ESS - DM - Mestrado Europeu em Tecnologia Médica e Negócios em Saúde
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- From bench to market: Optimizing a cartilage-on-chip platform for Osteoarthritis research and analyzing the current and future landscape of Organ-on-Chip TechnologiesPublication . Hernández-Montoya, Ariadna; Ribeiro, Maria Cristina de Castro; Cillero-Pastor, BertaOrgan-on-Chip (OoC) systems are microfluidic medical devices engineered to replicate the physiological functions and microenvironment of human organs and tissues in vitro. These systems are designed to overcome the limitations of current in vitro models by providing an accurate platform for drug discovery and disease modeling. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a joint disease characterized by cartilage degeneration, where traditional models fail to replicate its biomechanical and biochemical characteristics. In this study, a Cartilage-on-Chip (CoC) device with hMSCs was used to mimic the disease microenvironment. Market research including a survey direct to OoC stakeholders, was performed to understand the current and future trends of Organ-on-Chip. The CoC was successfully optimized to be used with hMSCs and Geltrex, improving is usability and utility, a set of recommendations were developed to improve the performance of the CoC, and help future users to be efficient with OoC. After the analysis of the market research, it was noted that funding in the field is growing, and according to the opinion of the survey participants, the use of these systems promises to improve biomedical research on fields such as neurology and immunology, and advances are expected from training, scalability and standardization to integrated biosensors and multi-organ models.
- Mapping unmet healthcare needs in qatar and Saudi Arabia to technology and business solutionsPublication . Shehadah, Jude; Ventura, Sandra M. Rua; Haider, SultanThis dissertation explores the development of scalable modular healthcare architecture tailored to the needs of the Middle East, with a specific focus on Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The study responds to ongoing helthcare system challanges such as staffs shortages, accessibility gaps, and the slow adoption of digital solutions amid rapid economic and technological transformation. Using a mixed-methods approach, the rsearch combines policy and literature reviews with a bilingual survey of 100 healthcare stakeholders across both countries. The findings highlight widespread support for modular healthcare systems, with 74% of respondentes agreeing that modularity could improve healthcare delivery, despite only 32% reporting familiarity with such systems. Stakeholders identified emergency care (34%), telemedicine (28%), and workflow automation (24%) sa the top priority areas for modular deployment. In terms of design, 67% emphasized the importance of technological adaptability, while 59% highlighted patient-centered approaches as critical features. Key barriers included lack of training (71%), resistance to change (42%), and regulatory uncertainty (38%). The study proposes a conceptual framework for implementing scalable modular system that integrate AI, automation, and bisiness model innovation. This framework aims to support national healthcare visions by enhancing flexibility, efficiency, and patient outcomes.
- The evolving landscape of hearing healthcare: Hearing health professional´s opinions and the impact of Over-the-Counter Hearing AidsPublication . Amjad, Muhammad Saad; Tomé, DavidHearing loss is a pervasive global health challenge, with traditional prescription hearing aids often inaccessible due to high costs, social stigma, and limited availability. The emergence of Over-the-Counter (OTC) hearing aids aims to bridge this gap by offering more affordable and accessible solutions for individuals with mild to moderate hearing impairment. However, it’s real-world effectiveness and integration into existing healthcare frameworks, mainly from the perspective of healthcare professionals, remain underexplored. This thesis study investigated the perceptions and opinion of 177 hearing healthcare professionals (HHPs), including audiologists and hearing aid dispensers, across 17 countries through a comprehensive online survey. The research assessed their views on the effectiveness, accessibility, and potential impact of OTC hearing aids on clinical practice. Findings revealed a polarized professional sentiment: while many acknowledged the benefits of increased affordability and accessibility, a predominant negative outlook highlighted significant concerns regarding potential misdiagnosis, improper fitting, patient dissatisfaction, and the economic implications for professionals. Notably, professional background, rather than age or experience, significantly influenced these perceptions. A gender-based disparity in regulatory awareness was also observed. In conclusion, while OTC hearing aids hold substantial promise for expanding access to hearing care, their successful implementation requires robust regulatory oversight, extensive public education on proper use and limitations, and proactive professional engagement. Hearing healthcare professionals are encouraged to adapt their service models to effectively support OTC users, thereby ensuring both broader accessibility and the maintenance of quality care standards.
