Innovations with impact

We cannot predict the future, but we can prepare for a future that is increasingly unpredictable. With creativity, courage, and the power to get things done, we are preparing to master tomorrow’s challenges with today’s innovations.

Medicine today primarily focuses on treating disease – but in the future, it will increasingly be able to prevent disease. We are forming a healthcare system that is becoming more personalized, more precise, more preventative, and more supportive. Right now, creative minds around the world are generating outstanding ideas for our future. And together with our partners, we are transforming those ideas into innovations that serve healthcare professionals and make optimal care accessible to everyone.

Backed by an annual research and development investment of €1.5 billion and about 23,000 technical intellectual property rights, including more than 14,000 granted patents, we constantly bring breakthrough innovations to market – for the benefit of patients, medical professionals, and society.

Here's how we do that

Augmented reality

Augmented reality is a way to render data and tightly couple information from the real and the virtual world. Superimposing information onto the field of view has the potential to make medical training much more effective – and it has already arrived in operating rooms. A 3D representation of a patient’s anatomy is generated from CT images and directly projected onto the surgical field. These renderings improve the surgical team’s perception, while smart navigation software guides critical steps of the intervention.

Portrait of MD Muhannad Alkassar

Artificial intelligence 

Whenever analyses are too difficult, time-consuming, or inefficient to perform alone, artificial intelligence (AI) provides valuable assistance to clinical professionals, allowing them to stay focused on their patients and better use their own expertise. 

Artificial Intelligence in healthcare

Prof. Ralf Bauer, partner at RNS Gemeinschaftspraxis Wiesbaden

AI-enabled tools identify meaningful relationships in raw data, extract relevant insights, and apply those lessons to new patient cases. By helping physicians make more informed clinical decisions, AI is an indispensable tool in all fields of healthcare, including drug development, patient care, and operational decisions.

Digital Twin

Digital Twin technology allows us to create virtual representations of physical objects or structures. It helps to bring lifesaving innovations to market fast, at a lower cost, and with the highest level of patient safety. But can a Digital Twin be mapped so accurately to a person's physical self that it could be used to predict and even prevent disease?

Robotics

Robot-assisted procedures are already being carried out in a variety of medical fields. The precision provided by untiring robots is a useful support for physicians, helping them avoid complications in delicate or complex procedures. The technology also allows the best physicians to put their abilities to work for patients around the world at short notice. But where did it all begin, where do we stand today and what future trends can be identified?

Technology reinvented

Improving the speed and reliability of in vitro diagnostics doesn’t just make labs more profitable – it also helps to save lives! Making MRI systems less costly, more mobile, and easier to use will open the door to new clinical scenarios and improved imaging availability. And by redefining the way computed tomography (CT) acquires images, CT will become the imaging method of choice for more patients in cardiology, oncology, pulmonology, and other clinical areas. These are just three of the many technologies that we continue to reinvent so that they can reach everyone - whenever and wherever they are needed.

Modern labs receive patient samples from many different facilities. They rely on automation to mitigate the impact of this variation. With expertise in the field of machine vision, Benjamin Pollack and his team at Siemens Healthineers are improving automation. They deploy artificial intelligence and deep learning to greatly reduce the failure rate of automated in vitro diagnostics.

Benjamin Pollack

COVID-19

Our medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, and point-of-care testing solutions help physicians assess the severity of COVID-19 cases. Our imaging systems, applications, and services deliver high-value care to patients at each stage of COVID-19 disease management. With our digital health solutions and consulting, we help to protect hardworking healthcare professionals. And when it comes to giving others courage and strength, we’re especially generous – because we know that his act of sharing will help us all to accomplish the great mission we are facing.
Treating COVID-19 patients in a hospital

Bernd Montag