Tuesday 11 March 2014

IEEE Life Sciences


IEEE Life Sciences
IEEE Life Sciences logo
Type Professional Organization
Founded February 2011[1]
Headquarters
Origins Global initiative launched by IEEE
Key people Moshe Kam, Initiative Champion
Bin He, Co-Chair
Mathukumalli Vidyasagar, Co-Chair
Area served Worldwide
Focus(es) Life Sciences
Method(s) Industry standards, Conferences, Publications, Education, and Web Portal, Marketing
Website lifesciences.ieee.org
IEEE Life Sciences is an initiative launched by IEEE to promote the advancement of life sciences and supporting technologies, and to provide expertise and resources to individuals and enterprises involved in the various disciplines falling under the life sciences umbrella. IEEE Life Sciences provides access to a range of resources, including professional conferences, continuing education courses, publications, and standards.[2] It is based in Piscataway, New Jersey.

History

In February 2011, the IEEE Board of Directors approved the formation of the Life Sciences Initiative with Moshe Kam, IEEE Fellow, and then IEEE President, as the Initiative Champion.[1] The Initiative was led by two Co-Chairs, Mathukumalli Vidyasagar, an IEEE Fellow and Professor of Systems Biology Science at the University of Texas at Dallas and Bin He, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Neuroscience; Director of Center for Neuroengineering at the University of Minnesota; and IEEE Fellow.[3] It sought to increase interest in and participation of individuals and organizations working at the intersection of life sciences, technology, and engineering.[4] The Initiative was also tasked with serving as a global resource for life sciences technologies, information, and activities, and to create new opportunities to introduce technology to new and different audiences and disciplines.[5]
Said Co-Chair Vidyasagar of the drivers behind the launch of the IEEE Life Sciences Initiative, "There was a need to develop a coherent IEEE life sciences strategy that would guide volunteers and staff on how to expand activities in this field. Without such a strategy, the opportunity to get the word out that the organization is a great resource for those in life sciences would have passed us by.”[4]
This was echoed by Co-Chair He: "Though we have a lot to do already, it is important for us to unite with others involved with life sciences and put our efforts together.”[4]

Mission and goals

The primary mission of the IEEE Life Sciences Initiative is three-fold: to coordinate all technical activities among participating IEEE Societies and Councils, to promote the technical leadership of IEEE in life sciences and engineering disciplines and applications, and serve as a resource for life sciences professional community as a whole.[6]
Among the Initiative's stated goals are to stimulate development and dissemination of new meaningful and useful research and project results; to attract researchers of diverse background to present and discuss their new work in IEEE forums; and to increase cross-discipline interest in targeted communities.[6]

Current work

Life sciences have historically been defined as the study of living organisms through disciplines such as biology, medicine, anthropology, and ecology,[7] that describe living organisms and their organization, life processes, and their relationships to each other and their environment. By contrast, engineering is conventionally defined as the application of scientific and mathematical principles to practical ends such as the design, manufacture, and operation of efficient and economical structures, machines, processes, and systems.[8]
Historically, life sciences and engineering did not intersect, however, the life sciences have now reached a point where engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, and clinical medicine are ready to be brought together. Additionally, the rise of new interdisciplinary areas like bioinformatics, computational biology, and nanotechnology have helped accelerate the growing convergence of these discrete disciplines.[9] This convergence is important for achieving continued advancement in multiple areas like biomedicine, and development of the next generation of devices capable of improving the quality of life.[10]
The IEEE Life Sciences Initiative leads or participates in a variety of activities, including the development of new standards, organizing conferences and events, and publication of new research. Individuals and organizations taking part in the Initiative are also often quoted or have works published in third-party trade journals and magazines, such as Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.[11] Work currently being performed as part of the IEEE Life Sciences Initiative includes:

IEEE Life Sciences Portal

As part of its efforts to serve the life sciences community, the IEEE Life Sciences portal was launched in June 2011.[12] Serving as a single point of access, the IEEE Life Sciences portal provides news, links to key journals, discussion boards, commentary, event information, and videos to diverse audiences that include engineers, scientists, consumers, business and industry, academic, and government users. It is also the online home of the monthly IEEE Life Sciences Newsletter.[13]

Standards

The convergence technology, engineering, and life sciences is giving rise to new opportunities for standards development and application. Among the numerous life science areas where standardization will play a role include electronic medical records, large-scale life sciences data sharing,[14] personal medical devices,[15] body area networks,[16] and bioinformatics.[17]

