At Next-Gen Life Science Automation, Festo is researching new solutions for medical technology and laboratory automation. At Hannover Messe 2026, Festo and Fraunhofer IPA will be demonstrating the construction of a cassette for the process step of modifying cells in CAR-T cell therapy. Automation significantly reduces production times and costs, making customised cancer therapies faster, cheaper and available to more patients.

Compact, customised manifold plates for precise fluid control: Diffusion Bonded Manifolds enable individualised, contamination-free fluidic solutions using an adhesive-free joining process. The technology complements existing standard components and is aimed in particular at applications in medical technology, diagnostics, laboratory automation and food analysis.

Festo is expanding its portfolio to include multilayer manifolds made of plastic (bonded manifolds) in order to be able to offer manufacturers of medical and laboratory equipment solutions from a single source. To this end, Festo is taking over the production systems and processes for manufacturing these complex plastic manifolds from Carville, a leading company in this field.

No one enjoys going to the dentist; young children even less so. To help future dentists and dental assistants deal with children during dental treatments, the Japanese company tmsuk has developed a humanoid robot that realistically simulates the behaviour of young children during these treatments, complete with fidgeting, flinching or closing the mouth. The dummy’s realistic movements are produced using proportional pressure regulators with piezo technology from Festo.