| In January 2009, the NSF
Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems
and Technology (CISST) based at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) hosted the
first Winter School on Medical Robotics and Computer-Integrated Interventional
Systems. During the week-long program, 19 internationally recognized faculty
and 38 students from around the world participated in an intensive short-course
that provided an introduction to the basic technology, systems, and research
themes in the emerging field of medical robotics and computer-integrated
interventional systems.
The first day of the course
was combined with the 10-year anniversary celebration for the CISST ERC
and included research overviews, laboratory demonstrations, and invited
lectures from Dr. Edward Miller, Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,
Dr. Jonathan Lewin, Chairman of the Johns Hopkins Radiology Department,
and Dr. Gary Guthart, President of Intuitive Surgical, Inc., as well as
an industry/clinician panel.
For the remainder of the
week, the students and faculty attended morning tutorial lectures. In the
afternoons, 25 of the students took a compressed version of Johns Hopkins’
“Surgery for Engineers” course, taught by Dr. Michael Marohn at JHU’s Minimally-Invasive
Surgery Training Center, while the rest participated in a mini-symposium
featuring additional “advanced topics” talks by the faculty. In the evenings,
all participants regrouped for poster presentations, dinner, and after-dinner
lectures.
CISST Center Director Russel
Taylor said, “The Winter School provided us with a superb opportunity to
showcase the accomplishments of the CISST ERC over its first ten years
while promoting the education of the next generation of researchers in
this emerging industry.” Further information may be found on the School’s
website at http://www.cisst.org/wiki/MRCIIS. |
