Ninth National Conference on Biomedical Physics and Engineering
with international participation
October, 14-16th 2004, Sofia. Bulgaria
Organized by the Bulgarian Society of Biomedical Physics and Engineering (BSBPE)
(www.usb-bg.org/Bg/BG_society_of_biomedical_.htm),
the regular National Conference, held every 4 years, took place on the premises of the National Centre of Hygiene,
Medical Ecology and Nutrition. The National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiological Protection (NCRRP), the Nuclear
Regulatory Agency (NRA), the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria (USB) and the Centre of Biomedical Engineering "Prof.
Ivan Daskalov" (CBE) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences were the co-organizers and co-sponsors. Under the slogan
"Through Quality Toward a Better Health Care" the meeting attracted serious international interest and participation
(15 attendees from 9 countries from 3 continents).
In his opening speech the Conference President Prof. M. Israel emphasized the ever increasing role of the medical physicists
in the assurance of medical care (diagnostics and therapy) and the growing importance assigned to this scientific
event. Greeting addresses have been presented by the USB, NRA, the Bulgarian Association of Radiology, the IRPA, EMBEC and
other official sites.
Prof. F.-E. Stieve from the Federal Nuclear Safety Agency of Germany presented the keynote lecture on "Quality Assurance
in Diagnostic Radiology and the Role of the Medical Physicist in this Process".
A detailed plenary expose by Prof. R. Magjarevic, Secretary General of the IFMBE, focused on the role and significance
of the international nongovernmental organizations, especially the IFMBE and the EAMBES, in our days.
Of the nearly 100 submitted abstracts 71 have been selected for oral (29) and poster (41) presentations
(with 14 co-authors from 12 countries from 5 continents), classified in 8 tracks: "Quality Assurance" (QA),
"Non-ionizing Radiation" (NIR), "Medical Physics" (MP), "Biophysics and Radiobiology" (BP & RB), "Radiation Protection"
(RP), "Biomedical Engineering" (BME), "Ecology" and "Training/Education". In following the world trends in the field
under consideration special attention was drawn to quality assurance (diagnostics and therapy): the implementation of
the European criteria in diagnostic imaging and some modern attempts for control and assessment. The next track "NIR"
mainly concentrated on the results and the further efforts in realizing the international project on electromagnetic
fields "WHO-EMF".
A state-of-the-art symposium on "Diagnostic Reference Levels and Patient at Medical Exposure" was followed by a
round-table discussion where the keynote lecturer, Prof. Stieve, presented approaches and techniques to reduce the
medical irradiation (in Germany up to 4 times) being acknowledged and introduced in the practice of the leading
European countries. Dr. J. Vassileva from NCRRP reported about the Bulgarian experience in this domain and the
principal conclusions of the recently terminated Project under the PHARE-Program. The overview about PET and PET/CT from
Prof. E. Piperkova and Dr. R. Georgiev (National Oncological Centre) offered the modern trends and the possibilities to
bring this technology into the Bulgarian practice.
In the scope of the symposium a seminar about modernization of conventional X-ray equipment has been held where a
broad-facetted audience has been introduced to methods and tools for quality assurance and reduction of patient exposure.
Track "MP" was predominantly dedicated to diverse aspects in radiotherapy and certain novelties, introduced under
local conditions.
Both tracks "BME" and "BP&RB" were devoted to concrete topics under research in the CBE and the NCRRP subject to
collaboration of many young specialists.
Although with less numerous papers, Track "RP" outlined actuality and was supported by the industry exposition on
measuring and control equipment.
Track "Ecology" demonstrated the study and the efforts made to diminish the health risk for the population including the
influence from the environment.
Special attention was drawn to the Workshop on Education and Training of the medical physicists and biomedical engineers
and particularly on their accreditation and defense as professionals. In a great number of contributions the international
and the Bulgarian experience was shared and recommendations have been made:
- BSBPE to continue the efforts in setting up a national system for accreditation and certification for these
professionals.
- A national discussion on this topic to be organized in due time in order to accelerate its implementation into the
practice.
For the first time a Prize "Professor Ivan Daskalov" for the most outstanding young scientist at the Conference has
been constituted, sponsored by the CBE. After a severe selection the Jury unanimously decided to grant it to Mr. D.
Zvetanov for his presentation of the paper "The Influence of Powerful Electromagnetic Disturbances when Registering
and Transmitting Biomedical Signals".
The Proceedings have been published prior to the Conference and are available at the Society’s Library at the NCHMEN.
Also for the first time the Conference has been accredited with the corresponding credit points by the Union of
The Scientific-Medical Societies in the common manner.
The scientific program was extremely dense; strictly organized, the sessions enjoyed an interactive attendance of a large
number of specialists from all over the country. The ever increasing number of papers and topics, the more and more
complex and sophisticated research work was respected by the attendees, also the broader participation of young
colleagues – a warranty for success in the future.
Summing up, it should be underlined that the Ninth National Conference on BPE was a respectable continuation of the
tradition, followed for years and unifying the efforts of physicists and engineers in medicine, and qualitatively a new,
higher stage in the development of this multidisciplinary field of science and technology as well as a remarkable
event in the Month of Science October 2004.
Detailed information about the scientific and the cultural programs on the web:
www.bnsa.bas.bg/bg9conf/
Athanas Slavchev, Prof. Dr.
BSBPE National Secretary
Email: a.slavchev@ncrrp.org
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