- EEG biomarkers as predictors of antidepressant treatment response in Major Depressive DisorderPublication . Peña, Sofía García; Maia, Gisela; Azevedo, JacintoMajor Depressive Disorder (MDD) presents a significant global health challenge, with a substantial proportion of patients failing to achieve adequate remission from current treatments. This highlights a critical need for objective biomarkers to guide personalized therapeutic strategies. Electroencephalography (EEG) offers a promising, noninvasive tool for identifying such markers due to its high temporal resolution and cost-effectiveness. This report reviews the role of EEG biomarkers, particularly theta activity in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) and frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA), in predicting antidepressant treatment outcomes. While rACC theta has shown associations with treatment response, and FAA demonstrates gender- and drug-specific predictive value, inconsistencies and small effect sizes in the literature underscore the need for methodological standardization and larger sample sizes. Recent advancements, including polygenic-informed EEG signatures and data-driven approaches, are paving the way for more reliable and clinically relevant biomarkers. The integration of EEG with other objective measures and its application in optimizing non-invasive stimulation treatments like repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) hold significant potential to improve diagnosis, prognosis, and personalized care for MDD patients globally, ultimately alleviating the burden of this complex neurophysiological disorder.
- Efficacy of Webinar implementation for Marketing purposes: Healthcare Software Company case-studyPublication . Vilaça, Telma Alves; Ventura, Sandra RuaThe COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the integration of digital marketing strategies in business operations, emphasizing webinars as a key tool for the company’s dissemination and engagement. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy ob webinars as a marketing strstegy within a healthcare software company. Utilizing a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic approach, a webinar was promoted through strategic pratnerships and dissemination, targeting professionals in medical imaging and radiotherapy. Through the analysis of metrics such as registration, attendance, and satisfaction rates, the results revealed a registartion of 93 participants and an attendance rate of 67% (n=62). The engagement rate was measured through chat interactions (19%, n=6) and a post-webinar survey (58%, n=36), indicating high satisfaction rates with participants rating the contente, organization, and technical quality positively. The findings suggest that webinars effectively attract and retain participants, providing a platform for brand awareness and lead generation, highlighting the potencial of webinars to enhance marketing strategies by fostering stronger customer relationships and providing valuable feedback for continuous improvement. Future research should explore multiple webinars to compare results and evaluate improvements over time. Implementig and assessing participant suggested enhancements in orer to offer valuabel insights into optimizing webinar effectiveness for helathcare marketing.
- Third generation biodegradable polymer versus polymer free drug-eluting stents: a systematic reviewPublication . Basile, Emanuela; Baeta, CristinaThird generation drug eluting stents (DES) for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were developed to minimize major outcome problems that previous DES caused during the follow- up, mainly very late stent thrombosis, delayed healing, and inflammation, caused by durable polymer. Among this last generation stent were the biodegradable polymer (BD-DES) and the polymer-free (PF-DES) stents. To analyze the most recent results published in studies addressing clinical outcomes of BD-DES compared with PF-DES in patients undergoing PCI. Methods: This qualitative systematic review was performed following the PRISMA 2020 checklist. The inclusion criteria were publication date between 01-01-2014 and 31-12-2023, open access, PCI with PF-DES or BD-DES, and at least one of these outcomes: cardiac mortality, total mortality/all causes of death, target vessel revascularization, target lesion revascularization, target lesion failure, target vessel failure, late lumen loss, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis. After screening a total of 701 articles 5 articles were included 2017-2023. Study design differed across studies. Two studies found no significant differences between BP-DES and PF-DES in an all-comers population. One study reported that BP-DES was superior to PF-DES in TLR rates in an all-comers population. One study reported that safety and efficacy profiles were better for PF-DES than the BP-DES only for diabetic patients. The last study found that in patients with moderate to severe coronary artery calcification, the differences in LLL observed at 9 months between the two groups were fully attenuated at 10 years, and no other outcome differed significantly at this point. A meta-analysis was not performed due to the heterogeneity of the studies, but the evaluation of risk of bias was globally low. This review found no significant differences in safety profiles between BP-DES and PF-DES in an all-comers population, aligning with previous findings. However, most studies reported comparable efficacy profiles between the two stent types. Future studies should focus on longer follow-up periods and investigate the potential superiority of PF-DES over BP-DES in patients with diabetes mellitus..
- Development of an email marketing digital plan and processes inside a MedTech EMEA organizationPublication . Maduro, Beatriz Fonseca; Ventura, Sandra Rua; Santos, Filipe; Berdouz, KhalidExplore how HubSpot can enhance email marketing strategies for customer acquisition and retention in the MedTech industry, specifically at MicroVention (MV). The study aims to adress key challanges and opportunities in transitioning from traditional to digital marketing methods, developing na Email Digital Marketing Plan, and address regulatory compliance issues. Mixed-method approach was employed to assess hybSpot’s impact on email marketing at MV. This included a literature review, semi-structured interviews, and two surveys onducted before and after hubspot implementation. Interviews and surveys highlighted that compliance and tailored contente enhance effectiveness. Continuous testing and refinement were emphasized to enhance engagement and conversation rates. The email Marketing Plan focused on A/B testing, workflow analysis for customer segmentation, and contente delivery optimization. Marketing results showed strong performance, with a 41.69% open rate and a 40.88% click-through rate. The compaign strategy included both educational and promotional emails. HubSpot significantly boost email marketing efficiency by automating tasks, improving transparency, and enabling targeted campaigns. However, challenges such as system integration, data migration, and regulatory compliance must be carefully managed to realize these benefits.
