Contact addresses and all information

Prof. Vo Van Toi,

Chair of Biomedical Engineering Department International University - Vietnam National University

Conference general chair

Add: International University,

Quarter 6, Linh Trung, Thu Duc Dist. Ho Chi Minh City,

VIET NAM

Fax:      +84-8-372 442 71

Tel:       +84-8-2211 3517

Cell:     +84-91 6100934

Email:   bme@hcmiu.edu.vn

Sponsored by:

 

 

MAIN KEYNOTE SPEAKER:  Dr. John C. Gore, Professor and Director, Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science

Topic:  Challenges and Opportunities for High Field MRI and MRS

SPECIAL SUBJECT KEYNOTE SPEAKER 1: Dr. Robert E. Burrell Professor and Canada Research Chair in Nano-structured Biomaterials

Topic: New Frontiers in Biomedical Engineering:  Nano and Regenerative Medicine

SPECIAL SUBJECT KEYNOTE SPEAKER 2: Dr. K. Kirk Shung Professor and Director, NIH Resource on Medical Ultrasonic Transducer Technology

Topic:  Medical Ultrasound: Past, Present, and Future

SPECIAL SUBJECT KEYNOTE SPEAKER 3: Regis B. Kelly, Professor and Director, The California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3)

Topic: Synthetic Biology: Solving Biological Problems using Engineering Principles

John C. Gore, Ph.D.

Chancellor University Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, and Physics

Director, Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science

Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences

Profile

Dr. John Gore is Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and Physics, and Director of the Center for Imaging Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is an international expert in the field of MRI research.

Research Specialty:

Imaging Science, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Dr. Gore's research program is focused on the development and application of imaging, especially magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy techniques, in clinical and basic science. Imaging of human subjects and small animals provides unique information on tissue structure and function, and is being applied in a variety of different applications in neuroscience, cancer research and studies of metabolism. A general theme of interest is to understand the physical and physiological factors that affect MRI signals and to use this knowledge to devise non-invasive imaging methods that provide new types of information as well as for developing new applications of imaging. A second major theme is the development of methods for studying human brain structure and function using MRI and for integrating fMRI data with other imaging methods such as NIR and EEG. Applications of structural and functional MRI to the brain are performed in collaboration with investigators from psychology, psychiatry and other departments. A third major theme is the use of multi-modality imaging (MRI, PET, CT, optical and ultrasound) to study small animals, including mouse models of human cancer and other genetically modified mice. Many projects also involve the development and application of advanced image analysis methods and computer algorithms.

Keynote title:  Challenges and Opportunities for High Field MRI and MRS

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS) have contributed considerably to our understanding of the structure and function of the human brain. For example, they have been used to evaluate the anatomic and functional changes that occur with development or as a result of aging, genetic or pathological influences. In recent years several technical and conceptual advances have been made which promise to increase the role of neuroimaging methods in both research and clinical applications. In particular, very high field structural MRI, functional MRI (fMRI) and MRS, as well as advanced methods of image analysis, have considerable potential for increasing our understanding of brain architecture, activity and metabolism. The development and applications to animal brains and human subjects of MRI systems at fields of 7 Tesla and above provide many new opportunities and technical challenges. The increased signal strength at higher fields enables higher resolution images to be acquired, which provides new insights into the structural anatomy of the brain, including higher resolution tractography of white matter. These benefits have already been realized in several studies of brain structure and function including functional studies of neural connectivity and the effects of pharmacological agents. However, high field MR imaging is also affected by macroscopic field variations caused by inhomogeneities of magnetic susceptibility within the body, and these can degrade spectra and introduce image distortions.  Moreover, the performance of radiofrequency (RF) coils is also affected at higher fields, and it is more difficult to create uniform RF fields within large objects. These challenges are being met using various technical innovations such as dynamic shimming, the use of parallel arrays of coils, novel spectral-spatial excitation methods, novel pulse sequences and post-acquisition digital processing. In combination these efforts promise to allow ultra-high field imaging and spectroscopy to contribute significantly to our understanding of brain structure and function in various conditions.

Dr. Robert E. Burrell

Professor and Chair

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Faculties of Engineering and of Medicine & Dentistry

Professor and Canada Research Chair in Nanostructured Biomaterials

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering

Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta

Dr. Robert Burrell developed what is believed to be the world’s first commercial medical application of nanotechnology – a bandage that has revolutionized wound care and saved the lives and limbs of patients around the world, including victims of the terrorist attacks in both New York and Bali.

Wound dressings using Dr. Burrell’s patented silver-based nanostructured biomaterials not only have anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties but also speed healing.  The products are manufactured in Fort Saskatchewan under the Acticoat brand by Nucryst Pharmaceuticals (formerly Westaim Biomedical Inc.) and marketed by Smith & Nephew PLC, the global leader in wound care.

Dr. Burrell began developing nanotechnology-based processes and products to solve specific problems in medicine and biotechnology while working in industry in the mid-1980z, before nanotechnology became a common word among scientists.  He is named as the inventor on more than 30 U.S. patents and patent applications and is considered to be the world authority on using silver to improve wound healing.

While silver has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years, development of an effective, stable and convenient form of silver for wound treatment had eluded scientists.  Dr. Burrell’s invention of the nanocrystalline silver technology on which Acticoat is based was a significant scientific, clinical and commercial breakthrough.

