Jules Scheltes, CTO, CMO and Quality Manager of DEAM, will give a talk about his experience on the field of steerable medical devices, and how to bridge the gap between academic research and translation into the operating theater.

Abstract: medical steerable devices provide maximum freedom in the surgical area, increasing surgeons dexterity and minimizing their strain. However, while researchers keep coming up with innovative and always smarter and more functional designs, translation of such technologies into the operating theater is not straight-forward.

In his talk, Jules Scheltes will give an overview of his journey in this field, from his academic years, up to DEAM and the LaproFlex devices, DEAM’s steerable laparoscopic instruments, currently used in a growing variety of laparoscopic surgeries, in hospitals throughout Europe.

Short Bio:

Jules S. Scheltes (M.Sc. 1996, PhD. 2003) is co-owner, CTO, CMO and Quality Manager of DEAM.

He started his career as a research engineer in a joined project of the Delft University of Technology and the University Medical Center Utrecht, developing a medical device to execute coronary bypass surgery on a beating heart, through a closed chest.

Despite resulting in several patents, prototypes, promising animal studies and finally a PhD thesis, his propitious academic study never saw the follow-up Jules envisioned. This experience showed him the gap between the deliverables of a university project and the requirements to actually start production.

To bridge this gap, he started DEAM: an engineering company focused on the development of steerable medical devices.