January 12, 2011 -- Prof. Wieslaw Nowinski, the director of the Bioimaging Consortium in A-STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) who has been leading research concerning neuroimaging in Singapore for 19 years, will visit Lódz on the 11th – 12th of May 2011.
This world renowned radiologist, author of a widely known computer neural atlas, will be the special guest and a keynote speaker at the Central European Forum of Biotechnology and Innovative BioEconomy - BioForum 2011.
The need for gaining knowledge about the human brain has become a pressing issue. The increase in the pace of an average life and thus a less and less healthy lifestyle, increases the cases of cerebral diseases such as stroke, brain tumors or movement disorders such as Parkinsons’ disease. An estimated number of 5,7 mln die if strokes each year all over the world. This disease is the third among diseases causing mortality and the main cause of permanent disability and lack of the capability of a person to take care of himself/herself. Movement disorders, caused by the degeneration of cerebral cells in the black matter, affect ca. 1,5 % of the population.
This is why a quick evaluation of which cerebral area is affected, and what is the scope and progress of the disease is so important for the doctors as well as the patients. World renowned neural atlases developed by prof. Nowinski allow such a quick evaluation. Several of them are available - anatomical, functional, vascular, and those imaging neurological diseases. The maps, which are called Cerefy, are in 3D and have very high precision. The Cerefy are used in clinical, scientific and educational applications. The cerebral maps allow to gain more knowledge about the brain anatomy, which helps in planning surgery. Neurosurgery requires deep interventions inside the brain tissue, that is why precision is crucial to the well-being of the patient. The surgeon has to know, how deep can the cut with the scalpel be, in what direction and how to avoid important structures. The stakes are high – the main vital functions of the patient.
Modern anatomical neural atlases developed by prof. Nowinski have the advantage over MRI and PET Scans, that they are made with an apparatus with a much higher magnetic field strength, which allows to distinguish much more details. With the field strength of 1,5 T (Tesla), the doctors can spot over 200 vessels, with 7 T (this is the field strength of the scanners used by prof. Nowinski) – 1 000! Even the smallest arteries can be spoted, even those of a diameter as small as 90 micrometers. Those arteries, delivering important components to the brain, cannot be spoted at all with an MRI or PET scan.
The exceptional capabilities of the neural atlases made them very popular among neurosurgeons, neurologists and radiologists all over the world.
1100 neural maps have been installed in neurosurgical centres of companies such as: Medtronic (USA), BrainLAB (Germany) and Elekta (Sweden). Over 4100 are used by doctors having private practices and MED Schools. There has been great appreciation for the work of prof. Nowinski. The brain atlas has earned the award of the RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) bestseller in 2010.
For over a decade BioForum maintains the position of an important event for the biotechnology/LifeScience sector in Central Europe (Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Baltic countries). On the one hand, BioForum shows its region as a source of innovative biotech solutions, on the other it gives the leaders of innovative biobusiness the chance to find innovative projects and start collaborations in the scientific/business field in the bio region of CE. The strategic goal of the organiser or the jubilee 10th edition of the biofair is to invite and host Asian biotech companies in Poland. This will be the first time BioForum will have the opportunity to host Asian biotech companies, for which the CE biosector is very attractive because of fast economic growth, high HR potential, new market possibilities and knowledge exchange. It goes without saying that the same holds for European biotech as for the Asian sector.
BioForum Central European Business Forum of Biotechnology & Innovative BioEconomy will take place May 11th-13th 2011 in Lodz, Poland
More: www.cebioforum.com
