Project for a network of excellence in surgical research: the Smit Map experience

La crescita delle innovazioni di dispositivi biomedicali è relativamente continua. Oggi le linee dei prodotti vengono aggiornate facendoli diventare più piccoli, più veloci, più economici, ecc - ma ci sono poche novità riguardanti il cambiamento della fondamentale tecnologia di base, le procedure cliniche, la fornitura di servizi sanitari, i requisiti normativi, e così via. È difficile per un unico centro o società di identificare e catturare le opportunità dirompenti che sorgono dall’interfacciarsi tra le procedure cliniche e di ricerca in medicina, biologia, ingegneria e fisica e, per lo più questo è spesso anche molto rischioso. L’obiettivo della piattaforma di eccellenza che stiamo presentando è quello di creare un processo dedicato, una organizzazione di rete che colleghi insieme ricercatori di tutte queste discipline con medici, fornitori dei servizi sanitari, compagnie e finanziatori/investitori di dispositivi medici perchè possano selezionare ed attuare velocemente delle opportunità di vantaggio reciproco. Nel 2006 il comitato direttivo della SMIT " Society for Medical Innovation and Technology" ha deciso di creare una rete di eccellenza, chiamata SMIT MAP. Il suo ruolo è quello di riunire le giuste collaborazioni e lo scambio di conoscenze accanto alle giuste possibilità per garantire un percorso graduale dal laboratorio alla clinica. Questa rete può diventare uno strumento per completare il trasferimento delle attività di sviluppo al partner aziendale durante la fase di pre-sperimentazione clinica del processo. La certificazione dei partner per lo sviluppo dei processi (ISO, GLP, ecc) faciliterà un efficiente trasferimento economico dei nuovi dispositivi tecnologici ai partner aziendali. I partner di questa rete possono condurre delle ricerche a livello mondiale di sviluppo in diversi settori, permettendo cosi progressi importanti per i pazienti, fornitori di cure sanitarie e compagnie operanti nel settore.Incremental innovation in biomedical devices is relatively straightforward. Today’s product line gets upgraded to become smaller, faster, cheaper, etc – but there’s little fundamental change to underlying technologies, clinical procedures, health service provision, regulatory requirements, and so on. It is hard for a single centre or company to identify and capture the disruptive opportunities that arise at the interfaces between clinical procedures and research into medicine, biology, engineering and physics and mostly it is even often very risky. The purpose of the excellence platform we are presenting is to create a dedicated process, organisation and network that binds together researchers from across these disciplines with clinicians, health service providers, biomedical device companies and funders/investors, to identify and rapidly implement mutually beneficial opportunities. In the year 2006 the Steering Committee of the "Society for Medical Innovation and Technology" decided to create a Network of Excellence, named SMIT MAP. Its role is to assemble the right collaborations and knowledge exchange around the right opportunities and ensure a smooth path from lab to clinic. The Network can become the tool to complete the transfer of development activities to the corporate partner(s) activities during the Pre-Clinical Trials Phase of the process. Certification of partners development processes (ISO, GLP, etc.) will facilitate the efficient, economic transfer of new device technologies to the corporate partners. The partners in this Network can conduct world-class research and development in several areas promising valuable advances for patients, healthcare providers and life science companies alike

Surgical treatment of the adenocarcinoma of the cardia

Adenocarcinomas of the esophagogastric junction should be classified into adenocarcinoma of the distal esophagus (Type I), true carcinoma of the cardia (Type II), and subcardial carcinoma (Type III) in a pathogenic and therapeutic point of view. During a 15-year period (1995 - 2009), 117 surgical laparotomies for adenocarcinoma of the cardia were performed in elective surgery in the First Clinic of General Surgery UHC “Mother Theresa” in Tirana. The classification was performed by summarizing the information obtained from oral contrast radiography, endoscopy, and intra-operative findings. There were 54 (46%) patients of Type I, 40 (34%) of Type II and 23 (20%) of Type III . Surgical procedures included “subtotal esophagectomy and proximal gastrectomy”, “distal esophagectomy and proximal gastrectomy”, “total gastrectomy and distal esophagectomy”. All anastomoses performed in the above mentioned procedures were hand sewn. Thirty-seven patients (32%) resulted inoperable at the time of laparotomy and 80 (68%) patients were treated with curative intent, those resulting in an operability index of 68%. The overall morbidity and mortality rates of 29% and 4,3% respectively

Physicians' perceptions about the quality of primary health care services in transitional Albania

AIM: To date, the available information regarding the quality of primary health care services in Albania is scarce. The aim of our study was to assess the quality of primary health care services in Albania based on physicians’ perceptions towards the quality of the services provided to the general population. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in January-March 2013 including a representative sample of 132 physicians (59 men aged 41.3±6.9 years and 73 women aged 43.7±4.8 years; overall response rate: 132/150=88%) providing primary health care services in several polyclinics (health centers) of Tirana, the Albanian capital city. A structured self-administered and anonymous questionnaire was applied including physicians’ perceptions regarding different dimensions of the quality of primary health care. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the association of self-perceived quality of health care services with baseline characteristics of physicians. RESULTS: Self-perceived adequate quality of health care services was positively related to the age of physicians, their working experience, female gender, a lower population served, and specialization in family medicine. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide useful evidence on the self-perceived quality of health services from primary health care physicians’ perspective in transitional Albania. Health authorities in Albania should implement suitable instruments to measure the quality of health care services at all levels

The 6th Albanian Congress of Trauma and Emergency Surgery

After a three-year quarantine from the deadliest global pandemic of the last century, ASTES is organizing to gather all health professionals in Tirana, The 6th Albanian Congress of Trauma and Emergency Surgery(ACTES 2022) on 11-12 November 2022, with the topic Trauma & Emergency Surgery and not only...with the aim of providing high quality, the best standards, and the best results, for our patients ...ACTES 2022 is the largest event that ASTES (Albanian Society for Trauma and Emergency Surgery) has organized so far with 230 presentations, and 67 foreign lecturers with enviable geography, making it the largest national and wider scientific event.The scientific program is as strong as ever, thanks to the inclusiveness, where all the participants with a mix of foreign and local lecturers, select the best of the moment in medical science, innovation, and observation.The scientific committee has selected all the presentations so that the participants of each medical discipline will have something to learn, discuss, debate, and agree with updated methods, techniques, and protocols.I hope you will join us on Friday morning, and continue the journey of our two-day event together