COMPUTATIONAL SURGERY MODELING AND SIMULATION

Level: From undergraduate to graduate in engineering, sciences, mathematics and medicine.

September 2011

Host institution: Biomedical Engineering Department of International University of Vietnam National Universities - HCMC. Time: The course will begin in September 2011 (the exact date and time will be announced) and span over 2 semesters: 1st semester: lecture on-site and via video-conferencing system (2 sessions of 90 per week) 2nd semester: project driven under the guidance and supervision from US and requires weekly meeting.

Instructors: - Marc Garbey, PhD. Professor, University of Houston http://www2.cs.uh.edu/~garbey/ recipient of the U.S. Faculty Scholar Program of the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF) - Roger Tran Son Tay, PhD. Professor, University of Florida http://www.mae.ufl.edu/cellmech/ - And their U.S. associates. Content: The purpose of this course is to help participants to gain practical knowledge in computational science and its applications in surgery, including imaging, robotics and medical informatics. Fundamentals of modeling and simulation start from a review of breast cancer/lung cancer and endovascular diseases. Modeling and simulation will be described at the cellular level with cellular automate/agent based model, and at the macroscopic model with chemo taxis, fluid dynamics, soft tissue mechanics and bio-heat transfer. The course will cover the major medical applications of those models and include numerous interactions with practicing radiologists and surgeons at the Methodist Hospital, Houston, USA. The course will end up on: The system biology approach that can integrate multi-modeling and simulation components all together. A discussion on how medical imaging and medical robotics can take advantage of simulators.

What is computational surgery? Computational Surgery is the investigations and applications of two important tools: Modeling and Simulation as well as other engineering technologies in the surgical acts. The future of surgery is intrinsically linked to the future of computational sciences: the medical act will be computer assisted at every single step, from planning to post-surgery recovery and through the surgical procedure itself. Computational surgery will not only improve the efficiency and quality of surgery, but will also give new access to very complex operations that require extreme precision and minimum intrusion. Modeling and Simulation have more to do with how things work, and how one can evaluate the effect of surgery. What do I gain in taking this course? Upon completion of this course, you will be able to learn and implement different models and numerical simulation methods related to basic problems in surgery related to cancer or endovascular diseases. You will: Understand the surgical process from diagnostics, planning intervention to post-surgery monitoring applied to cancer and endovascular diseases. Understand the role of modeling and the concept of validation in the context of surgery. Understand the design of simulation and the concept of solution verification. Understand how medical images can be assimilated by simulation to a specific patient. Understand how medical robotics can take advantage of simulators. Understand how to extract the relevant simulation information to the surgeon. Practice the simulations on computer. Be able to develop interdisciplinary collaborations between surgeons and computational scientists. Be able to complete a practical project and carry on further scientific research. Receive a Certificate of course completion, if you fulfill all requirements.

Who can participate? This course is for undergraduates and graduates in Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics and Medical doctors or by consent. The course will be taught in English so decent English proficiency is a must. How much do I need to pay and is there any scholarship? US$300 for each semester. Upon request, participants with good final grades will receive a partial scholarship. How can I sign up for the course? For signup and questions, email Mr. Nguyen Bao Toan, nbtoan@hcmiu.edu.vn.