Fifth Conference on Ultrasonic Biomicroscopy 2006

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal requests funds to permit 5 U.S.-based doctoral/post-doctoral students and 3 junior faculty researchers to attend and present their research at the Fifth International Conference on Ultrasonic Biomicroscopy (UBM), a conference dedicated to the rapidly developing field of high-resolution medical imaging, a discipline only partially addressed at other conferences. The UBM conference is held every 2 years by ad-hoc committees to stimulate further developments in UBM. UBM employs high-frequency (near 50 MHz) broadband transducers to provide in vivo resolution near 30 mu m. Examples of clinical applications being explored include: the anterior eye (to diagnose ocular tumors and glaucoma etiology); skin (melanomas, psoriasis, etc.); perfusion measurements; vascular-plaque vulnerability (via intravascular probes); and intrasurgical tissues. In vivo UBM examinations of genetically altered mice are permitting serial studies of developmental anomalies over time, without sacrificing animals. Very-high-frequency acoustic microscopy can examine living unstained cells with resolution at least comparable to optical microscopy. The UBM conference will convene on September 12-15, 2006 at the Institut d'Etudes Scientifiques in Cargese (on Corsica), France. Its goals are: assess the current state-of-the-art in UBM; foster communication among diverse multi-disciplinary UBM fields; identify key problems and solutions; share insights with experts in other high-resolution imaging modalities; and, foster an environment where young scientists and students can interact with more senior scientists. Participants include investigators with multidisciplinary expertise including: biomedical engineering, medical imaging, transducer fabrication, acoustics, and high-resolution animal and clinical applications. Experts in other high-resolution techniques will lend perspective regarding the ultimate role of UBM. Topics will include multidisciplinary UBM areas including: high-frequency transducer fabrication; new system concepts; scattering models and acoustic phenomena at UBM frequencies; 3-D UBM imaging; mice imaging; blood flow and plaque assays; clinical examinations (eye, skin, etc.); acoustic cell microscopy; complementary high-resolution modalities (e.g., OCT, special MRI units). Thus, the meeting should be of direct interest to various branches of NIH including NIBIB, NCI, NHLBI, and NEI.