Sampling of Approved IEEE Life Sciences Standards

  • IEEE 11073-10441-2013 Standard for Health Informatics, Personal Health Device Communication, Part 10441, Device Specialization: Cardiovascular Fitness and Activity Monitor[18]
  • IEEE 802.15.6-2012 Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, Part 15.6: Wireless Body Area Networks[19]
  • ISO/IEEE 11073-10417-2011 Standard for Health informatics, Personal Health Device Communication, Part 10417, Device Specialization: Glucose meter[20]
  • IEEE 1902.1-2009 Standard for Long Wavelength Wireless Network Protocol[21]

Sampling of Proposed IEEE Life Sciences Standards

  • IEEE P11073-10419 Draft Standard for Health informatics, Personal Health Device Communication, Device Specialization: Insulin Pump[22]
  • IEEE P11073-10413 Draft Standard for Health Informatics, Personal Health Device Communication, Device Specialization: Respiration Rate Monitor[23]

Sampling of IEEE Life Sciences Standards Under Development

  • IEEE P3333.2 Standard for Three-Dimensional Model Creation Using Unprocessed 3D Medical Data[24]

Conferences and events

The IEEE Life Sciences Initiative promotes numerous conferences, symposiums, and other events organized and sponsored by its participating societies.[25] These events are designed to promote discussion of critical issues in the life sciences arena, educate participants on the latest technology developments, and facilitate idea and knowledge-sharing about life sciences concepts, deployments, and technology advancement. Conference programs generally consist of educational tracks with keynote speeches, panel discussions, and roundtables led by researchers, engineers, academics, policymakers, and other key stakeholders.
The initiative's flagship event is the annual IEEE Life Sciences Grand Challenges Conference (IEEE LSGCC), which aims to provide a public forum for discussions and debates of grand challenges in engineering life sciences and healthcare, and reviews of applications and advancements of engineering in biomedicine. The inaugural IEEE LSGCC, chaired by Bin He, was held at the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. on October 4–5, 2012, and attracted scientists and technologists like Nobel Prize winner Phillip Sharp from countries around the world.[26] Proceedings of this first-ever IEEE LSGCC were presented in a paper entitled Grand Challenges in Interfacing Engineering With Life Sciences and Medicine.[27]
The IEEE Life Sciences Initiative also participates in or is a sponsor of other life sciences conferences and events, including BIO, Bio-IT World,[28] the International Conference on System Biology,[29] and IEEE Smart Tech Metro Area Workshops.[30]

Publications

As part of the IEEE Life Sciences Initiative, IEEE societies, working groups, committees and sub-committees publish papers, manuscripts, journals and magazines, and other documents addressing a variety of topics. These publications touch nearly every aspect of the engineering, life sciences, and technology disciplines, and include titles like IEEE Nanotechnology Magazine, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine, and IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.[31]

IEEE Life Sciences Newsletter

In April 2012, IEEE unveiled the IEEE Life Sciences Newsletter, a monthly electronic digest providing news, analysis and expert views about emerging trends, latest innovations, and the results of practical, real-world life sciences applications.[13] Contributors include industry leaders, researchers, and academics from around the world. Nitish Thakor, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and Director of the Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SiNAPSE),[32] at the National University of Singapore is editor-in-chief of the newsletter.[33]

IEEE Life Sciences Community

The IEEE Life Sciences Community is a virtual community of more than 2,000 people interested in the application of technology and engineering principles to the life sciences discipline. The community supplies news and event information from those societies and councils taking part in the IEEE Life Sciences Initiative.[34]

Related IEEE societies

The IEEE Life Sciences Initiative is home to numerous societies, technical councils and communities, and other organizational units that are active in life sciences-related work. Among the disciplines or specialized fields of interest covered by these groups are electronic systems, medicine and biology engineering, and robotics.[35]

