Ministers visited the Interventional Centre

The Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Minister of Trade and Industy Sylvia Brustad visited the Interventional Centre today in connection with the upcoming launch of a new report about innovation in Norway next Friday from the Government and Ministries. This initiative is linked to the current finacial crisis and credit crunch. Per Kristian Hol, MD,PhD from the Interventional Centre gave a short introduction about the Interventional Centre history. A commercial and industrial success story was presented by Arne Grip, CEO from the company MediStim. MediStim develops, manufactures and distributes solutions for cardiac and vascular surgery, and has built up a leading international position in this field. The company has more than 70 employees in Norway, and have sold more than 1500 devices in 59 countries world wide for flow measurement and verification in newly anastomosed aorto coronary bypass grafts. Early phase technology development partly took place at the Interventional Centre. The Ministers saw the current MediStim device demonstrated in the combined Angio and Surgery Suite. This operating room is in the final reconstruction phase of a new Siemens Medical Angio system mounted on an industrial robot. Senior cardiac suregeon from the Interventional Centre Jacob Bergsland explained use and impact of the MediStim device in cardiac surgery.

A delegation of about 20 people including Morten Reymert, CEO at Rikshospitalet University Hospital and other official representatives from the government, hospital administration and the regional health authorities participated in the visit. The image shows from left: Morten Reymert, Riskhospitalet CEO, Jakob Bergsland, senior cardiac surgeon at the Interventional Centre, Sylvia Brustad, Minister of Trade and Industy, Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister and Arne Grip, MediStim CEO.

Press coverage of the visit in Dagsavisen (in Norwegian)