The International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems, IEEE CBMS 2018, was held on 18–21 June at Karlstad University. Around 100 international researchers and other experts in the area of medical and health technology participated in the symposium to present their own research and exchange knowledge and experience with others.
“IEEE CBMS is a top-ranked conference and this is the first time it is held in Sweden,” says Bridget Kane, Docent in Information Systems at the Karlstad Business School. “We received a lot of positive feedback from the participants during the conference, both regarding its content and organisation.”
IEEE CBMS 2018 is the 31st International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems and the conference is held annually in June. The conference gathers researchers and other experts from a number of different fields connected to medical and health technology.
80 seminars with a wide range of content
During the conference, participants could attend poster presentations by doctoral students, a number of seminars with researchers and other experts, as well as lectures by invited keynote speakers. More than 80 seminars were held on a wide range of topics, including signal and image processing, intelligent systems, robotics, e-health, medical eductation and patient involvement. One of the seminars was presented by Oliver Bertram, research associate at Reutlingen University.
“I’ve just presented my first conference paper here at IEEE CBMS 2018. I studied Computer Science and have a master in Human-Centered Computing,” Oliver said. “The conference has given me insight into the work done by other researchers and inspired and prepared me for continuing research challenges. My plan is to start my doctoral studies soon and the conference definitely strengthened my decision to do so. These days in Karlstad have been good and well organised. It felt familiar and it was easy to come into contact with other participants and to create new and valuable contacts.”
Oliver’s presentation was titled “Current State of Interoperability in German Practice Management Systems: Insights from the TeleDorm project.”
Invited keynote speakers
Three invited lecturers each held a presentation. One of them was Kristin S. Fuglerud, researcher and head of the e-Inclusion Group at the Norwegian Computing Center. Kristin talked about universal design – design and development that include as large part of the population as possible.
“Universal design may involve designing to include people with disabilities, but the area is much larger,” says Kristin S Fuglerud. “We have for example looked at how persons with disabilities can be included in research and development by designing processes from an inclusive perspective. We have also developed an app which can help the elderly to manage and get an overview of their food intake, which is a way of making the benefits of digitialisation available to an older generation.”
The other two keynote speakers were Sabine Koch, who is Strategic Professor of Health Informatics at Karolinska Institutet and head of the Health Informatics Centre, and Saturnino Luz, researcher at the University of Edinburgh who focuses on communication and analysis of time-based modalities in healthcare.
Partnership project DigitalWell – exhibitor during the conference
In addition to seminars and presentations during the conference, there was also an exhibition space where exhibitors could show their work to and meet conference participants. One of the exhibitors was DigitalWell, a partnership project involving businesses, researchers and the public sector in Northern Central Sweden. The aim is to establish an innovation environment with structured processes in which businesses, researchers and the public sector can work together on developing, testing and verifying digital healthcare services of the future.
“Since DigitalWell is about the digitalisation of healthcare services, participation in IEEE CBMS 2018 is highly relevant. These days have been rewarding, and we have learned more about relevant and interesting research and also made some valuable contacts,” says Marika Martin, communications officer for DigitalWell.
Participants from all over the world
Around 100 international researchers and experts participated in the four-day IEEE CBMS 2018 conference. Participants came from all over the world and represented countries such as Australia, the USA, Brazil, South Korea, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Finland, Russia, Portugal, the UK, Ireland and Norway.
“We are very glad that we had the opportunity to organise the conference, and particularly happy that most participants seem to be very satisfied,” says Bridget Kane, one of the organisers of IEEE CBMS 2018. “Next year the conference will be held in Córdoba, Spain.”
