EMF-Med 2018

Contribute to development and optimization of innovative EMF-based medical devices and procedures, which will be safer, more efficient and less invasive!

Conference news:

15/11/2018: Conference papers indexed and published at IEEE Xplore.
09/09/2018: Registration opens at 16:00h today (registration desk and poster mounting: today 16-20h).
08/09/2018: Conference Program booklet available for download.
08/09/2018: Training School program booklet available for download.
06/09/2018: Round table announcement: "WHO and EMF-Med: What can each contribute?"
06/09/2018: Conference dinner will be held inside the historical UNESCO site - the cellars of the Diocletian palace.

Click for the conference photo gallery!

1st EMF-Med World Conference

The conference is organized to promote systematical research and development of EMF-Med topics: beneficial biomedical interactions and applications of electromagnetic fields (EMFs).

Inspired by promising recent studies, EMF-Med focuses on medically applicable effects of EMFs, aiming for breakthrough results, new discoveries and innovative biomedical technologies.

The systematical approach to EMF-Med applications requires a dedicated community - a world-wide concerted R&D network - to sustain the required interdisciplinary knowledge: underlying biological mechanisms, knowledgable engineering, reliable setups - having medical applications and patient benefit as the final goal.

COST Action EMF-MED

The conference is also the outcome and the final event of a 4-year research coordination project COST EMF-MED: European network for innovative uses of EMFs in biomedical applications, involving 35 countries and 350+ researchers.

COST EMF-MED – the very first research initiative in the world to systematically and comprehensively approach the topic of beneficial effects of EMFs – provides a cooperative framework to support the research on beneficial biological effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and their use in biomedical applications.

COST EMF-MED web site

Conference topics

Cancer/Non-cancer EMF interactions and applications; EMF dosimetry – in silico tools & measurements:

Thermal and non-thermal EMF-based cancer interactions and applications
EMF stimulation of excitable and non-excitable tissues - electroceuticals, bioelectronic medicine
EMF and neuromodulation – CNS and PNS electrostimulation
EMF-based neural repair and regeneration
Electromagnetic hyperthermia
Electromagnetic (RF, microwave) thermal ablation
Electroporation
Novel modalities for non-thermal EMF-based cancer treatment
EMF-based (microwave) medical imaging
EMF and immune response
Genes and cellular mechanisms involved in biological EMF interactions
EMF-based tissue regeneration
EMF applications in aesthetic medicine
EMF-mediated drug delivery
Nanoparticles in EMF-Med applications
Functionalized, integrated, multi-level anatomical models and tools
Dielectric properties of biological tissues
Neural tissue electromagnetic models
EMF microdosimetry
Experimental setups for EMF-Med related research
other medical procedures, applications, and technologies that are essentially and functionally based on EMFs.

Industry participation and related topics are welcome.

The conference will be followed by the (first ever!) Focus Issue of the Bioelectromagnetics journal (published by Wiley, IF: 1.933), dedicated to EMF-Med 2018 conference.

Check the BEM journal Call for Papers below.

Convened Sessions, Special Sessions, Workshops, Tutorials, Short Courses

List of currently approved special sessions:

Convened session: Electromagnetic-based Thermal Therapies (COST Action MyWAVE)
Special Session: Electromagnetic based micromanipulation of cells: towards unprecedented applications in medicine and biology
Convened Session: Microwave Medical (MiMed) Imaging
Convened Session: EMF technologies for remotely powering wearable and implantable devices
Short Course: Application of machine learning to medical data
Short Course: Neuroimaging techniques in combination with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS): state of the art and future perspectives

Read the descriptions of special sessions here.

Proposing and convening the sessions:

All types of special sessions can still be proposed and added to the program. Download the template for Convened Session / Special Session / Workshop / Tutorial / Short Course proposal and send it to: COST-EMF-MED@fesb.hr, minding the rationale as follows.

