International Symposium on ICT in Medicine and Public Health: Perspectives from AI and Cognitive Science


Dates: 15 - 16 August 2019

Venue: Cartesium, University of Bremen (Map)

Organizing Partners: Bremen Spatial Cognition Center, University of Bremen; Mahidol University; Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Inst. for Advanced Study

Background

The University of Bremen (UB) has been carrying out a highly successful collaboration with Mahidol University (MU) in Thailand since 2014. The UB-MU collaboration has seen the exchange of over fifty students and the establishment of a dual degree doctoral program. In 2018, the Mahidol-Bremen Medical Informatics Research Unit (MIRU) was opened at Mahidol University as a facility for joint research. Nine UB masters students have already spent time there carrying out research. In the same year, the two universities signed an agreement that sets forth a road map to establish a university-level strategic partnership, which requires broad multi-faculty collaboration between the universities. As a step in that direction, a delegation from MU lead by the Vice President for Policy and Planning and consisting of representatives from seven faculties visited UB in December 2018. During that visit it was decided to hold an international symposium on ICT in Medicine and Public Health at UB in August 2019, following the success of two joint symposia on this topic that were held at MU in 2017 and 2018.

Scope

This year’s symposium will expand upon the success of the previous symposia by including a broader range of faculties at the two universities, and including participants from other universities. The symposium will be interdisciplinary, bringing together researchers from ICT, Medicine, and Public Health. It will also provide an international perspective on the problem area by bring together researchers from Europe and Asia. This is important for understanding how population diversity affects design of solutions and for addressing problems, like infectious disease, that are global in nature. The symposium will focus broadly on applications of Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science in design of systems for surgical training and surgical support, and the integration of novel sensor technologies with AI techniques for modeling of infectious disease. Specific topics include: Intelligent virtual environments for surgical training (cardiac surgery, orthopaedic surgery, dental surgery), surgical navigation systems, spatial cognition in surgery, virtual environments for teaching of anatomy, use of novel data sources for modeling transmission of vector-borne disease, modeling spatial aspects of disease transmission, and novel sensors for collecting data relevant to disease transmission.

Objectives

A primary objective of this symposium is to establish concrete plans for collaborative research. The composition of invited speakers has been chosen so as to build upon existing collaborations and to bring in participants with high potential to join existing projects or form new projects. The symposium is expected to lead to several long-term collaborative projects, joint grant proposals, and eventual joint publications.

Program

The first day will consist of technical talks, project overviews, posters, and system demos. Technical talks will cover challenges to be met and technologies that offer possible solutions. Talks will also briefly introduce the existing research collaborations so as to invite others who may be interested to join and contribute. Since a number of students from Mahidol will have just completed summer research internships at Bremen, they will present the results of their work as posters and demos.

The second day of the symposium will consist of intensive interaction in working groups to establish road maps for collaborative research. Tentative working groups are listed below. There are expected to be natural interfaces among several of the working groups. In the first session of the day, each group will present a brief overview of the project, followed by discussion so as to elicit input from the group and to open opportunities for participants to join. This is followed by break-out sessions in which the project groups (with addition of interested participants) will incorporate input received and work out medium-term project plans. In the final session of the symposium, each working group will present the results of their discussions, including a road map for future development and any synergies identified with other working groups.

List of participants

  • Prof. Eva-Maria Feichtner, Vice President International and Diversity, University of Bremen
  • Dr. Pattanasak Mongkolwat, Dean, Faculty of ICT, Mahidol University
  • Prof. Paphon Sa-ngasoongsong, Dept. of Orthopedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University
  • Prof. Panjit Chunhabundit, Dept. of Anatomy, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University
  • Prof. Anuwat Wiratsudakul, Disease Modeling, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University
  • Prof. Peter Haddawy, Faculty of ICT, Mahidol University
  • Dr. Mores Prachyabrued, Faculty of ICT, Mahidol University
  • Dr. Akara Supratak, Faculty of ICT, Mahidol University
  • Dr. Myat Su Yin, Faculty of ICT, Mahidol University (HWK Fellow)
  • Patiwat Sa-angchai, BIOPHICS, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University
  • Chaitawat Sa-ngamuang, Faculty of ICT, Mahidol University
  • Dr. David Black, Medical Image Computer Group, University of Bremen
  • Prof. Michael Beetz, Institute for AI, University of Bremen
  • Prof. Rainer Malaka, Digital Media Lab, University of Bremen
  • Anke Reinschlüssel, Digital Media Lab, University of Bremen
  • Thomas Münder, Digital Media Lab, University of Bremen
  • Nat Sararit, Digital Media Lab, University of Bremen
  • Prof. Gabriel Zachmann, Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality Lab, University of Bremen
  • Roland Fischer, Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality Lab, University of Bremen
  • Hermann Meißenhelter, Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality Lab, University of Bremen
  • Maximilian Kaluschke, Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality Lab, University of Bremen
  • Prof. Johannes Schöning, Human Computer Interaction Lab, University of Bremen
  • Daniel Deithei, Human Computer Interaction Lab, University of Bremen
  • Prof. Christian Freksa, Bremen Spatial Cognition Center, University of Bremen
  • PD Dr. Holger Schultheis, Bremen Spatial Cognition Center, University of Bremen
  • Dr. Thomas Barkowsky, Bremen Spatial Cognition Center, University of Bremen
  • Dr. Tim Ziemer, Bremen Spatial Cognition Center, University of Bremen
  • Tina Vajsbaher, Bremen Spatial Cognition Center, University of Bremen