See also

References

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b IEEE (August 25, 2012). 2011 IEEE Annual Report: Innovative Solutions Through Global Collaboration (Report). IEEE. p. 14. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  2. Jump up ^ "About IEEE Life Sciences". IEEE Life Sciences. Retrieved 2013-07-30.
  3. Jump up ^ Kam, Moshe. Life Sciences Spark IEEE Interest, The Institute, March 7, 2011.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Kowalenko, Kathy. IEEE's Ample Life Sciences Efforts to Get More Exposure, The Institute, July 27, 2011.
  5. Jump up ^ Pretz, Kathy. Delving Deeper Into Life Sciences, The Institute, December 7, 2012.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Dr. Peter Staecker (October 4, 2012). IEEE Life Sciences Initiative (Report). IEEE. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  7. Jump up ^ "Definition of Life Sciences in English". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  8. Jump up ^ "Definition of Engineering in English". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  9. Jump up ^ "The Third Revolution: The Convergence of the Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Engineering". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. January 2011. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
  10. Jump up ^ "‘Convergence’ may lead to revolutionary advances in biomedicine, other sciences". MKurzweilAINetwork, Inc. January 5, 2011. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  11. Jump up ^ Vidyasagar, Mathukumalli (2012). "What Engineers Can Bring to Biotechnology". Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.) 32 (16). Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  12. Jump up ^ "New IEEE Web Portal Provides Access to the Latest Developments in Life Sciences" (Press release). IEEE. June 22, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Kowalenko, Kathy. Newsletter Explores Convergence of Life Sciences and Engineering, The Institute, July 16, 2012.
  14. Jump up ^ Lord; MacDonald; Sinnott; Ecklund; Westhead; Jones (2005). "Large-scale data sharing in the life sciences: Data standards, incentives, barriers and funding models (The "Joint Data Standards Study")". UK e-Science Technical Report Series.
  15. Jump up ^ Floyd, Allison. IEEE working on new standards for medical device communication, FierceHealthIT, July 26, 2012.
  16. Jump up ^ Ullah, Sana; Mohaisen, Manar; Alnuem, Mohammed A. (March 12, 2013). "A Review of IEEE 802.15.6 MAC, PHY, and Security Specifications". International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks (Hindawi Publication Corp.) 2013. doi:10.1155/2013/950704.
  17. Jump up ^ Baker, M.L. Committee Aims to Develop Bioinformatics Standards, eWeek, August 20, 2004.
  18. Jump up ^ "1547-2003 - IEEE 11073-10441-2013 Standard for Health Informatics, Personal Health Device Communication, Part 10441, Device Specialization: Cardiovascular Fitness and Activity Monitor". IEEE Standards Association. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  19. Jump up ^ "1802.15.6-2012 - IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks - Part 15.6: Wireless Body Area Network". IEEE Standards Association. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  20. Jump up ^ "11073-10417-2011 - Health Informatics - Personal Health Device Communication Part 10417: Device Specialization: Glucose Meter". IEEE Standards Association. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  21. Jump up ^ "1902.1-2009 Standard for Long Wavelength Wireless Network Protocol". IEEE Standards Association. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  22. Jump up ^ "P11073-10419 Draft Standard for Health informatics - Personal Health Device Communication - Device Specialization - Insulin Pump". IEEE Standards Association. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  23. Jump up ^ "P11073-10413 Draft Standard for Health Informatics, Personal Health Device Communication, Device Specialization: Respiration Rate Monitor". IEEE Standards Association. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  24. Jump up ^ "Standard for Three-Dimensional Model Creation Using Unprocessed 3D Medical Data". IEEE Standards Association. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  25. Jump up ^ "IEEE Life Sciences Conferences". IEEE Life Sciences. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  26. Jump up ^ Fogel, Gary B. (2013). "A Report on the IEEE Life Sciences Grand Challenges Conference". IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine (IEEE Computational Intelligence Society) 8 (3): 15. doi:10.1109/MCI.2013.2247821. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  27. Jump up ^ He, Bin; Baird, Richard; Butera, Robert; et al. (2013). "Grand Challenges in Interfacing Engineering With Life Sciences and Medicine". IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (IEEE) 60 (3): 589–598. doi:10.1109/TBME.2013.2244886. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  28. Jump up ^ "Bio-IT World 2013 Sponsors". Bio-IT World Conference & Exposition. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  29. Jump up ^ "Exhibitor and Sponsor Information". International Conference on System Biology (ICSB). Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  30. Jump up ^ "IEEE Smart Tech Metro Area Workshop: Boston". Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  31. Jump up ^ "IEEE Life Sciences Highlighted Publications". IEEE Life Sciences. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  32. Jump up ^ "SINAPSE Members: Nitish V. Thakor, Ph.D.". IEEE Life Sciences. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  33. Jump up ^ "Welcome to the IEEE Life Sciences Newsletter". SiNAPSE. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  34. Jump up ^ "IEEE Life Sciences Community". IEEE. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  35. Jump up ^ "Societies". IEEE Life Sciences. Retrieved 2013-08-21.