Convened Sessions (based on a topic from the list or similar; targeting an open group of authors) and Special Sessions (a specific topic, method or ongoing project; targeting a specific group of authors) are based on a group of submitted papers/abstracts, as proposed by proposers submitting the data required in the proposal template, demonstrating the ability to collect a group of papers/abstracts. The sessions will be open for paper/abstract submission and selectable at the paper/abstract submission site in addition to the listed topics.

Workshop is an interactive form on a specific topic or issue, engaging a group of presenters, may be based on submitted papers/abstracts (but not necessarily) – upon agreement with the Organizational Committee.

Tutorials (shorter form, 1-2 lectures) and Short Courses (2 or more lectures) are topic review and knowledge sharing forms, and are not required to be accompanied by paper/abstract submission.

Invited lectures:

"An Overview of Medical Microwave Imaging"

Raquel Cruz Conceição, PhD

Instituto de Biofísica e Engenharia Biomédica, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016-Lisbon, Portugal

"Emerging waveforms in spinal cord stimulation for control of chronic pain"

Leonardo Kapural, MD, PhD

Pain Physician, Carolinas Pain Institute and Center for Clinical Research; Professor of Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University, School of Medicine, USA

"Vagus nerve stimulation"

Peter S. Staats, MD, MBA

Chief Medical Officer, National Spine and Pain Centers, USA

"EMF exposure from medical/cosmetic devices: Are standards needed?"

Emilie van Deventer, PhD

Team Leader, Radiation Programme, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland

"Challenges of medical devices using EMF for public health"

Adriana Velázquez Berumen

Senior Advisor and Focal Point for Medical Devices;

Essential Medicines and Health Products department, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland

Read invited and keynote speakers' bio

Keynote lectures:

"Realizing the Vision of a Verified & Validated Computational Neurostimulation Platform"

Prof Niels Kuster, PhD

COST EMF-MED WG3 Leader; Foundation for Research on Information Technologies in Society (IT’IS), Zurich, Switzerland; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland

"Electroporation applications in medicine: from fundamentals to the clinics"

Lluis M. Mir, DRCE CNRS

COST EMF-MED WG2 Leader; Vectorology and Anticancer Therapies, UMR 8203 CNRS – University Paris-Saclay, France

"EMF in COST Actions: from risks to benefits"

Mirjana Moser, PhD

COST EMF-MED Vice-Chair, Switzerland

"EMF-Med: Electromagnetic medicine - a promise for the future"

Prof Antonio Šarolić, PhD

Chair of COST EMF-MED; Professor of Electrical Engineering, FESB, University of Split, Croatia

"Electromagnetic hyperthermia: Innovations and clinical applications"

Prof Gerard van Rhoon, PhD

COST EMF-MED WG1 Leader; Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, The Netherlands

Conference Info and Program

Program

Program booklet: EMF-Med 2018 Program booklet
Conference timetable: EMF-Med 2018 - Timetable
Training School program booklet: EMF-Med 2018 School - Program booklet

EMF-Med Week time schedule (preliminary): Conference + Training School

EMF-Med Training School Split is the first proprietary EMF-Med training school – an interdisciplinary school dedicated exclusively to this specific field: beneficial uses of EMFs in biomedical applications; initiated by COST Action EMF-MED; organized by FESB, University of Split, and co-organized by COST EMF-MED.

Organized by:

FESB, University of Split

Co-organized by:

COST EMF-MED (COST Action BM1309)
European BioElectromagnetics Association (EBEA)
School of Medicine, University of Split (MEFST)

Endorsed by:

International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE)
International Neuromodulation Society (INS)
The Bioelectromagnetics Society (BEMS)
European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology (ESHO)
Croatian Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics Society (CROBEMPS)
IEEE Croatia Section
IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Croatia Chapter
IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society Croatia Chapter
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Croatia Chapter
IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Croatia Chapter

Supported by:

City of Split
Split-Dalmatia County
Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia

Organizing Committee / TPC Chairs:

Antonio Šarolić (Croatia), Conference Chair
Mirjana Moser (Switzerland), Conference co-Chair
Gerard van Rhoon (The Netherlands)
Lluis Mir (France)
Niels Kuster (Switzerland)
Stavros Koulouridis (Greece), student and young researcher activities

Registration

The company GALAXY TRAVEL d.o.o. manages the registrations on behalf of FESB, University of Split, and is the only contact point for the registration process.

