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1st European MBES Forum
Role of MBES in Europe
December 5th, 2002
The IFMBE working group, called ProTem Group, was assigned by the European biomedical engineering societies to build a
European Alliance in Medical and Biological Engineering and Science, EAMBES
(www.eambes.org).
In conjunction with the 2nd EMBEC'02 in Vienna, the ProTem Group organised the 1st European MBES Forum "Role of MBES in
Europe" with the main objective to bring the MBES community (societies, industry and academic programs) together as a
single entity capable of representing the biomedical engineering interests on the "Old Continent". The most important
goal of the future Alliance is to represent the unified MBES interests in front of the EU Parliament and Commission,
especially in defining the topics of interest of the 7th Framework Program.
At the Forum, organised in three sessions by Prof. Niilo Saranummi, the Chair of the ProTem Group, a number of
distinguished speakers presented the current European initiatives, namely the creation of the European Research Area, the
6th Framework Program and its new instruments, especially Networks of Excellence. The Forum continued the next day,
covering the creation of the European Higher Education Area in the form of a Special Session "Biomedical Engineering
Education Moving Towards European Harmonization: Initiatives and Experiences", organised by Prof. Joachim Nagel.
The first presentation,"Implementation of the European Research Area" by J. Grimson (and presented by N. Saranummi),
pointed out that in Europe only 1.8% of the GDP is spent in research, compared to much higher percentages in the USA
(2.8%) and Japan (2.9%). One of the institutions supporting interdisciplinary research, covering complex global,
environmental and health topics, is the European Research Advisory Board (EURAB). EURAB is a high-level, independent,
advisory committee created by the Commission to provide advice on the design and implementation of EU research policy.
Niilo also mentioned a possibility that the EU could start building another European institution, with the intention of
directing research in Europe and giving research grants.
Dr. Olivier le Dour spoke on "Implementation of the European Research Area through the instruments of the 6th Framework
Program". The changes in the 6th Framework, compared to previous ones, can be summarised in three statements: 6th FP are
of a larges scale, they are more focused, and more flexible rules are
implemented. The so-called "new instruments" of the
framework are: Integrated Projects, Networks of Excellence and Joint Implementations of National Research Programs. The
Call for proposals will identify which instruments are to be implemented and the priorities in research. The aim of the
Integrated Projects is to create knowledge of the Networks so as to create the critical mass necessary for successful
research. Biomedical engineering can be found (though not under that keyword) at several points of the 6th FP:
- Life sciences, Genomics and Biotechnology for Health, especially for healing cancer, producing new vaccines and in
the fight against poverty-related diseases, bioinformatics and radiotherapy for cancer
- e-Health, Informatics and Communications, in particular interest in the development of intelligent clothing and
implants, and software tools supporting health professions
- Nanotechnology, implemented in medical instruments for surgery and diagnostic systems
- Quality of life, with a focus on disabled people, especially HTA issues
- New and emerging science and technology (NEST)
- Structuring ERA through training and mobility
- ERA NET scheme, networking of research conducted at national and regional level
More information is to be found at www.cordis.lu
The Call for proposal was launched on December 17, 2002 with the deadline for proposal submission open until mid March 2003.
Mr. Philippe Loward, EUREKA National Project Co-ordinator, Bureau for International Research and Technology Co-operation
(BIT), Austria, presented the possibilities of "Implementation of the European Research Area through EUREKA". EUREKA is a
network for market-oriented research and development, supporting large strategic projects as well as traditional projects
led by small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). EUREKA projects are co-founded by national or regional public and private
sources. Its objectives are to develop and enhance competitiveness, business links, and to bring high quality R&D to the
market. EUREKA has a bottom-up approach and considers itself a non-bureaucratic organisation. More on EUREKA can be found at
www.eureka.be
Prof. J. Nagel spoke on the Implementation of the European Higher Education Area to vocational education in biomedical
engineering. He mentioned European projects that had already been implemented such as Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates,
and also the ECTS implementation (as the first steps of higher education reform can be seen in Europe based on the Bologna
declaration). The aim of the reform is to achieve and sustain competency in education. Regulation of professions in Europe
will be based on subject-based accreditation of educational institutions. Professional societies in BME will have an
important role in building the educational strategies at national and international level. The motto of modern education is
"freedom with responsibility".
Prof. J.-L- Coatrieux spoke on "National MBES related funding and focus activities". In France, in some BME research
centres the technological centres are being transferred to hospitals. This action is supported by the ministry of health
and research. The priority in planning future healthcare is in finding the right way to implement technology for an aging
population, regulating the cost to the health service. Due to globalisation, large companies are considerably influencing
the medical equipment market, which is about 10.000 MEur. Regulatory and quality assurance systems are in favour of large
companies as they form strong distribution channels. Therefore, the principle of evidence-based medicine should be strictly
implemented when assessing new health technologies.
Mr. Hannu Ahjopalo presented the audience with the Industry viewpoint to healthcare technology. He found that prerequisites
for the global success of BME companies, is in building a business model that works with a wide variety of healthcare
financing, in making the proposals to venture capitalists simple and easy to understand and in finding large target
markets. It was interesting to hear that in his opinion, very often, universities and publicly-funded research institutes
do not (know how to) protect their intellectual property. Long and fruitful discussion after the presentation showed how
important it is for BM engineers and researchers to make contacts with representatives of industry.
Prof. Stelios Orphanoudakis presented the ERCIM model as a model for collaboration in research. ECRIM stands for European
research consortium for informatics and mathematics. The principle of ERCIM (initially) is to accept membership of one
leading research institute from European countries. Until now, there are sixteen members in ERCIM. It supports fellowship
programs (postdoc), presents awards and sponsors events. More on ERCIM please find at
www.ecrim.org
European research networks in MBES were presented in the afternoon session of the Forum. The speakers were:
Dr. Marco Viceconti, Italy: BioNet and the VRLAB initiative
Dr. Claudia Riedel, Germany: EHeart
Dr. Christian Depeursinge: Switzerland: Tissue micro-diagnosis and imaging down to the cellular level: an opportunity for
future co-operation in the EU
Prof. Pablo Laguna, Spain: Biosignal interpretation and modelling
At the end of the Forum, Prof. Saranummi gave, on behalf of the ProTem Group, the progress report on the creation of the
European Alliance on Medical and Biological Engineering and Sciences. You can find a detailed report on the ProTem group
meeting in this Issue of the News.
Presentations from the 1st European MBES Forum are now available at
www.eambes.org
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