External links

Saturday 8 March 2014

10 ways mobile technology will save your life in the future

By medical futurist Bertalan Mesko, Special to CNN
February 25, 2014 -- Updated 1025 GMT (1825 HKT)
A 3D printed prosthetic arm is displayed in the Science Museum on October 8, 2013 in London, England.
A 3D printed prosthetic arm is displayed in the Science Museum on October 8, 2013 in London, England.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Augmented reality, 3D printing and nanorobots help advance medical care
  • The future should balanceinnovative technologies with the human touch, Mesko says
  • He outlines the tech trends most likely to change our lives, now or in the near future
Editor's note: Bertalan Mesko is a medical futurist, geneticist, international speaker and consultant. He is the founder ofWebicina.com, a site that curates medical social media resources for patients and medical professionals, the author of the Social Media in Clinical Practice handbook. Follow him on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely his.
(CNN) -- The medical and healthcare sectors are in the midst of rapid change, and it can be difficult to see which new technologies will have a long-lasting impact.
Ideally, the future of healthcare will balance innovative medical technologies with the human touch. Here, I've outlined the trends most likely to change our lives, now or in the near future.
Augmented reality becomes real
Bertalan Mesko
Bertalan Mesko
Google Glass has already been used to live-stream a surgery, from the surgeon's perspective. Such augmented reality devices will in the future be able to display the patient's electronic medical records real-time, organize live consultations and call the ambulance to the exact GPS location in emergency situations.
While Google Glass can be controlled through voice and hand gestures, digital contact lenses will be controlled with brain waves. Patients could go through an upcoming operation step-by-step via virtual reality or choose a hospital based on its "virtual experience" package.
Artificial intelligence in medical decision-making
The knowledge of even the most acclaimed professors cannot compete with cognitive computers. The amount of medical information is growing exponentially, and the use of such solutions in assisting medical decision-making is inevitable.
Robot offers doctors a helping hand
Doctor's office in a box
New tech toys from the future
IBM's supercomputer "Watson" can process over 200 million pages in one second and is being used by more and more institutions.
Nanorobots in the bloodstream
For years, nanotechnology has presented the possibility of using nanotech devices in treating diseases. Now, it is time for nanotechnology to live up to expectations. Nanorobots in the bloodstream could intervene even before the disease appears. They could keep tissues safely oxygenated after a heart attack, specifically target cancer cells, or remove platelets.
Eventually, modules that self-assemble inside the stomach could perform more sophisticated diagnosis and treatment.
The 3D printing revolution comes to medicine
As 3D printing becomes mainstream, it will upend the pharmaceutical industry and the world of biotechnology -- although regulation will be a challenge.
3D printing will enable the creation of medical devices in underdeveloped areas, and customize prostheses and exoskeletons. It will also enable the production of biomaterials such as kidney or heart tissues, drugs and eventually living cells.
Printing out organs that can replace a non-functioning organ in its full physiological capacity will eradicate waiting lists.
Free genome sequencing for everyone
Printing out organs that can replace a non-functioning organ in its full physiological capacity will eradicate waiting lists. 
Bertalan Mesko
As the cost of sequencing the human genome has been declining and the availability of sequencers has been rising, accessing our own genome will not only be cheaper than a routine blood test, but will eventually be free -- although analysis will still be expensive. In the future personal genomics can be applied to patients, meaning they will get drugs and dosages customized to their own genomic code.
Eventually it will be possible to detect preventable diseases in fetal DNA obtained from the mother's bloodstream.
Real-time diagnostics
The intelligent surgical knife, iKnife, identifies in real-time whether the tissue is malignant.
This means a biopsy will not have to be sent to the pathology lab. It is hoped the Tricorder XPrize will lead to the development of a portable, wireless device that can monitor and diagnose several diseases, as seen in the TV series Star Trek. The ultimate goal is to give individuals more choices in their own health.
The wearable laboratory
An era of wearable medical devices is coming. Scanadu can measure basic health parameters such as body temperature or blood pressure by putting it to the forehead. AliveCor measures ECG, Tellspec detects allergens, chemicals and nutrients in the food, tooth-embedded sensors can recognize jaw movements and even smoking.
