14th International Conference on Electrical Bioimpedance and the 11th International Conference on Biomedical Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography (University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, 4–8 April 2010)

Abstract

This issue of Physiological Measurement follows the successful 14th International Conference on Electrical Bioimpedance and the 11th International Conference on Biomedical Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography. The conference was hosted at the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA. It was organized by Rosalind Sadleir from the University of Florida, with Eung Je Woo of Kyung Hee University.The conference provided a platform for investigators in all aspects of bioimpedance and electrical impedance tomography (EIT) to converse on common areas of interest, whilst also being an opportunity for the community to broaden its outlook in the areas of clinical applications and new technologies and providing a link to researchers working on the measurement of bio-impedance, key to the development of impedance tomography and its clinical applications.A highlight of the meeting was the presentation of the Herman P Schwan award to bioimpedance leader Professor Sverre Grimnes (University of Oslo). The student paper competition was won by Christian Tronstad, also of the University of Oslo.The conference was privileged to host four eminent keynote speakers, headed by Professor Jakko Malmivuo (Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland) who presented an address entitled 'Principle of reciprocity solves the most important problems in bioimpedance and in general in bioelectromagnetism', and Professor Bin He (University of Minnesota at Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA) who examined 'Electrical source and impedance imaging of biological tissues: opportunities and challenges'. Important clinical perspectives on applications of bioimpedance and EIT were provided by Dr Nathan W Levin (Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Renal Research Institute, New York, USA) who spoke on 'Bioimpedance applications: a nephrologist's point of view' and Dr Gerhard K Wolf (Children's Hospital Boston, Massachusetts, USA) whose presentation was 'Lung imaging with electrical impedance tomography: will it change management?'Two events particularly appreciated by younger members of the bioimpedance and EIT communities were a pre-conference workshop on 'Bioelectricity basics' organized by Sverre Grimmes and Ørjan Martinsen, with contributions from Richard Bayford and Uwe Pliquett, and a two-day intensive course on bioelectromagnetism by Professor Malmivuo, based on the text Bioelectromagnetism by Malmivuo and Plonsey.This issue contains papers stemming from discussions and feedback in these research areas during the conference. It was also an opportunity for new researchers to join the community and propose innovations. A total of 131 oral papers were presented at the conference, and all authors were invited to prepare new peer-reviewed papers for submission to this issue of Physiological Measurement. The manuscripts were put through a careful review process before selection. A total of 18 were accepted, covering an important range of topics.The papers included in this issue clearly reflect the continuing interest in both bioimpedance and EIT, producing a wide range of clinical applications that were strongly represented at the conference. These include brain function, breast and thorax imaging. It is important that researchers do not neglect the challenges that clinical applications of bioimpedance and EIT present, as there are still many technical difficulties the technology needs to overcome in order to provide valuable clinical tools. However, there are promising signs that these tools are moving closer to realization, particularly for thorax imaging.Both bioimpedance and EIT continue to provide researchers with new challenges and attract more researchers into these research areas, as evident by the number of attendees at this conference (176). The high quality of the research papers in this issue is clear evidence of the significant advances in the field. At the end of the meeting it was announced that the next joint conference will be held in Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Germany in 2013. We look forward to another successful meeting at that time.