German citizens very interested in health technologies of tomorrow: survey

Many Germans have fewer reservations about visionary medical technologies, such as robots in nursing homes or implants for better memory performance, a representative survey said on Monday.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) found in their survey that around a quarter of respondents can imagine to be cared for by robots.

Meanwhile, 51 percent of respondents, especially younger people aged 14 to 19, are in favor of implants for more concentration or memory performance.

The survey showed that the German citizens are very interested in the health technologies of tomorrow, said German Federal Research Minister Johanna Wanka.

"But their concern about potential risks also shows that there is still great need for research to clarify issues in the application and to create confidence in new technologies," Wanka said.

Overall, German citizens see a lot of potential in the use of digital technologies in health, care and fitness, especially in the so-called wearables, namely fitness bracelets or clothes that measure bio data.

They also place a high demand on the safety of stored data online, as a significant number of respondents had concerns about sharing their data in the network or refused to provide them to health insurance.

The survey was based on some 1,000 personal interviews, conducted by polling firm TNS Emnid in July on behalf of the BMBF. Endit