  • Prof. Anna Förster, ComNets Lab, University of Bremen
  • Prof. Soerge Kelm, Glycobiochemistry, University of Bremen
  • Dr. Andrea Schenk, Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine MEVIS
  • Dr. Hans Meine, Medical Image Computing Group, University of Bremen
  • Prof. Enkelejda Kasneci, AG Perception Engineering, Dept of Computer Sci, Univ of Tübingen
  • Benedikt Hosp, AG Perception Engineering, Dept of Computer Sci, Univ of Tübingen
  • Dr. Dorothe Poggel, Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Inst. for Advanced Study
  • Prof. Dr. med. Nader Francis, Yeovil District Hospital NHS
  • Prof. Anja Bräuer, Dept. für Humanmedizin, University of Oldenburg
  • Dr. Veysel Ödemis, Dept. für Humanmedizin, University of Oldenburg
  • Anne von Gaalen, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen
  • Dr. Verena Uslar, Fakultät für Medizin Universität Oldenburg & Universitätsklinik für Viszeralchirurgie Pius-Hospital Oldenburg
  • Sonja Janssen, Fakultät für Medizin Universität Oldenburg & Universitätsklinik für Viszeralchirurgie Pius-Hospital Oldenburg
  • Bianca Sahlmann, Fakultät für Medizin Universität Oldenburg & Universitätsklinik für Viszeralchirurgie Pius-Hospital Oldenburg
  • PD Dr. med. Hug Aubin, Klinik für Kardiovaskuläre Chirurgie, Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf
  • Dr. Falko Schmid, Klinik für Kardiovaskuläre Chirurgie, Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf
  • Ali Fadavie, Klinik für Kardiovaskuläre Chirurgie, Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf
  • Dr. Dominique Bicout, VetAgro Sup

Thursday, August 15

9:00 – 9:15 Welcome, Prof. Eva-Maria Feichtner,

"Introduction to the Symposium", Prof. Peter Haddawy

9:15 – 9:45 "Orthopaedic Surgical Training: How to develop the experts?" (Abstract),

Prof. Dr. Paphon Sa-ngasoongsong

9:45 – 10:15 "Digital Transformation in Cardiovascular Surgery – Where do we stand, what do we need?“,

PD Dr. med. Hug Aubin

10:15 - 10:45 "Training and Support of Surgical Cognitive Abilities" (Abstract), PD Dr. Holger Schultheis

10:45 – 11:15 Coffee Break

11:15 – 11:45 "Underground Sensor Networks and Their Applications: From Agriculture to Epidemiology"

(Abstract ), Prof. Dr. Anna Förster

11:45 – 12:15 "Eye Tracking in Medical Applications" (Abstract), Prof. Dr. Enkelejda Kasneci

12:15 – 13:15 Lunch served

13:15 – 14:00 Lightning talks to introduce the posters and demos

14:00 – 16:00 Poster and demo session (coffee served 15:30 – 16:00)

16:00 – 17:00 Project working groups break-out session 1: Discuss and prepare for day 2

17:00 – 18:00 Project working groups break-out session 2: Discuss and prepare for day 2

18:30 Dinner & best student project awards (Venue: Haus am Walde, Map )


Friday, August 16

9:00 – 10:15 Project overviews & discussion (Overview of each project: objective, current status, collaborations sought) (15 mins per group)

10:15 – 10:30 Coffee break

10:30 – 11:15 Continue project overviews & discussion (Overview of each project: objective, current status, collaborations sought) (15 mins per group)

11:15 – 13:00 Project working groups break-out session 1: Plan development

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 15:45 Project working groups break-out session 2: Plan development

15:45 – 16:00 Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:30 Reports on working group plans and Wrap-up

Tentative project working groups

1. Eye Tracking Study of Arthroscopic Surgery

      • Lead: Paphon Sa-ngasoongsong
      • Members: Akara Supratak, Benedikt Hosp, Myat Su Yin, Peter Haddawy, Tina Vajsbaher, Holger Schultheis, Mores Prachyabrued

2. Vascular Access VR Training Simulator & Nerve Block VR Training Simulator

      • Lead: Mores Prachyabrued
      • Members: Peter Haddawy, Myat Su Yin, Gabriel Zachmann, Panjit Chunhabundit

3. Auditory Displays for the OR

      • Lead: Tim Ziemer/David Black
      • Members: Holger Schultheis


4. Generating Symbolic Descriptions of Surgical Procedures in VR Simulation

      • Lead: Myat Su Yin
      • Members: Michael Beetz, Gabriel Zachmann, Peter Haddawy


5. Virtual Anatomy Teaching

      • Lead: Gabriel Zachmann
      • Members: Rainer Malaka, Anne von Gaalen, Anje Bräuer, Nat Sararit, Holger Schultheis, Panjit Chunhabundit

6. (VR-based) Assessment and training of surgical cognitive skills

      • Lead: Holger Schultheis
      • Members: Tina Vajsbaher, Rene Weller, Gabriel Zachmann, Anna Förster, Johannes Schöning, Peter Haddawy, Myat Su Yin

7. Mobility and Malaria Transmission

      • Lead: Thomas Barkowsky/Patiwat Sa-angchai/Chaitawat Sa-ngamuang
      • Members: Patiwat Sa-angchai, Chaitawat Sa-ngamuang, Soerge Kelm, Anna Förster, Anuwat Wiratsudakul, Peter Haddawy, Dominique Bicout, Myat Su Yin


8. Bio-acoustic sensors for mosquito vector counts

      • Lead: Anna Förster
      • Members: Anna Förster, Johannes Schöning, Soerge Kelm, Patiwat Sa-angchai, Akara Supratak, Peter Haddawy, Dominique Bicout, Myat Su Yin


Symposium Posters and Demos