing its ring-shaped blood pressure monitor CART achieved an 80% data evaluability rate in 24-hour monitoring of patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib), addressing a gap where conventional cuffs struggle with irregular pulses.

CART shows high concordance with standard ambulatory monitoring in severe heart failure patients

Professor In-Cheol Kim of Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital reported that CART, tested against conventional 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) in heart failure patients with a mean ejection fraction of 29%, showed high concordance and fully met European Society of Hypertension (ESH) error-margin criteria.

Munich – September 09, 2026 -- Sky Labs presented new clinical trial data for its ring-based blood pressure monitor, CART, at the ESC Congress 2026 in Munich on September 7, showing an 80% data evaluability rate in continuous monitoring of atrial fibrillation (AFib) patients and high correlation with standard ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) in severe heart failure cases.

CART achieves 80% evaluability rate in 24-hour monitoring of atrial fibrillation patients

Professor Ki-Hong Lee of Chonnam National University Hospital reported that CART's ring-based 24-hour monitoring achieved approximately 80% data evaluability in AFib patients, enabling continuous tracking of nocturnal blood pressure dipping patterns that irregular pulse rates typically disrupt for cuff-based devices.

San Antonio – September 09, 2026 -- Frost & Sullivan has named Amwell the recipient of its 2026 United States Technology Innovation Leadership Recognition in the Technology-Enabled Care Platforms industry, citing the company's unified platform for connecting patients, health plan members, clinicians and partner networks.

Amwell platform now supports 90 million covered lives and 38.7 million virtual visits

Frost & Sullivan's benchmarking evaluated Amwell across strategy effectiveness and strategy execution, awarding top marks in both categories. The firm pointed to the platform's clinically integrated workflows and scalability as differentiators for organizations seeking to consolidate fragmented point solutions into a single operating layer spanning virtual primary care, urgent care, behavioral health and chronic condition management.