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3 Nov 2006 11:05:47
Computer experts from the University of Bedfordshire will host a conference in Brussels next week which will bring together medical researchers from across the globe in a bid to revolutionise patient health care.
The conference, “Towards the Virtual Physiological Human”, will be held at the University of Brussels, from 5 to 7 November, where issues surrounding the biggest project of its kind, to create a multi-scale model of the human body, will be discussed.
The Centre for Computer Graphics and Visualisation (CCGV) at the University is co-ordinating the STEP project (Strategy Towards the EuroPhysiome), which aims to define how Europe can create a Virtual Physiological Human – a model of the human body from the genome right down to cell level, including organs, bones, muscles and skin, using the latest forms of grid technology currently being developed.
The £1m project is part of supported by the European Commission and the University is working with partners across Europe including Oxford University, University College London and the French National Research Centre.
Professor Gordon Clapworthy (photo), Director of the Institute for Research in Applicable Computing at the University of Bedfordshire, said: “It is a great achievement for the University to have been selected to co-ordinate STEP with such a distinguished set of partners and organise the international conference, where so many of the most prestigious speakers in the world of physiome research have agreed to speak.
“We are pulling together data from hundreds of researchers from across the globe to define a coherent perspective for the EuroPhysiome, which is a term we have coined to describe an integrated European approach to the multi-scale modelling of the human physiome, which will change the way health care is practised and will help to accelerate advances in medical research.”
It is envisaged the technology will radically change the way health professionals from around the world undertake their work. GPs will be able to feed personal data about a patient into the generic template of the body stored on the computer system, which will provide them with a diagnosis.
Doctors can use the system to investigate if a particular combination of drugs can address a medical issue and experiment to see how the individual will react to different doses. This will help to tune the treatment to achieve the optimal outcome.
Doctors can also feed the results of lab tests and medical images into the system, and be given an indication of the likelihood of the patient developing a serious condition, enabling preventative treatment to start at a much earlier stage.
The conference will allow for some of the issues surrounding the project to be resolved, including the resources required to fund the project; the ethical, legal and gender issues in creating the hi-tech system and storing patient data; and research challenges and how will they be overcome.
The STEP project team aim to produce a roadmap defining the future direction of the EuroPhysiome by March 2007.
Professor Clapworthy added: “The conference is a fundamental stepping stone on the road to completing that work, which the University is proud to be leading.”
For further information about the STEP project please call Prajay Kamat in CCGV on 01582 743717 or email prajay.kamat@beds.ac.uk or visit www.europhysiome.org
Latest news» 2006» Nov» University leads patient health care revolution