Dr. Burrell developed the first strategic business plan for Westaim Biomedical Inc. and as Chief Scientific Officer developed an interdisciplinary team that brought eight new wound care products, including Acticoat, to market in the first six years.  Before accepting a professorship at the University of Alberta, Dr. Burrell initiated the connection that led Smith & Nephew to acquire worldwide commercial rights to the Acticoat product and technology in 2001.  The business in worth $33 million worldwide.  Production at Fort Saskatchewan is expected to double over the next two to three years.

Acticoat has been used by the University of Alberta Hospital Burn Unit and to treat home care patients in Calgary. The technology has the potential for application in other conditions where infection or inflammation is a contributing factor, including diabetic foot ulcers, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and severe chronic wounds.  The combined would care and pharmaceutical value of nanocrystalline technology is anticipated to be more than $500 million.

Dr. Burrell has been honored with a Canada Research Chair and is in demand worldwide as a speaker and consultant.  His efforts clearly demonstrate that world-leading technology can be successfully developed and commercialized in Alberta.

There is a considerable need for appropriate infrastructure and expertise to successfully undertake research in nano and regenerative medicine.  The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta is one of the highest rated research schools of engineering in North America.  It recently joined with the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry to create a dual faculty Department of Biomedical Engineering.  Further, the University of Alberta is also the host site for the National Research Councils, National Institute for Nanotechnology.  Together this has created the critical mass for research in nano and regenerative medicine.  Research is being conducted on drug delivery using nanopolymers and aerosols, bone and tissue regeneration and diagnostics including MEMS and NEMS devices.  My own research is on the use of nanostructured noble metals (e.g. silver) for dermal tissue regeneration.

Historically, the use of silver as a medical treatment dates to the 1880s when Crede used a 1% silver nitrate solution to treat and prevent ophthalmia neonatorum.  Von Behring soon demonstrated that dilute forms of silver nitrate were effective against typhoid and anthrax bacilli.  It was the activity of the dilute forms of silver nitrate that led von Nägeli to coin the term oligodynamic activity.  Through the middle 20^th century, silver fell into disuse as the medical world concentrated on antibiotics for the control of infection.  The sixties saw a resurgence in silver usage as burn physicians searched for more effective broad spectrum antimicrobial agents.  Silver nitrate (0.5% solution) and silver sulfadiazine cream (1%) became the standard forms of silver used in burn treatment.  These forms of silver all released only one form of silver, the single valent silver ion (Ag⁺).  It was in the middle 1990s that nanotechnology created the opportunity to develop a new delivery system that released biologically active species other than Ag⁺.  This technical innovation has changed the spectrum of biological activity found in silver releasing products.  The single valent silver ion was noted only as an antimicrobial agent and when it was delivered from a cream or nitrate it was thought to be pro-inflammatory and potentially detrimental to wound healing.  Nanocrystalline silver releases multiple species of silver into solution and these new species have very different biological properties than Ag⁺.  It has clearly been demonstrated in vitro, in vivo and clinically that this new form of silver has unique anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. 

In this presentation I will discuss: 1) The infrastructure necessary for a successful program in nano and regenerative medicine; and 2) The development of nanocrystalline silver as a wound care product and its unique physical, chemical and biological properties.  This will include its effects on the inflammatory and immune systems using histological and immunohistochemical data which result in regeneration of dermal tissue.

K. Kirk Shung
Director and Principal Investigator
Resource Center for Medical Ultrasonic Transducer Technology
Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
University of Southern California

http://bme.usc.edu/UTRC/

Abstract

Ultrasound has been used as a diagnostic tool for more than 40 years. Many medical applications have been found, mostly notably in obstetrics and cardiology. It had a humble beginning, started by a few curious scientists and clinicians in different parts of the world in early 1950s and did not become an established diagnostic tool until early 1970s when grey scale ultrasonography was introduced. Modern ultrasound scanners are capable of producing images of anatomical structures in great detail in grey scale and of blood flow in a color scale in real-time. State of the art 4D scanners yielding 3D volumetric images in real-time are pushing the technical envelope further. Today ultrasound is the second-most used clinical imaging modality next only to conventional x-ray radiography.

Although ultrasound is considered to be a mature technology, technical advances are still constantly being made. The most significant achievements in ultrasound recently have been in the developments of approaches capable of quantitative measurement of tissue elastic properties, namely ultrasound elastography and radiation force imaging, high frequency imaging yielding improved spatial resolution and therapeutic applications in drug delivery and high intensity focused ultrasound surgery.

In this talk, the history and current state of medical ultrasound will be reviewed and future developments discussed.

Regis B. Kelly, Ph.D. 
Director, the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3)
Regis B. Kelly, Ph.D. is a distinguished neuroscientist and former executive vice chancellor of UCSF (from October, 2001 until January 31, 2004). As executive vice chancellor, Kelly oversaw the UCSF research enterprise, which now totals about $465 million annually. He also forged new research ties between the university and private industry. Kelly directs the institute at its headquarters on UCSF's Mission Bay campus and also maintains a Berkeley office.

Abstract

Biology, like astronomy and geology, has long been a descriptive science. The challenge is to turn biology into an engineering science where we design, build and test solutions to important problems but using biological materials. An early step has been to create a repository of standardized parts that can be simply connected to perform simple tasks, such as act as a photographic film, or an edge detector. The next step is to use these skills to solve problems, such as generating high octane fuel from waste biological material.  Applying engineering principles to biology has opened up new possibilities, using nanotechnology, microfluidics and advanced optics to monitor the environment and to detect disease before symptom appear.