BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA -- Scientists, engineers, and clinicians working in optics and photonics to solve problems in biomedicine will present the field's latest advances at the upcoming European Conferences on Biomedical Optics (ECBO) 2011. ECBO will be held 22-26 May in Munich in conjunction with Laser World of Photonics.
The use of optical techniques and tools in biomedical imaging and diagnostics has been in continuous expansion for several decades. ECBO has become the largest meeting in Europe for applications developers utilizing optical science and photonic technologies to solve problems in biomedical science.
The meeting spans the gap between basic research and instrumentation engineering, and clinical translation research and mature clinical trials.
Plenary talks by Mary-Ann Mycek (Univ. of Michigan) and Wolfgang Drexler (Technical Univ. of Vienna) will cover new work in two technologies with the promise of increasing cancer survival rates, by allowing clinicians to more accurately distinguish between healthy and diseased tissues.
More than 450 technical papers will be presented in the meeting's seven conferences. Topics and chairs are:
Two joint sessions -- on biomedical optics and advanced biophotonics for sensing and medical imaging -- have been organized with the European Conferences on Lasers and Electro-Optics, also held with Laser World of Photonics.
The sessions will be highlighted by prominent speakers from both communities, with a tutorial given by James Fujimoto (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) on optical coherence tomography (OCT). An imaging modality that generates cross-sectional and 3D images of tissue pathology, OCT has clinical applications ranging from ophthalmology to cardiology.
Toptica will sponsor two awards for the best student papers presented at the event.
General Chairs are Christoph Hizenberger (Medical Univ. of Vienna) and Brian Pogue (Dartmouth Univ.). Program Chairs are Peter Andersen (Technical University of Denmark) and Irene Georgakoudi (Tufts Univ.).
The biennial meeting is jointly sponsored by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and the Optical Society (OSA) with support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. This year, it will be held in cooperation with DGLM (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Lasermedizin).
ECBO will be co-located at Laser World of Photonics along with SPIE Optical Metrology and meetings organized by WLT (Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft Lasertechnik), EOS (European Optical Society), OSA, IEEE/LEOS, and EPS (European Physical Society).
Accepted papers for ECBO and Optical Metrology will be published in the SPIE Digital Library as soon as approved after the meeting, and in print volumes and digital collections.
SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, was founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. Serving more than 180,000 constituents from 168 countries, the Society advances emerging technologies through interdisciplinary information exchange, continuing education, publications, patent precedent and career and professional growth. SPIE annually organizes and sponsors approximately 25 major technical forums, exhibitions and education programs in North America, Europe, Asia and the South Pacific, and supports scholarships, grants and other education programs around the world.
###
Media Contact:
Amy Nelson
Public Relations Manager
amy@spie.org
Tel: +1 360 685 5478
