IFMBE HistoryThe International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE), in the nearly 40 years of its existence since its inauguration in 1958, has offered an important place and chance for the exchanging of scientific and technological knowledge of many researchers in the medical and biological engineering fields. Over these years, 18 world conferences were held. Furthermore, the Federation began the publication of a journal "Medical Electronics & Biological Engineering" in 1963. We now have 45 affiliated member societies representing more than 20,000 individual members in the world, with the inauguration having a small number of individuals. When Fumihiko Kajiya took office as the President of the IFMBE at the World Congress on Medical Physics and Medical Engineering in Brazil in 1994, he recognised the need for organising the 40-year history of the IFMBE into some form and proposed the publication of a special commemorative book to the Administrative Council (AC) members. Following the acceptance of the proposal, Masao Saito, Nandor Richter and Jack A. Hopps (two Past-Presidents and a Past-Secretary General) were asked to be the Editors and Keiichiro Mito to be an Associate Editor. All of them kindly accepted the offer. Masao Saito, the Editor-in-Chief, visited the University of Amsterdam, the office of the Secretary-General, and went through the archives of the Federation. Based on these findings he began the editing of the book with the assistance of Nandor Richter and Jack Hopps. The Editors also contacted the secretaries of IFMBE member societies for more information about the past, concerning both global and local issues related to medical and biological engineering. Keiichiro Mito met senior Japanese members who kindly contributed valuable photographs, brochures and other material. In addition, some members of the IFMBE who were visiting Japan at this time generously supported us in various ways. To finalise the job, Masao Saito, Fumihiko Kajiya and Keiichiro Mito met several times in Kurashiki. Just before the World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering in Nice in September 1997, the history book "Meeting Challenges in Medicine & Healthcare through Biomedical Engineering" was published. It retraces our history which was established by the great efforts and contribution of many pioneers in the medical and biological engineering field. The book is composed of three parts. Part I describes the Federation history, its organisation, etc. When we retrace the Federation history, we must remember many pioneers, particularly Prof. Vladimir K. Zworykin who pioneered in electronic television. Prof. Zworykin had travelled to a number of countries and met many researchers working in medical and biological engineering. He was officially recognised as "Founder President" of the Federation. The birth of the Federation was the result of contributions by many pioneers in addition to him. This story is told together with memorial photographs. The contents of this part include chapters on (1) Birth of the Federation, (2) Structure of the Federation, (3) Administration, (4) Conferences, (5) Publications, (6) International Liaisons, and (7) Special Activities. Part II contains supplementary material and memorial photographs relating to the world conferences and their organisations. For instance, a preparatory meeting and second IFMBE conference were held in Paris in 1958 and 1959, respectively. Photographs, such as the opening ceremony of the second conference, are included. The items covered in this part include: (1) International Conference Site and Photograph, (2) Regional Conferences, (3) Affiliated organisations, and (4) Map of Member Societies. Part III contains invited contributions from IFMBE members. The first section presents scientific reviews of some selected topics. The second section contains comments of our members concerning the future of the Federation. Nandor Richter and Makoto Kikuchi contributed an introduction and overview to these sections. This part will be important for young researchers in the MBE field. We want to express our sincere thanks to all those who contributed to the publication of the book, especially Jos Spaan, Orest Roy, Marijke Lensing-Kooiman and Sally Chapman, from the current and former Secretariat. Keith Copeland sent us many valuable photographs and his recollections of the earlier events of the Federation. We also thank Peter Rolfe for his invaluable comments during the production of the book. We are also grateful to the Japan Society of Medical Electronics and Biological Engineering (President: Akira Kamiya) for the encouragement and the financial support to publish the book. We thank Seiichi Mochizuki for his continuous support of editorial work. Finally, we wish to express our gratitude to Angela Kirsner and Richard Kirsner for their corrections to the manuscripts and valuable suggestions. The book is available at the cost of postage in single or multiple copies for instance for distribution in an MBE conference. If you are interested, please contact: Prof. Fumihiko Kajiya, Past-President of the IFMBE Department of Medical Engineering & Systems Cardiology, Kawasaki Medical School, 577 Matsushima, Kurashiki Okayama 701-0192, Japan. Tel: +81-86-464-0080; Fax: +81-86-463-2975 E-mail: kajiya@me.kawasaki-m.ac.jp Keiichiro Mito, Associate Editor. Fumihiko Kajiya, Kawasaki Medical School. | ||