For the sixth time, the two Research Campuses M²OLIE (Mannheim Molecular Intervention Environment) and STIMULATE (Solution Centre for Image Guided Local Therapies) jointly organized the interdisciplinary “Image-Guided Interventions Conference” (IGIC), which was once again a complete success with almost 100 participants from science, medicine and industry.
The interdisciplinary conference traditionally addresses the latest developments in image-guided interventions and the use of artificial intelligence in medical decision-making processes. Every two years, the IGIC is held alternately at the locations of the two Research Campuses in Mannheim and Magdeburg. On October 19 and 20, M²OLIE invited participants to the modern development center CUBEX ONE, which is located directly next to the University Medical Center Mannheim on the Mannheim Medical Technology Campus.
A special technical focus this year was on the topic of “data analytics”, which is of outstanding importance in image-guided and robot-assisted interventions and is a current research focus of both Research Campuses. Both in Magdeburg and in Mannheim, innovative approaches are being researched within the framework of public-private partnerships in order to meet the increasing challenges of storing, evaluating and making available a large amount of data generated by patients during their hospital stay in diagnostics and therapy.
After the opening of the conference by the Mannheim congress presidents PD Dr. Isabelle Ayx and Dr. Sebastian Schäfer, Dr. Robert Krieg, Vice President of the MR Advanced Solutions & Therapy unit at Siemens Healthineers, kicked off the conference with his plenary talk on the latest methods in interventional radiology (Pioneering new approaches in IR). Further exciting lectures by internationally renowned experts on five different topics followed throughout the two days.
The exchange of ideas on an equal footing, not only between science and industry, but also between experts and young researchers, is one of the fundamental features of the success of the Research Campuses, in addition to their long-term character and commitment. At the conference, young scientists from various disciplines had the opportunity to speak on each of the five topics and present their latest findings in poster sessions. They were able to receive direct feedback from experts on core topics such as medical image analysis and computer-aided diagnosis, data analytics and radiomics, applications of photon counting CT, new developments in image-guided interventions, and virtual and augmented reality in medical imaging.
On the first day, a panel discussion highlighted the highly topical subject of “AI in medicine” from various perspectives. A presentation on innovations in medical devices with an introduction to the Medical Device Regulation (MDR) by Metecon GmbH rounded off the diverse program of the conference on the second day. The Magdeburg congress presidents PD Dr. Oliver Großer and Thomas Gerlach closed the conference with an invitation to attend the IGIC in Magdeburg in two years’ time. Over the years, the joint conference “Image-Guided Interventions” of M²OLIE and STIMULATE has become an established and important communication format for both Research Campuses. With its international orientation, the conference promotes exchange not only between the two public-private partnerships, but also beyond their respective boundaries.
