SXSW amps up medtech connection

What do Iggy Azalea, Furious 7 and medtech innovation have in common? Answer: They were all featured at this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, TX.

SXSW started in 1987 as a showcase for the local music scene. Since then, it has mushroomed into a massive event that touches on all aspects of alternative culture. How an Australian self-proclaimed rapper and the latest installment in a tentpole movie franchise fit into this schematic, I will leave to other cultural chroniclers to sort out. Let's talk medtech, shall we?

Medical device technology, and specifically its digital health incarnation, has been part of the SXSW conversation for a couple of years now. The chatter was elevated to a full-on healthcare and medtech expo this year, which convened at the JW Marriott hotel.

The initiative stemmed from "growing interest in medtech in the [Austin] community," Dana Abramovitz, Community Liaison for the SX Health and MedTech Expo, told Silicon Hills News, reporting from the event. Eighteen startups exhibited in the Austin Health Pavilion at the inaugural South by Southwest Interactive MedTech Expo. The breadth of innovation and health gadgetry may not rival the Consumer Electronics Show that was held in Las Vegas earlier this year, but SXSW is making its mark, as evidenced by coverage on MedCity News and MD+DI.

This year's event drew a number of young medtech companies, reported sister brand MD+DI, which featured a slide show of eight finalists in the SXSW Accelerator Awards in the digital health and life sciences category. As in so many other endeavors, plastics played a supporting role: Check out the sleek styling of the USB-chargeable Smart Temperature Patch (pictured) from Stemp (Sherman Oaks, CA), one of the finalists. It is "turning the traditional device used for taking temperatures, the thermometer, on its head," writes MD+DI.

I didn't go to SXSW this year, but I have a feeling I might be headed for Austin in 2016.