Innovate Rheumatology

Status Quo

Rheumatology includes more than 150 different rheumatic diseases including various syndromes, most of them characterized by pain and inflammation in joints, muscles, tendons, or bones and which can affect various tissues and organs.

One example is the commonly known inflammatory disease rheumatis or rheumatoid arthritis (RA). An autoimmune disease that affects millions of people across Europe in which the immune system turns against the own body leading to destruction of the joints.
Rheumatic diseases have a huge impact on society resulting in immense annual treatment costs and a tremendous economic burden as patients suffer from immobility, depression and sometimes face early retirement because of deteriorating health conditions

Challenge

The lack of a clear root cause and the resulting difficulties in coming to an early diagnosis of the disease delays early treatment, which is crucial for long-term therapeutic success. Further down the disease journey, many therapies and treatments to date are mainly based on expensive, time-consuming "trial and error" approaches.

Both key problems stated above lead to one of the major unmet clinical needs for helping patients: A personalized treatment approach.

In the last decade new medical ideas, approaches and modern technologies like AI and Big Data, Precision Medicine or Smart Sensor Technology have emerged that offer new opportunities to address these existing burdens in the field of rheumatic diseases.
New technologies could be a game-changer for patients with rheumatic diseases.

To bring these technologies to patients, a lot of questions need to be answered first. This is where the Challenge begins, and we invite you to join us:
How can we use modern technologies to address existing burdens in the field of rheumatic diseases and optimize the entire patient journey?

Tracks

To get a better understanding of the routes you can take, we have developed the following tracks that are based on existing patient burdens.
More detailed information and inspiration can be found in the Important Details tab. More guidance, inspirational content, and key questions can be found in the Submission tab.

Note: The tracks are not completely distinct from each other. Always think about possible combinations of the tracks to find even more interesting and innovative approaches!

Are you a student, a researcher, a new team, or a startup? Whatever you are, your task is to provide YOUR innovative approach towards the enhancement of the future of rheumatology!