Research in Imaging and health TechnologieS (RITS) is a biennial conference dedicated to Biomedical Engineering. This year, the event took place in Lyon from March 27th to March 29th and was fully organized by the French Society of BioMedical Engineering, the SFGBM (Société Française de Génie Biologique et Médical). This new edition was very successful with more than 200 persons attending the meeting.
The RITS conference aims at gathering the research community from all disciplines working in BioMedical Engineering. It represents a unique opportunity to increase exchanges between specialists in different fields including mathematicians, physicists, chemists, computer scientists, medical doctors. Beyond the presentation of the most recent research works, this three-day meeting favors interdisciplinary collaborations and networking.
For the 2017 edition of RITS, young researchers, mainly PhD or MSc students were invited to submit a paper to IRBM before the meeting. A total of 13 papers were submitted and followed the standard review process. The present issue presents a total of ten papers, which have been accepted for publication and reflects the interdisciplinary of biomedical engineering.
The RITS was also the opportunity to organize a networking event for PhD students in imaging, supported by the FINYS association (French Imaging Network of Young Scientists/France Life Imaging). Another key point for young researchers at the RITS conference was the “Prix de Thèse en Génie Biologique et Médical”, the French annual prizes for the best PhDs in Biomedical Engineering. This edition was open to doctors having defended their thesis in 2016. The Research Award was attributed to Doctor Matthieu Le for his work entitled “Brain tumor growth modeling: application to radiotherapy”, done at INRIA in Nice. The second place was attributed to Doctor Zhouye Chen for her work entitled “Reconstruction of enhanced ultrasound images from compressed measurements”, done at IRIT in Toulouse. The Innovation Award, which was created for encouraging technology transfer of innovative medical technologies to industry, was attributed to Doctor Rosalie Plantefeve for her work entitled “Augmented reality and numerical simulation for resection of hepatic tumor”, done at INRIA in Lille in collaboration with Altran company. The second place was attributed to Doctor Mafalda Correia for her work entitled “4D ultrafast ultrasound flow imaging: in vivo quantification of flow rate”, done at Institut Langevin in Paris. All the laureates have been warmly congratulated and are invited to submit a publication in IRBM.
The RITS conference was also associated with a closing meeting of the ANR projects that had been selected in 2013 by the TecSan (Technologies for Health) committee. Review papers, following this meeting, will be published in IRBM in the next few months.
The RITS conference was finally the opportunity for the SFGBM to honor a scientist. This year, Doctor Dominique Cathignol received the Claude Fourcade Award, in recognition for his high contribution to Biomedical Engineering. You will find a particular praise for this remarkable researcher in this issue.
