12th International Conference on Biomedical Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography (University of Bath, UK, 4–6 May 2011)

Abstract

This focus issue of Physiological Measurement follows the successful 12th Conference on Biomedical Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT). The conference was held in the UK and hosted at the University of Bath. It was co-organized by Dr Manuchehr Soleimani from the University of Bath and Professor Eung Je Woo of Kyung Hee University.The conference provided a platform for investigators in all aspects of biomedical applications of EIT to engage in common areas of interest, whilst also allowing an opportunity for the community to broaden its outlook in the clinical applications and new technologies associated with this area of research. It focused on the medical applications of electrical impedance tomography, magnetic induction tomography, and magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography.This upholds the tradition of successful conferences on biomedical applications of EIT as was the case with the previous XIVth International Conference on Electrical Bio-Impedance (ICEBI) and the 11th Conference on Biomedical Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography. The conference was held in the United States and hosted at the University of Florida, Gainesville. It was co-organized by Dr Rosalind Sadleir from the University of Florida and Professor Eung Je Woo of Kyung Hee University. The 13th Biomedical Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography conference will be held in China in May 2012.This issue contains papers stemming from discussion and feedback during the conference in these research areas. It was also an opportunity for new researchers to join the community and propose recent innovations. There were over 80 oral papers presented at the conference, and all authors were invited to prepare new peer-reviewed papers for inclusion in this issue of Physiological Measurement. The manuscripts were put through a process of careful review before selection. A total of 13 were accepted covering an important range of topics. Of particular note is the paper by Adler et al (2012) that discusses both the current state of lung EIT and also its future direction. This issue also includes a review article by Nguyen et al (2012) that discusses the use of EIT for pulmonary perfusion imaging.The field of EIT imaging continues to provide researchers with new challenges and attract more researchers into this field, as evident by the number of attendees to this conference. A total of 120 delegates attended the conference. This wide participation shows a step change in interest in medical EIT imaging. In this conference we have seen a large number of clinical scientists attending, which further indicates the great excitement from the medical community for realization of EIT in a clinical setting. A range of important keynote speeches were presented in a 'Clinical Thoracic' session by Professor Brian Brown, Dr Stephan Böhm, and Dr Marc Bodenstein.The high quality of the research papers in this focus issue is clear evidence of the significant advances in the field.Richard Bayford and Manuchehr Soleimani Guest Editors ReferencesAdler A, Amato M, Arnold J H, Bayford R H, Bodenstein M, Böhm S, Brown B H, Frerichs I, Stenqvist O and Weiler N 2012 Whither lung EIT: where are we, where do we want to go, and what do we need to get there? Physiol. Meas. 33 679–94Nguyen D T, Jin C, Thiagalingam A and McEwanA L 2012 A review on electrical impedance tomography for pulmonary perfusion imaging Physiol. Meas. 33 695–706