Plenty of laboratory methods and procedures will be available at home which could also mean the detection of diseases at an early stage, making intervention more effective. Patients will bring the data to the doctor on any device they use, creating a new role of digital health data analyst.
CNN Explains: 3-D printing
High-tech strategies to fight STDs
Call a nurse or a humanoid robot
With the growing number of elderly patients and the global shortage of caregivers, humanoid robots could be able to provide basic care, for example serving ascompanions for sick children or teaching kids with autism.
A robot nurse assistant will be able to combines robotics and image-analysis technology to find a good vein on the patient's arm and draw blood in a safe way. Robots will also be used in remote surgery, simulation and training.
Operating rooms will have no people inside except the patient, and surgical instruments will be so precise that instead of manual control, mechatronic tools will be needed to reach the required accuracy.
The connected global brain
Medical communication affects patients and medical professionals worldwide, without exception. Social media, along with connected digital healthcare devices and services, have the potential to become a huge "digital brain" making it possible to transmit, share, crowdsource and store medical pieces of information.
In the near future, whether it is medical information, curated dynamic resources or medical records, the required information will be available to everyone.
This will be the most important development in the history of medicine, and this is why we have to train doctors do be ready for the digital era.
Predictive algorithms and gamification in medical records
Gamification seems to be the key in persuading people to live a healthy lifestyle, or stick to the therapy they have been prescribed.HapiFork measures whether you eat properly, while a smart braspots cancer in time.
FitBitShine and Lumosity are designed to help us live a healthy life by measuring our lifestyle and gamifying the steps required for making positive changes.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bertalan Mesko.
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Part of complete coverage on
Mobile World Congress
March 3, 2014 -- Updated 1033 GMT (1833 HKT)
Mobile World Congress spans the full spectrum of untethered gadgetry, from the next generation of mobile phone networks to wireless charging technology.
February 26, 2014 -- Updated 1554 GMT (2354 HKT)
Big Data is like teenage sex: everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it.
February 26, 2014 -- Updated 1106 GMT (1906 HKT)
After three-plus years, the world's largest social media outlet is pulling the plug on its little-used e-mail service.
February 26, 2014 -- Updated 1446 GMT (2246 HKT)
Mobile World Congress returned to form this year, with Samsung, Sony, and Huawei all choosing to launch flagship devices in Barcelona. These are my picks from the show:
February 23, 2014 -- Updated 1312 GMT (2112 HKT)
Mobile World Congress begins in Barcelona Monday and amid the hoopla of new super-phones, largely unknown technologies will be revealed. And it will be these that change our lives.
February 24, 2014 -- Updated 1342 GMT (2142 HKT)
With a lack of gender diversity in the tech sector, the time has come to make women in ICT a norm rather than the exception
February 25, 2014 -- Updated 1025 GMT (1825 HKT)
The medical and healthcare sectors are in the midst of rapid change, and it can be difficult to see which new technologies will have a long-lasting impact.
February 25, 2014 -- Updated 2026 GMT (0426 HKT)
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said WhatsApp was "worth more than $19 billion" during a speech given at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Monday.
February 24, 2014 -- Updated 1944 GMT (0344 HKT)
Sony has announced a tie-up with the estate of Michael Jackson, allowing them to use his music to promote the release of a new smartphone.
February 26, 2014 -- Updated 1130 GMT (1930 HKT)
Financial transactions have always been at the heart of our society, but growing smartphone and Internet penetration are inspiring new, disruptive approaches.
February 24, 2014 -- Updated 1039 GMT (1839 HKT)
Google has heard all the concerns about Glass, its digital headset expected to hit the market by the end of the year.
February 18, 2014 -- Updated 1305 GMT (2105 HKT)
Looking for a new way to reach your fitness goals? Now's the time to check out some of the hottest fitness apps as 2014 gets underway.
February 20, 2014 -- Updated 2119 GMT (0519 HKT)
What if Facebook spent $19 billion on something and most people never noticed?
The Philips Fluid concept phone has a bendy organic light-emitting diode, which means it can be wrapped around the wrist as a watch or bracelet or used as a normal mobile phone.
See full coverage from the world's biggest mobile technology conference in Barcelona, Spain.
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