FP7 Collaborations in the Manufacturing Sector,17-18 th Jan 2008

International Partnering Meeting & Successful R&D Project Preparation for the Second Call for Proposals in the Nanotechnology, Materials and New Production Technologies Programme

Initiate your collaborative project or become a partner in an EU-project
The general aim of the international partnering meeting is to facilitate transnational R&D-collaboration between industry, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and research organisations active in the field of manufacturing and in particular to setup Framework Programme 7 (FP7) projects.

Targeted Audience: European and Swiss representatives from manufacturing industry and related academia; etc.

Deadline to send 5 min presentations: 11 Jan 2008

more detailed information: click here!

Virtual Colonoscopy Procedure for Easier Colon Screening

Numerous patients who need a screening of the colon do not go through the procedure for fear of the procedure. The colonoscopy procedure that is currently available involves inserting a flexible tube with a viewing instrument into the rectum. It requires anaesthesia and there's a remote chance that the colon wall could be perforated by the tube. However, patients now have an easier option with the discovery of a procedure called 'Virtual Colonoscopy'. This procedure, allows computerized scanning of the colon which is more comfortable for the patient. The patient is made to lie down in a computerized tomography (CT) scanner while a small probe is inserted into the rectum so that the colon can be inflated with carbon dioxide gas. The CT scanner then takes 3 dimensional images of the whole colon, which can then be examined for polyps. The patient does not need anaesthesia and the procedure takes only half an hour. However, the procedure is purely diagnostic and if doctors find a polyp, the regular colonoscopy procedure has to be done for removal and assessment of the polyp. Further, cleansing of bowel is still required that most of patients find unpleasant.

reference: Bio-Medecine

upcoming event: the 2007 annual conference of the EPFL chapter of BMES, LAUSANNE,Switzerland

The meeting would be interested for those working in the field of Bioengineering in Switzerland. The conference is organised by the BMES* chapter at EPFL( Swiss federal institute of Technology,Lausanne)

Bioengineering in Academics and Industry:

Meet the two Worlds
31^st October 2007 (9h00 to 14h00)
Deadline for title submission for posters: 20th October

In order to register, simply send your poster title to bmes@epfl.ch before 20^th of October. You don’t need to send any abstracts.

Please note that two cash prizes will be given to the selected posters by our jury.

Program of the meeting is available at http://bmes.epfl.c

For more information please contact bmes@epfl.ch

*: BMES Biomedical Engineering Society

Robotic Therapy Tiles: Playing Your Way to Health

Patients recovering from surgery or injuries may soon be able to physically play their way to a full recovery with intelligent robotic systems that generate specialized games to challenge the human body's abilities.

abilities Henrik Hautop Lund, a robotics and artificial-intelligence professor at the University of Southern Denmark is developing therapy tiles that guide patients through physical routines and help them heal.

Each tile is a miniature robotic system employing neural networks. The system looks like an elaborate, electronic version of Twister. As patients step on or press the tiles with their hands, the tiles give feedback, indicating whether ther pressure is firm enough, or if the user is moving quickly enough. Individuals can use the game alone, or up to four patients can compete against each other in a game. The tiles can be assembled in any configuration on the walls and floor to create an intelligent game space.

reference

Drugless approach that could thin blood during open-heart surgeries

Brigham Young University researchers recently developed a new anticoagulation strategy for use during extracorporeal circulation (ECC) that does not involve systemic administration of heparin, which causes negative reactions in three to 10 percent of surgical patients. "Rather than give something to the patient to prevent coagulation, let's take something out," says BYU biomedical engineer Kenneth A. Solen, who led the study published in the August issue of ASAIO Journal (the journal of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs).

Solen’s team inhibited coagulation by absorbing plasma clotting factors using protamine immobilized on a Sepharose matrix (PSM). In a porcine ex-vivo circuit, plasma was separated from blood via plasmapheresis, passed through a column containing PSM beads, and then returned. After 90 minutes, prothrombin time (PT) was prolonged more than 10 times the baseline and blood clotting Factors I (fibrinogen), II (prothrombin), VIII, and X were decreased more than 90 percent. This state was maintained for 2 ½ hours without any detectable adverse consequences. Within 60 minutes of ECC cessation, PT approached normal levels and hemostasis was restored.

