Digital future of health: Heart and muscles in focus in Senftenberg

Digital future of health: Heart and muscles in focus in Senftenberg

On Wednesday, July 2, 2025, an important event took place in Senftenberg that dealt intensively with heart diseases and changes in skeletal muscle. Digital solutions in healthcare were also discussed on this occasion. Organized by Dr. med. Dirk Große Meininghaus, chief physician for rhythmology, and Prof. Julia von Maltzahn, expert in stem cell biology of aging, the event aimed to investigate the interactions between heart and skeletal muscle in order to ensure optimal care for patients with heart disease. This information can be found in an article from the Brandenburg Technical University of Cottbus-Senftenberg, which reported on the event.

A central topic of the discussion was the use of digital solutions in healthcare. Various aspects were highlighted, including electronic documents, video consultations and networked systems. It highlighted how emergency data can help save lives. Prof. Leen Lambers from Practical Computer Science/Software Systems Engineering gave an insightful talk on the development of software systems to support sepsis diagnosis and treatment. The audience learned about the modeling techniques that are being tested to analyze requirements and implement such systems.

The relevance of digitalization

Another important contribution came from Ahmad Albenny, who presented a maturity model for digitalization in medical practices. This model is intended to help systematically record and evaluate the degree of digitalization. In her presentation, Franziska Bathelt, head of the data integration center, emphasized the importance of high data quality and the interoperability of software systems. Such developments are crucial to sustainably improve efficiency and safety in the healthcare system.

This event was part of “Science@Lausitz”, a cooperation between the Brandenburg Technical University of Cottbus-Senftenberg and the Medical University of Lausitz. The aim of this initiative is to exchange information about research projects in the areas of medicine, care and digitalization. Such events take place twice per semester and act as a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue.

Digital health applications

Another exciting topic was digital health applications (DiGAs), which Dr. Alexandra Widmer, specialist in neurology and psychotherapy from Hamburg, gave a lecture. She explained how the success of DiGAs depends heavily on the selection of suitable patients and their digital competence. If the right match is made, these applications can significantly improve health and strengthen patient competence. Dr. Widmer's contribution was part of the “Digital Impulse” series, which deals with the latest trends in digital cardiology.

The series covers current topics such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, telemedicine, wearables and the influence of social media on healthcare. New episodes of the series appear in the third week of each month and help professionals keep their finger on the pulse of digital developments in healthcare.

Overall, the event in Senftenberg shows how important the integration of digital solutions is in modern medicine. Advancing digitalization offers enormous opportunities for patient care and at the same time requires a critical examination of the quality of the corresponding systems.