- Design proposal for wearable device to monitor psoriasis and its comorbiditiesPublication . Monzón, Roberto Alexis Rivas; Ribeiro, Maria Cristina de Castro; Guimarães, Pedro SousaPsoriasis is a common, chronic, non-infectious skin disease that has no clear cause and no definitive cure. The body produces new skin cells that rapidly accumulate on the surface of the skin, forming red papules and plaques, it can appear on any area of the body and usually covered with white or silver scales that cause itching, stinging and pain. Psoriasis can be triggered by external and internal triggers and it can affect people of any age and from any country. There is no treatment that gives hope of a complete cure for psoriasis and it is still based on symptom control. People with psoriasis have a higher risk of developing chronic degenerative diseases compared to the general population. which contribute substantially to morbidity and mortality. Until now, there is no device on the market designed to monitor comorbidities associated with psoriasis, which in the long term represent a risky situation for the patient. The use of wearable technology will be a great step in the monitoring and diagnosis of psoriasis and its comorbidities. The main objective of the present work was the development of a modular and personalized wearable device that could help in monitoring the state and evolution of the disease, registering on real time UV radiation intensity as well as the intensity and periodicity of scratching. The proposed wearable device, will work in conjunction with a mobile app to facilitate and encourage the patient to monitor himself.
- Causal discovery from time series dataPublication . Almeida, Fernanda Ribeiro de; Coelho, Luís; Fraunhofer, Vitor Rolla; Fraunhofer, Vânia GuimarãesThe drive to understand the laws that govern the universe and ourselves in order to expand our view of reality is deeply rooted in humanity. In science, this urge is a robust process filled with challenges and opportunities given the rapidly growing technology-driven volume of time series data. Causal discovery supports science in an innovative and fast-growing manner with the essential goal of uncovering mathematical orders directly from observational data translated into causal association networks. This scientific tool pledges to accelerate growth in various fields, including life sciences. This work approaches the topic of causal discovery on two levels. First, we address the theory of constraint-based methods on detecting and quantifying causal relations, covering how the methods work, the challenges they face, and the opportunities they present. Second, we explore the PCMCI method with an implementation on both synthetic and real-world data. The results of this work found in applying causal discovery in real physiological signals data may provide insights into the prospects and difficulties of causal structure search in healthcare Big Data and, moreover, the advantages of using causal models in prediction.
- Digital CT solutions for oncology applications: how to face current market and clinical challanges?Publication . Batista, Célia Catarina Rodrigues; Ventura, Sandra Rua; Wallard, Alexandre; Schmidt, Sebastian; Schmolke, SusanneLung, Liver and colorectal cancer represente greatburdens for the society nowadays and the increase of survivsl rates rely in early detection and treatment enhancement. Computed Tomography (CT) palys a major role in several steps of the clinical pathway in oncology. Artificial Intelligence and overall digital solutions for CT aim to improve medical imaging capabilities, therefore can improve cancer clinical workflows through several features and products, such as Computed Aided Detection capabilities, malignancy prediction and automatic contouring for Radiaion Therapy, among other features. Siemens Healthineers is a pioneer in CT technology, owning one of the largest digital portfolio analysis for lung, liver, and colorectal cancer, and presente somo strategies to potentiate Siemens Helthineers as a market leader regarding digital CT solutions for oncology applications. For lung cancer, T plays a major role throughout all the clinical pathway, with Siemens Helthineers offering diferente digital solutions for each step of the patient journey, however there is a high level of competion, and the clinical needs rely on automation of time-consuming tasks. Focusing on market analysis for Al-Rad Companion Chest CT, the target is broad, but the clinical value compared to competition does not stand out. Finding strategies to increase the added value of the digital CT solutions for Lung Cancer is necessary to gain market shares. Regarding liver cancer, CT plays na importante role in some steps of the clinical pathway, with Siemens Healthineers offering diferente digitl solutions for each step; the comption leve lis médium and the clinical needs rely on liver function nd tumour assessment; regarding market information, syngo. CT Liver Analysis has great added value, however a narrow targetwhich affects the final ROI. Creating solutions with broader application might increase the ROI for digital CT solutions in liver cancer. For colorectal cancer, CT Colonography (CTC) might be essential for certain patients and its role in the future might be crucial for colorectal cancer screening. Siemens Helthineers i sone of the few companies offering a digital solution for CTC, however the competiton is inexistente, and the market assessment relies on the future of CTC in the standard of care for colorectal cancer. Measurements to bring innovation and efficiency to the current complete and complex digital portfolio will allow to achieve a position of market leader in lung, liver, and colorectal CT digital market through empowerment of comercial and clinical value.