The future: technology-based medicine

At the annual conference for biomedical engineering, which took place in Haifa, the main trends in the interface between engineering and medicine were discussed

"Medical practice has not fundamentally changed in the last five hundred years," said Technion graduate Leonid Beckman, head of the Israel Institute of Innovation, at the annual conference on biomedical engineering held in Haifa. "The basic principle remains the same: when we are in pain, we go to the doctor. This approach - reactive medicine focused on saving lives - must be replaced by preventive, personalized medicine, which will improve our quality of life and be based on a very significant technological component. Haifa, as the place where medical technology was born in Israel, may lead this revolution."
The annual conference for biomedical engineering was held for the fourth year at the initiative of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion and ISMBE (the Israeli Association for Medical and Biological Engineering) and in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine by Rappaport and with the support of the Municipality of Haifa. The president of ISMBE, Dr. Mittal Zilberman from Tel Aviv University, stated that "Today, hundreds of people are members of the union, including doctors, scientists, engineers and industrialists, and the conference is our main annual event. Its main goal: promoting the field of biomedical engineering through a combination of industry and academia."
After the opening lectures at the conference (Leonid Beckman, Yaakov Domankevitz and Prof. Yosef Kost) there were three series of parallel sessions on the following topics: medical imaging, biomedical optics, tissue engineering, diagnosis and delivery of drugs using ultrasound, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, treatment of the cardiovascular system and more. The plenary lectures that closed the conference were signed by the CEO of the Haifa Economic Society, Or Shaf, Prof. Yoram Rudi from the University of Washington and Jonathan Jewitt, an entrepreneur who specializes in connecting the world of medicine with the field of information.

The fastest growing field

"This is the fourth conference in its current format," noted conference chairman Prof. Amir Landsberg, Dean of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion. "The number of participants is constantly increasing and the scope of the fields is expanding. This is the largest scientific and engineering conference in Israel in the field. One of the goals of the conference is to strengthen the cooperation between the medical academy, industry and our graduates. I would like to thank the great cooperation and help of Prof. Eliezer Shalu, the dean of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion, who works hard to promote and strengthen the cooperation between engineering and medicine. Three years ago we started a joint study program for a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering and medical sciences. The program, conducted by the two faculties, makes it possible to receive a doctor's degree after about 7 years, and this with the idea that these will be the engineers and doctors who will be at the forefront of developments in the future. I would like to thank the mayor, Mr. Yona Yahav, for making the idea a reality. The Municipality of Haifa and the Economic Society of Haifa have supported the conferences throughout the years from the concept that the field of life sciences and biomedical engineering can be a growth engine for the economy, society and medicine."
Prof. Landsberg added that "the field of biomedical engineering is a growth engine in the Western world and the leading field in the world in terms of its growth rate. In the next ten years, according to the US Department of Labor, the number of workers in this field will increase by 23%. The estimated growth rate in the field of medicine (doctors and surgeons) is 14% compared to 4% in all engineering professions. In Israel too, this is meteoric growth: within 15 years, the number of companies in the field increased from 200 to 1,400. This is an interdisciplinary industry, in which not only scientists and engineers participate, but also entrepreneurs and investors who see the enormous potential inherent in it."

Doctors who understand technology

The dean of the Rapaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion, Prof. Eliezer Shalu, said that the cooperation between the two faculties (medicine and biomedical engineering) is getting tighter in light of the understanding that technology is an important component in the current revolution in the world of medicine. "When the stethoscope was invented two hundred years ago, it was said that it was clumsy, that it kept the doctor away from the heart, and that it would harm the reliability of the examination. In other words, the very first biomedical start-up encountered resistance and suspicion - because doctors are a conservative public. We at the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion understand today that in addition to humanity and compassion, the doctors of the future will also need technological understanding. Paramedical professions are gradually replacing the doctor in certain positions, and the doctors will only be relevant if they bring added values ​​such as leadership and the correct use of technology and the enormous information accumulated today. We see great importance in the improvement and development of medical technologies for the benefit of all mankind. In our faculty, we also emphasize the importance of the interface between medicine and research, with the understanding that the doctor's role is not limited to treating the individual patient. The doctor is also obligated to contribute to the community he serves and to humanity as a whole, and he can bring this contribution as an entrepreneur and researcher."

In first place: Ina Kvitkowski

The poster competition held as part of the conference was won by doctoral student Ina Kwiatkovsky from the Technion. Second place went to Daria Amiad Pavlok, also from the Technion, and third place went to Rinat Lifshitz from Tel Aviv University.
Kvitkovsky, a doctoral student in the laboratory of Prof. Dvir Yelin from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion, researches sickle cell anemia - a genetic disease that affects blood flow and the transport of oxygen to the body's cells. In her research, conducted in collaboration with Prof. Eldad Dan from the Rambam Medical Center, Kvitkowski characterizes the morphology of the patients' blood cells in their natural environment. According to her, "imaging and characterizing these cells, while comparing them to mathematical models of the cell's shape, may help in understanding the causes of disease attacks and promote its treatment."
Daria Amiad Pavlov, who won second place, is studying for a doctorate under the guidance of the Dean of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion Prof. Amir Landsberg. In her doctoral thesis, Amiad Pavlov discovered that the variable responsible for synchronizing the activity of the heart cells is the shortening speed of the sarcomeres - the basic motor units of the heart muscle. This model, which has been verified in experiments, sheds light on a decades-long scientific debate and paves the way for the development of new assistive devices for the failing heart.

"Establish an Israeli FDA"

"Audacity is a key element in breakthroughs in medicine," said Jonathan Jewitt, who previously served as an advisor to the US President and the World Bank, "and you Israelis do not lack audacity, as do other factors that foster innovation: Unit 8200, the chief scientist, incubators and foundations venture capital."
Jewitt, who currently serves as a fellow at the Potomac Institute and as a professor at the John Hopkins School of Medicine, said that "however, there is a terrible bureaucracy in Israel that does not allow clinical trials to be conducted here. The time has come to establish an Israeli version of the FDA, which will allow entrepreneurs to translate an idea into a product here in Israel. In addition, the academy must change and reward students for entrepreneurial courage and innovation."