For More readings: Take a look at here.

Source:

Blake Ferguson
University Communications
Brigham Young University

The Venture business plan competetion 2008 Switzerland

"Venture 2008 takes you from business idea to professional business plan and all the way to the financing and founding of a company. The Venture business plan competition takes place every two years and combines a competition, learning events and contact forum in one."

Venture 2008 is an initiative of the ETH Zurich and McKinsey & Company, Switzerland. The Swiss-wide business plan competition supports young entrepreneurs in founding a company.

Experienced coaches support competition participants in the preparation of their business plans and in the search for suitable partners and the necessary capital. Participants also receive feedback from the team of highly qualified jurors. The jurors (approximately 80 people) belong to one of two groups: entrepreneurs, who evaluate the formal and business aspects of an idea, and venture capitalists, who evaluate its financial attractiveness. Jury members also act as coaches. Venture 2008 offers total prize money of CHF 150,000 for the winning business ideas and business plans.

For details of the competion click here.

Entrepreneurial opportunity identification: bring the gap between Research and its applications!

Lately, I have been participating in a course given by Prof. Gruber at the college of management of technology at EPFL on entrepreneurial opportunity identification and exploitation.

Here, I would like to make a brief resume of what I found interesting during recent discussions that we had in the program. This is about the very early stage of entrepreneurship when one might search or discover, through a mere idea or a technology, feasible market applications. I hope, this would be helpful for those researchers who seek to found a start-up or simply apply their knowledge in the “real world”.

1. Discovery of market opportunities depends on the information that people already possess. In a simpler world, different people might see different applications in a single technology or idea partly because of their different background. What you may see as a researcher as a potential application of the technology, may not be the only possible opportunity. It seems that it might be beneficial to make a heterogonous team to have some other feedbacks.

2. Identification and analysis of different opportunities in the market would help, later, in the productivity of the founded companies. This suggests that maybe looking at one or two alternative markets before entering to one might increase the chance to succeed. One should find a compromise between the effort, time and money that should be spent on this identification and the added value that it could bring to the market.

References:

Scott Shane, ‘prior knowledge and the discovery of the entrepreneurial opportunities’, Organization Science, 2000, vol. 11, No. 4, pp 448-469

Class notes of the mentioned course.

Upcoming conference 2008

16th congress of European society of Biomechanics,

Lucerne, Switzerland

July 6th-9th 2008

Deadline for abstract sumbission: 30th November 2007

First announcement and call for abstracts

Computed Ultrasound Risk Evaluation (C.U.R.E.)

During the last annual meeting of SSBE in Neuchatel, Switzerland, there was an interesting talk about a project called CURE, an undergoing study at the Karmanos Cancer institute,Detroit(USA). The talk was given by Prof. Neb Duric.

Here is a summary of Cure project:

C.U.R.E.: Computed Ultrasound Risk Evaluation

The project is an attempt to image breast, based on the interaction of acoustic waves with human tissue.

It is known that the relative risk of developing breast cancer is dependent on breast density. However, since x-ray mammography has poor sensitivity in dense breasts, the reliance on mammography to measure density has prevented expanded adoption of breast density as a risk factor. The ultrasound tomography provides a safe and alternative measure for assessing beast cancer risk and for identifying high risk groups.

Ultrasound tomography does not use ionizing radiation and does not compress the breast. For those who have already been subject to mamography, it is clear that squeasing the breast to bring it to an almost 2D state, is really painful. This approach would provide a potentially more specific alternative to mammography.

For more information about the project, take a look at this reference, where one should find even a nice powerpoint file.There are more information available on results of the project as well.

Conference announcement 2007

“Innovation in Drug Delivery: From Biomaterials to Devices”
30 September – 3 October 2007

http://www.apgi.org/missive/missive.htm