Biomedical Engineering in Latin America and CORAL

Jorge E. Monzon
Department of Electrical Engineering, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste,
Corrientes, Argentina
jemonzon@exa.unne.edu.ar

Abstract
The Latin American Regional Council on Biomedical Engineering . CORAL- was founded in 1991 through the initial co-sponsorship of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering and the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. The mission of CORAL is to foster Biomedical Engineering in Latin America and the Caribbean. Over the last decade, the main achievement of CORAL was transforming a sparse distribution of BME engineers into national societies and IEEE.EMBS chapters in Latin America, leading to national, regional and international activities of professional, scientific and technical relevance.

The Organization

The mission of the Latin American Regional Council on Biomedical Engineering . CORAL- as stated in its constitution, is to foster Biomedical Engineering in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The acronym CORAL comes from its denomination in Spanish: Consejo Regional de Ingenieria Biomedica para America Latina. This independent body was founded through the initial co-sponsorship of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers / Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE/EMBS). CORAL is formed by representatives of the National Societies and EMBS Chapters in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The objectives of CORAL are (a) to foster, promote and encourage the development of research, student programs, publications, professional activities and joint efforts; (b) to coordinate activities within the region, such as scientific meetings, courses, and seminars, in order to obtain full advantage of them and to improve the efficiency, promoting and encouraging joint events; (c) to act as a communication channel within the region among national societies, chapters, groups or individuals active in the field, and between these organizations and the national and international societies on Biomedical Engineering; also, to improve and/or create communication channels between societies, laboratories, hospitals, industries, universities, and other groups in Latin America and the Caribbean; and (d) to serve as a consultative organization to IFMBE, IEEE/EMBS, or any national or international agency in all matters related to Biomedical Engineering in the region.

The membership of CORAL is composed of the following groups: (1) national societies of Biomedical Engineering, affiliated with the IFMBE, from countries in Latin America and the Caribbean; (2) national societies of Biomedical Engineering in Latin America and the Caribbean countries that do not have a society affiliated with the IFMBE, but share the common objectives of CORAL, with the provision that there cannot be more than one such society as a member from any one country; (3) societies or joint IEEE Chapters of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society from countries in IEEE Region 9 (Latin America and the Caribbean); (4) sponsoring organizations, either a regional or international professional society, government agency, or non-profit organization with a demonstrated interest in activities in biomedical engineering in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The activities of CORAL are managed by an Administrative Committee. To provide parity among members, the AdCom of CORAL is composed of: (a) the President of each of the national societies in Latin America and the Caribbean affiliated to IFMBE; (b) the Chairperson of each of the IEEE Chapters in Latin America and the Caribbean affiliated to EMBS; (c) the President of each national society of biomedical engineers in countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that do not have a society affiliated to IFMBE; (d) the designated representatives of each co-sponsoring organization.

Where possible and as appropriate, CORAL works through its national societies, EMBS Chapters, and sponsoring organizations. Each National Society, Chapter and sponsoring organization follows its own Constitution and bylaws.

The Beginning

Although conversations started back in 1988, it was not until 1990 when Robert M. Nerem (IFMBE President), Charles J. Robinson (EMBS President) and Max E. Valentinuzzi (EMBS Region 9 Representative and IFMBE Developing Countries Committee member) formally discussed the idea of a regional board on Biomedical Engineering for Latin America. The first meeting, dedicated to analyzing the shape and scope of the board within the region, was held in October 1990 in the town of Vaquerias, province of Cordoba, Argentina, within the frame of the VII Argentine Congress on Bioengineering. Attending this meeting were Max E. Valentinuzzi and Jorge E. Monzon (Argentina), Carlos Holzmann Poisson (Chile), Angel Zapata Ferrer (Mexico), Fernando Mora (Venezuela), Oscar Zuloaga, Rafael Fraga (Uruguay) and ExCom members of the Argentine Society of Bioengineering.

