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First brain-computer interface approved worldwide
by Anna Sandner
DMEA 2026: Between AI hype and cyber security
23/4/2026
Translation: machine translated
Pictures: Anna Sandner
Artificial intelligence and data security are the two big topics at the DMEA 2026 health tech trade fair in Berlin.
Anybody entering the Berlin Exhibition Centre these days will be unable to avoid two letters: AI. Around 900 exhibitors are presenting their products and innovations for the healthcare sector at Europe's largest health tech trade fair. And no matter where I look in the six fully booked exhibition halls, artificial intelligence is omnipresent: patient management, recording findings, making diagnoses - nothing seems to work without AI anymore.
Artificial intelligence wherever you look
At DMEA (Digital Medical Expertise & Applications), I had the feeling that I had arrived in the future. A dancing robot here, a jumping robot dog there (although it's not really clear what this has to do with health), completely autonomous operating tables and anamnesis chambers that analyse the state of health without human intervention. And all controlled by artificial intelligence.
The big names in the IT industry will be demonstrating at their stands what is already clinical reality today. CompuGroup Medical (CGM), for example, will be spotlighting intelligent software systems designed to reduce the workload of medical staff by using AI tools to automate time-consuming documentation. Or CANCOM, the IT group is demonstrating AI-supported voice assistants and smart sensor technology. These technologies are designed to streamline administrative processes and support nursing staff at the patient's bedside. The Fraunhofer Institute for Cognitive Systems (IKS) is also taking part and will be presenting AI models designed to help with cardiological or dermatological diagnoses.
The inevitable safety net
However, automating so many processes and feeding algorithms with highly sensitive patient records inevitably opens up new incentives for cyber criminals. Which brings us to the second major topic of DMEA 2026: Data security. Because the more intelligent and networked the hospital of tomorrow becomes, the thicker its digital protective walls need to be. Companies such as Detecon and Atos are addressing this Achilles' heel and want to show how digital resilience needs to be built.
At the end of a long day at the trade fair, one thing is clear: the medicine of the future is smart and automated, but it will only work with an absolutely impenetrable digital protective shield and the willingness of society to disclose its personal medical data.
Header image: Anna Sandner
Anna Sandner
Senior Editor
Anna.Sandner@galaxus.deScience editor and biologist. I love animals and am fascinated by plants, their abilities and everything you can do with them. That's why my favourite place is always the outdoors - somewhere in nature, preferably in my wild garden.
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