Technology meets medicine at the MMIV-conference
- Making people from the tech fields and the clinical fields merge efforts, is vital to improve patient treatment
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This week, the second annual MMIV Conference entitled "Convergence of medical data science for improved patient care” was held at Bikuben, Haukeland University Hospital.
- Mohn Imaging and Visualization Centre unites scientists and clinicians working closely together on machine learning, advanced medical visualization, neuroimaging and advanced cancer imaging, says Ingfrid Haldorsen, Professor in Radiology and Leader of the MMIV.
- The aim is to develop new and improved imaging tools to help patients get treatments that are customized to their exact needs and prognosis.
As the leader of the centre, Haldorsen has been planning this conference for almost a year, and emphasizes the importance of providing arenas where scientists with different expertise can meet, in order to promote the convergence of these sciences to the best for the patients.
- The first day, the over 150 participants listened to inspirational talks on subjects related to how the use of machine learning in medicine are likely to transform patient care. Making people from the tech fields and the clinical fields merge efforts, is vital to improve patient treatment.
Why visualization?
Visualization is all about providing visual representations of data to help carry out tasks more effectively, such as exploration, analysis or visual communication.
- As analysis becomes increasingly automated, visualization can also help build trust in the methods by keeping the user in the loop, rather than just giving a conclusion, says Noeska Smit.
Smit is an Associate Professor at the Medical Visualization group at the UiB Institute of Informatics, and affiliated to the MMIV as a senior researcher.
- All of the presentations so far have been really inspiring. The real highlight for me is reconnecting with people I've already met, as well as meeting new people attending the conference, says Smit.
Smit is optimistic about the MMIV conference's ability to inspire new collaborations, both nationally and internationally.
- In the interdisciplinary research we are involved in, meeting places like this are especially important, since existing conferences specific to the primary fields our researchers are in are typically not attended by an audience from such a variety of backgrounds.
The MMIV has monthly seminars, and regularly publish updates about their activities on Twitter and Facebook. You can also get updates by subscribing to the MMIV mailing list.
The Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Centre
The Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Centre (MMIV) was established as a collaboration between the University of Bergen and Haukeland University Hospital through financial support from the Trond Mohn Foundation (TMF). The purpose of the centre is to promote cross-disciplinary research related to state-of-the-art imaging equipment such as preclinical and clinical high field MRI, CT and hybrid PET/CT/MR in order to improve patient care.