On the online registration form, you can choose to register either for the EMF-Med 2018 conference, or for the EMF-Med 2018 Training School, or both (with a discount applied).

The two events are adjoined to complement each other, so that the trainees can use the opportunity to present their work at the conference, and conference attendees may decide to complement the conference with some learning from a set relevant lectures.

The 1st EMF-Med Training School Split program is finalized, according to this year's course title "Experimental dosimetry of EMF in biomedical research setups and in medical applications". School details and fees can be found at the 1st EMF-Med Training School Split school web page.

Notes:

All registered conference attendees are provided with: attendance to all conference sessions, light lunches and coffee breaks on all conference days, welcome cocktail, conference gala dinner, conference materials with proceedings.
All registered training school (TS) attendees are provided with: attendance to TS sessions, light lunches and coffee breaks on all TS days, welcome cocktail, farewell cocktail, TS materials.
On-site registration will be possible only by paying in cash in Croatian currency (HRK).

Registration is closed

Conference fees:

Academic: €200 + 25% VAT = €250

Student: €160 + 25% VAT = €200

Industry, other: €400 + 25% VAT = €500

Training school fees:

Academic: €200 + 25% VAT = €250

Industry, other: €300+ 25% VAT = €375

Joint fee (conference + training school, with discount):

Academic: €360 + 25% VAT = €450

Student: €320 + 25% VAT = €400

Industry, other: €640 + 25% VAT = €800

All fees are shown in the registration form, including the fees for the school, and the discounted fee for attending both events.

Instructions for authors

Instructions for presenters

Oral presentations:

- You are requested to plan and prepare the presentation lasting 10 minutes. Each presentation is allocated a slot of 15 minutes, however, for the sake of discussion and program flow (change of speakers included), the presentation itself should last 10 minutes. The rest of the time in the slot will be used for short discussion with questions, and for transition of speakers.

- The meeting room will be equipped with the Windows-based computer connected to the projection system. Native aspect ratio of the projector screen is 4:3. Only VGA video connector is available. HDMI connectors/adapters will not be provided. Please plan to use the provided computer, and not to connect your own computer to the projection system. Bring your presentation as PPT(X) or PDF for upload. Videos should either be embedded into the slides, or physically be supplied together with the presentation document.

- It is of ultimate importance (!) that you check your presentation is uploaded to the presenting PC and functional, well before the session starts (at latest during the break preceding your session). Also, it is important to get acquainted with the technical system. The technical staff will be waiting at the presenting desk to assist you.

Poster presentations:

- Posters should be prepared in the portrait (upright) layout. Max. dimensions of A0 format (841 x 1189 mm) can be accommodated, however, for the best fit to the available space, the height less than 1100 mm is recommended.

- The posters will be attached directly to the concrete wall in the "Aquarium" room, using adhesive tape which will be supplied by the organizers. The poster places will be marked by your paper code from the final version of the program (to be handed at the conference). Therefore do not print any paper code on the poster, as it might change according to program updates. Please respect your designated space.

- The posters can be mounted on Sunday 09/09 from 16-20h, when the registration will also be open, or on Monday, prior to the poster session. The posters can stay mounted until the end of the conference, after that they will be taken down and thrown away.

- The same room, "Aquarium", will also be used for coffee breaks and lunches, so your poster will be visible throughout the conference.

Paper/abstract final version: must be uploaded in PDF format via EDAS submission system, along with the filled-in and signed copyright form.

PDF:

For the final version, your PDF must comply to the:

1) EMF-Med template;

2) requirements for postprocessing.

