TMJ Bioengineering Conference

颞下颌关节（TMJ）或下颌关节是人体最复杂的关节之一。尽管有大量的患者和与大量TMJ疾病相关的显著发病率，但与骨科界感兴趣的关节相比，TMJ的研究很少。与骨科社区不同，在TMJ研究社区中，工程师、科学家和临床医生之间没有组织的连续性。针对这种明显缺乏协调开放沟通的情况，我们建议召开TMJ生物工程会议。TMJ生物工程会议定于2006年5月25日至27日在科罗拉多州博尔德附近举行。这次会议将是此类会议的第一次，将患者和外科医生聚集在一起，向生物工程师提供具体的指示。会议的总体目标是为生物工程师提供一个独特的论坛，与临床医生和患者交流思想和观点，努力确定当代TMJ疾病治疗的挑战，并制定生物工程应对这些挑战的策略。这一目标将通过以下具体目标来实现：1)从临床社区获得生物工程指令；

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ), or jaw joint, is one of the most complex joints in the body. Despite the tremendous patient population and the significant morbidity related to a plethora of TMJ disorders, the TMJ has been poorly studied in comparison to joints of interest to the orthopaedic community. Unlike the orthopaedic community, there is no organized continuity between engineers, scientists and clinicians in the TMJ research community. In response to this striking lack of coordinated open communication, we are proposing to hold a TMJ Bioengineering Conference. The TMJ Bioengineering Conference is scheduled for May 25-27, 2006 near Boulder, CO. This meeting will be the first of its kind, bringing patients and surgeons together to deliver specific directives to bioengineers. The overall meeting objective is to provide a unique forum for bioengineers to exchange ideas and perspectives with clinicians and patients, in an effort to identify contemporary challenges with treating TMJ disorders and to devise strategies to address these challenges with bioengineering. This objective will be addressed by the following Specific Aims: 1) To obtain bioengineering directives from the clinical community, 2) To incorporate into these bioengineering directives needs as identified by representatives of the patient population, and 3) To set a benchmark for current state-of-the-art treatments and scientific knowledge. We have selected the premiere groups of surgeons and patients to issue the directives of aims 1 and 2?the president of the American Society of TMJ Surgeons will deliver a keynote address based on a consensus of priority issues formulated at their annual meeting, and the president of the TMJ Association patient organization will deliver a keynote address based on previous meetings and decades of experience and interaction with TMJ patients. A benchmark for contemporary knowledge of the TMJ will be assessed by 38 speakers in sessions on tissue engineering, biomechanics, biology and clinical treatment. Dissemination of these directives and a summary of salient discussions will be featured in an article that will go to the Annals of Biomedical Engineering, the official journal of the main bioengineering professional society, the Biomedical Engineering Society. There is a compelling need for this conference, which will set the stage not only for future TMJ-specific bioengineering meetings, but will also serve as a milestone expansion in TMJ research by developing continuity, fostering collaborations, and drawing more talent to the field.