Peter Osypka Institute of Medical Engineering (POIM)

Medical technology has an ever increasing importance both economically and for health care. The Peter-Osypka-Institute for Medical Technology at the University of Applied Sciences Offenburg is dedicated to the research and development of products with medical purpose, which are intended for human application. Projects are often carried out in cooperation with national and international companies.

Working groups:

  • Surgical navigation and augmented reality (Prof. Harald Hoppe)
  • Electrostimulation and Ablation (Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Tobias Haber)
  • Cardiovascular Medical Technology and Rhythmology (Prof. Matthias Heinke)
  • NeuroAcoustics (Prof. Stefan Zirn)
  • NeuroScience (Prof. Andreas Otte)

History

With the endowed professorship for biomedical engineering established in 2008, Prof. Dr. Peter Osypka, the founder of radiofrequency catheter ablation, showed himself to be a generous supporter and partner of the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences. He created the basis for the establishment of the medical technology degree program. On his initiative, the Peter Osypka Institute for Pacing and Ablation was established in June 2011. Its director was Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Bruno Ismer. With his extraordinary commitment, his many years of experience in university cardiology, as well as the procurement of numerous high-quality medical devices and his contacts to industrial and clinical partners, he has brought research to life and shaped an emphatically practice-oriented education.

The tasks of the institute focused on the development of methods and medical technology for the diagnosis and therapy of cardiac diseases, especially in the fields of clinical electrophysiology, electrostimulation and ablation. Examples include the development of a special external pacemaker for the treatment of life-threatening cardiac tachycardia in babies, pilot studies for a novel catheter set for ablation therapy of ventricular tachycardia, and a computerized demonstration board for didactic teaching of the propagation of excitation in the heart during arrhythmias and during pacemaker therapy.

The institute's expertise in these areas was used by physicians, medical staff and employees of medical technology companies in numerous training events. In addition to theory, it always offered intensive practical training under the motto "learning through experimentation". The teaching concept practiced here for pacemaker and defibrillator therapy as well as for high-frequency catheter ablation was awarded a fellowship for "Innovations in University Teaching" by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation.

To create adequate working conditions at the institute, Osypka AG donated the construction of a research building on the university campus in 2012. In the new building, which was handed over in 2017, proprietary room concepts for specialized learning environments were implemented in the four laboratories, enabling multifunctional use for the institute's research and teaching.  By 2020, three former medical engineering master's graduates of the university or institute staff members used this environment to complete their doctoral theses. The close cooperation with our clinical, academic and industrial partners is also essential. They guarantee the current transfer of knowledge and technology from research to teaching. The close cooperation with Prof. Dr. med. Juraj Melichercik from the nearby MediClin Heart Center in Lahr/Baden, and with Prof. Dr. med. Nikolaus Haas from the Ludwig Maximilian University Hospital in Munich and with Prof. Dr. Eva Maria Bitzer from the Freiburg University of Education proved to be particularly valuable.

Further information can be found on the POIM homepage

www.poim.hs-offenburg.de

Foto Gebäude des POIM: bernhardstrauss.com