A total of nine teams took part in the Healthcare Hackathon Regensburg, organised from 15 - 17 May 2025 by Biopark Jump of Biopark Regensburg GmbH and the Start-Up Lab of OTH Regensburg, each working on a challenge within two days and then presenting their solutions to a panel of experts. The challenges were wide-ranging, from the development of an app to plan a safe and healthy route to school for children, to automated image recognition in endoscopy and the regulation and control of a pill dispenser.
Even the name of the team ‘Der richtiger Riecher’ (The right nose) was very fitting for the chosen challenge: ‘Development of a novel application system for nasal splints for the treatment of septal deviations’, set by the challenge giver Prof Thomas Schratzenstaller from the Laboratory for Medical Devices at OTH Regensburg.
Septal deviations are curvatures of the nasal septum that are currently still splinted as standard with septal foils made of silicone or other polymers and have to be sutured in the nose with mattress sutures, which is time-consuming and above all uncomfortable for the person undergoing treatment.
To solve this problem, the students developed a concept for magnetising septum foils, including the implantation system required for their application. The team then produced the first prototypes of these foils and the implantation system and demonstrated their applicability by implanting the foils into a 3D printed skull model.
In an impressive four-minute pitch, the team succeeded in convincing the four-member jury, consisting of a start-up mentor, a company founder, a managing director and a product specialist, all from the healthcare sector, of their idea.
Further information on the Healthcare Hackathon Regensburg, Biopark Jump, the OTH Regensburg Start-Up Lab and the Medical Devices Lab can be found at
https://healthcare-hackathon-regensburg.de
https://maschinenbau.oth-regensburg.de/labore/medizinprodukte#c28999