Please observe and follow the detailed instructions on how to produce a compliant PDF.

Each Paper must be accompanied by a signed copyright form, as a prerequisite for publication. (Not applicable to Abstracts.)

Due to existence of two different tracks in one conference (but only one copyrighted and sent for indexing), the conference is configured so that copyright is transferred to the organizer, FESB, who has the agreement with IEEE as a permitted (licensed) user, to send Papers for indexing in IEEE Xplore®.

The Copyright Form can be downloaded as editable Word document, or as PDF. Put your name and signature (either put the scanned signature, or scan the entire hand-signed document), and save the signed copyright form as PDF, to upload it in EDAS.

EDAS:

Upload the paper/abstract final version PDF to EDAS, using the link below.

You will be asked for the paper presenter.

If uploading a Paper, in EDAS go to your paper record, select the "+" sign under "Copyright form" and upload your signed Copyright Form.

Start the submission

Further information for authors

All submissions must be written in English.
All submissions will be peer-reviewed for technical content, originality and significance, relevance to the conference, and presentation quality.
All submissions should provide sufficient material for the review.
All submissions will be checked by an automatic plagiarism detection tool.
For all submissions, one of the authors must be registered to the conference for the accepted paper/abstract to be listed in the technical program.

Indexing in

The conference Proceedings containing the papers (but not the abstracts, as explained above) will be submitted to the IEEE Xplore® Digital Library. The indexed papers will be permanently accessible there starting soon after the conference, and subsequently accessible in other major indexing and databases as well.

Call for Papers for a Focus Issue of the Bioelectromagnetics journal dedicated to EMF-Med 2018

We are pleased to inform you that the conference will be followed by a Focus Issue of the Bioelectromagnetics journal (published by Wiley, IF: 1.933), dedicated to EMF-Med 2018 conference.

The Focus Issue will publish a selection of peer-reviewed papers, submitted as journal manuscripts originating from the conference (i.e. extending the conference paper/abstract into a journal manuscript).
The submitted manuscripts must have less than 30% duplication with EMF-Med 2018 conference paper/abstract.
Authors will be invited to submit the journal manuscript upon expressing their interest to do so, and upon the assessment of the Review Editor: Antonio Šarolić. The authors will be able to express their interest during the conference paper/abstract submission process.
The journal manuscript will undergo a standard peer-review process, followed by the final decision of the Editor-in-Chief.
The Focus Issue papers may cover any of the listed conference topics.
Bioelectromagnetics journal publishes reports of completed studies, not preliminary investigations, results, speculations, research agenda, or project proposals.

Announcement for COST EMF-MED authors and participants

Don't forget: Add COST EMF-MED acknowledgment to your manuscripts according to these instructions!

Further information:

COST-specific announcements for COST Action EMF-MED participants (including the reimbursement policy) will be distributed through COST EMF-MED mailing list, and on COST EMF-MED web site.
On the same site, interested conference attendees from EU countries can get more information about their potential participation in COST Action EMF-MED.
EMF-Med 2018 conference will incorporate COST-related events, including the MC Meeting.

Travel and Accommodation

Split is a highly popular tourist destination, served by Split Airport. With ever increasing popularity of the destination, there is a wide selection of airlines during the summer season (September included).

September is high season for tourist visits, so plan your accommodation as early as possible.

Weather

Split is situated at the Adriatic coast and features a typical Mediterranean climate with warm summers. September is practically a summer month, providing plenty of beach time with more pleasant temperatures (less heat) than July and August (see weather statistics).

Tourist info

Tourist Board of Split: official website

Tourist Board of Dalmatia: official website

Tourist Board of Croatia: official website

Split: Awarded Croatia's Best City Break Destination and Best Destination of the Year 2017

Centrally located on the Adriatic coast and well connected, Split provides the most convenient base to visit nearby beatiful Dalmatian islands, national parks, and other popular destinations like Dubrovnik, Trogir, Sibenik, Zadar etc.