A second meeting took place in Mexico and lasted for a few days. On May 6th, 1991, at the Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia in Mexico City, a constitution for CORAL was signed and ratified by Enrique Buzo Cordova as president of SOMIB (Mexican Society of Biomedical Engineering); Walter Celso de Lima as Chairman of the EMBS Chapter South Brazil; Carlos Holzmann Poisson as President of SOCHIB (Chilean Society of Biomedical Engineering); Jorge E. Monzon as Secretary of SABI (Argentine Society of Bioengineering); Robert M. Nerem as President of IFMBE; German Oliveros Villamizar as Delegate for Colombia; Carlos Peres da Costa as Delegate of SBEB (Brazilian Society of Biomedical Engineering); Charles J. Robinson as President of IEEE/EMBS; Max E. Valentinuzzi as President of SABI and Angel Zapata Ferrer as Chairman of the EMBS Chapter Mexico. Also a provisional set of bylaws was then adopted. Bylaws were ratified at the following meeting of the AdCom, a year later in the city of Parana, province of Entre Rios, Argentina (September 29th, 1992).

Latin American countries have common ethnical, cultural, religious and idiomatic roots and at the political and economical levels some regional endeavours have been in progress for some time. Based on these facts, such a homogenous region would show more proclivity toward success for any regional initiative. However, giving birth to and consolidating CORAL as a regional board in Biomedical Engineering was not an easy task. Marked nationalisms, strong leadership of some countries due to higher development in the field of BME (i.e. Argentina, Brazil, Mexico), conceptual disagreements for the technical terminology and scope of the field account for some of the variables that were needed to be worked on in lengthy discussions over the first years. The organization is finally consolidated. Its Executive Committee composition .as indicated by the Bylaws. exhibits reasonable equanimity in national representations. Bylaws also guarantee that officer positions are open to every country, on a rotational basis.

Over the years, CORAL has been presided over by Max E. Valentinuzzi (Argentina, 1991-1994), Carlos Peres da Costa (Brazil, 1995-1996), Adriana Velazquez (Mexico, 1997-1998) and Jorge E. Monzon (Argentina, 1999-2001). Current President is Fernando Catelli Infantosi (Brazil, 2002-2004) and President Elect is Susana Llanusa Ruiz (Cuba, 2005-2007).

Accomplishments

The most important achievement of CORAL as a regional organization was transforming a sparse distribution of biomedical engineers in Latin America into formal national societies and EMBS chapters. This transformation, quite distant from the scenery in the '80s, led in the '90s to national, regional and international activities of professional, scientific and technical relevance.

A group of enthusiastic leaders -encouraged by CORAL ExCom members-, strongly supported the founding of societies and chapters in different countries. Horacio Venturino and Sergio Basalo developed the bioengineering chapter of the Biosciences Society of Uruguay. Although unsuccessfully, the late Carlos Lo-pez Arriola was to establish a society in Paraguay in 1992(not sense). In Venezuela, Fernando Mora and Rosana Esteller, from the Simon Bolivar University and Diego Gonzalez from the Universidad de los Andes launched the Venezuelan Society of Bioengineering.

The Colombian Association of Bioengineering, under the leadership of Isnardo Torres, was founded in 1995 and immediately became affiliated to the IFMBE. Luis Vilcahuaman and Enrique Durand strengthened the Peruvian Association of Biomedical Engineering. A joint EMBS Chapter in Venezuela was due to the contributions of Ricardo Silva, Rodrigo Mijares and Luis Lara. A recently established EMBS chapter in Peru was added to the list in Region 9.

In the last years, many observers attended the Administrative Committee meetings of CORAL. They have expressed their interest and are leading the process of organizing biomedical engineering societies and chapters in Ecuador, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

Attempts to publish a Latin American Journal of Bioengineering were unsuccessful. CORAL members coincided rather in opening their established national publications to authors and papers from all over the continent. This policy turned into stronger national publications currently distributed among universities and libraries in Latin America.

The Revista Argentina de Bioingenieria is edited by Ricardo Taborda and published by SABI since 1995. There are some older publications. The Mexican Journal of Biomedical Engineering reached its highest ranking among scientific journals in Mexico under the direction of Emilio Sacristan. Jurandir Nadal re-designed an old engineering magazine in Brazil and set up the Brazilian Journal of Biomedical Engineering, a publication known for the quality of its contents and for its international citations. The Cuban Society of Bioengineering offers an electronic on-line version of its magazine.

Special issues of the international journals Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine (1992) and Medical Progress through Technology (1994) were dedicated to Latin America, under the auspices of CORAL members.

Formal exchange programs for teachers and students followed conversations initiated rather casually within CORAL meetings.

The universities of Rio de Janeiro and of Santa Catarina in Brazil, and the Autonomous University of Mexico in Iztapalapa are well known for their fellowships conferred on students from other Latin American countries. The Pontificial University of Peru developed its graduate program in Biomedical Engineering with the help of teachers from the National University of Tucuman, Argentina. Cuban professors from the Instituto Superior Jose Antonio Echavarria teach in Venezuela on a regular basis. The University of Entre Rios in Argentina has common research projects with Mexico and Cuba, which include dual supervision of student theses. The Universidad de Valparaiso in Chile, exhibiting a recent BME undergraduate program, sponsors its students to pursue graduate studies in Argentina. Faculty members of the Favaloro University in Buenos Aires share teaching and research programs with colleagues in Uruguay.

Early in 1992, members of CORAL agreed not to hold meetings of the Administrative Committee unless they were to take place within the frame of a national scientific or technical event. This decision facilitated not only the attendance of delegates at AdCom, but also their presentations of lectures and papers to these national events, which turned into Latin American symposia, now integrated to national events when AdCom meets.

Importantly, the regional status mentioned above was gained by national meetings held in towns distant from the capital cities: Vaquerias and Oro Verde in Argentina, Florianopolis in Brazil, Bucaramanga in Colombia, Durango in Mexico, and Valencia in Venezuela.

Also, some countries held the first occurrence of a Biomedical Engineering event on the occasion of a CORAL AdCom meeting. Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela, Peru and Chile are such examples.

Promoting international activities on BME was key to CORAL's role in Latin America, as was the supporting of national events.

CORAL organizes -every three years- the Latin American Congress on Biomedical Engineering, a major event for the region. The first congress took place on November 1998 in the city of Mazatlan, located in north-western Mexico. The second congress was held in Havana, Cuba on May 2001 and the third edition -on September 2004- in Joao Pessoa, Brazil. Each of these meetings was attended by nearly 500 engineers and students. The fourth Latin American Congress is programmed for Venezuela, in 2007.

The IFMBE World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering (Rio de Janeiro, 1994) and the 25th Annual International Conference of the IEEE-EMBS (Cancun, Mexico, 2003) are somehow the outcome of CORAL members. requests before those international Biomedical Engineering societies.

Facing the future

Clearly, CORAL represents a turning point for Biomedical Engineering in Latin America. The last ten years show the strengthening of an increasing number of professional and academic activities in the region, including formalization of exchange programs for students as well as higher quality publications.

Contributions of the co-sponsoring organizations, the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society and the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering, must also be credited for all of these achievements.

The 25th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, held in Cancun Mexico on September 2003 under the auspices of CORAL, has undoubtedly land marked a new era for Biomedical Engineering in Latin America, as was the case with the IFMBE World Congress in Rio in the mid '90s. Exposing the endeavours of professionals and students from the region before qualified international audiences will hopefully lead to a more protagonist participation of Latin Americans in worldwide events in the coming years.

Sources

  1. CORAL AdCom meetings minutes, 1991-2002
    http://akimpech.uam.mx/coral/docs_CORAL.html
  2. CORAL Constitution and Bylaws, 2001.
    http://akimpech.uam.mx/coral/docs_CORAL.html
  3. CORAL Executive Secretary archives, 1991-1996.
    http://akimpech.uam.mx/coral/docs_CORAL.html
  4. C. J. Robinson, private communications (EMBS President's reports), 1990-1991
  5. IFMBE internal reports, 1990-1996
    http://www.ifmbe.org
  6. J. E. Monzon, private communications, 1989-2002.
  7. J. E. Monzon, .CORAL y la integracion latinoamericana. (in Spanish), Revista Argentina de Bioingenieria, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 4.7, 1997.
  8. J. E. Monzon, "CORAL and its role in Latin America over the last decade", Proceedings of the 25th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Cancun, Mexico, 2003.
  9. M.E. Valentinuzzi, private communications, 1988-1995
  10. Revista Argentina de Bioingenieria
    http://www.ibi.herrera.unt.edu.ar/sabi/Revista/revista.htm
  11. Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Biomedica.
    http://www.peb.ufrj/rbeb
  12. Revista Mexicana de Ingenieria Biomedica.
    http://www.somib.org.mx