FIRST DAY: 26/08/2020
Presentation of the Event
The presentation of the event was led by Dr. Ricardo Armentano (President of the Argentine Chapter of the IEEE-SSIT and General President of the EMBC 2010 Conference; Advisor of CADIME and the DPT Foundation). He referred to the significance of the EMBC 2010 associating it to a historical axis made up of a succession of events -1982, 1999, 2010 and 2020- with a common purpose: to adapt the technological universe to the human dimension.
He stressed that along this historical axis, that conference “Ethics in the biomedical sciences” by Dr. Rene Favaloro, which graced the 1999 event and which justified him in genius and figure, remains valid. Favaloro firmly held that the technological universe had to be designed to suit and serve the human dimension.
Dr. Armentano pointed out that this year, which marks the 20th anniversary of Favaloro’s death, Ing. Rafael Kohanoff from the National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI)and Dr. Sergio Mulhen, president of the Regional Council of Biomedical Engineering for Latin America, also left us. He expressed for them our memory and appreciation of their career.
He stressed that advanced technology is empowered with Translational Engineering, and that these efforts drive the development, commercialization and implementation of technology to improve the quality of health care. He pointed out that the academy-industry interaction, with the support of government agencies, facilitates the creation of laboratories and hospitals with advanced technology and can improve the quality of education in biomedical engineering and thus create opportunities for thousands of young creatives to contribute in the process. of innovation.
He emphasized that the slogan “think globally and act locally” should be taught- by example to young students-, even more so to current generations that are raising up against the abuse or power and the various threats that coexist on the planet.
He evoked a request from Favaloro to young people: “I especially want to ask young people to understand that material things are temporary: only ideals last forever and, within this context, the battle cry should be: education and scientific development for a society in which social justice is a priority ”.
He concluded by pointing out that the legacy of Dr. Favaloro humanizes and increases the applications of Engineering in Biology and Medicine promoting creativity and innovative capacity through conscious technology, with humanistic motivation and global vision, as well described by Prof Luis Kun at the opening plenary conference in 2010 and that today he will project through the prism of what happened during the past decade.
After thanking the organizing institutions and sponsors of the event, he welcomed all participants, as well as his wishes for a pleasant stay in the virtual space.
Then, on behalf of the organizing committee, he invited Dr. Arnaldo Medina, Secretary of Health Quality of the Ministry of Health of the Nation, to open the sessions.
Presentation| Opening of Dr. Armentano:
Opening of the event
The event was opened by Dr. Arnaldo Medina, Secretary of Health Quality of the Ministry of Health of the Nation, who expressed his pleasure at participating in a landmark event for bioengineering and biomedical engineering.
He referred to “clinical governance” as a discipline to address the complexity of medicine and healthcare organization, which requires dynamizing disciplines, links, knowledge domains and technologies to coordinate processes and practices focused on health outcomes. He pointed out that the core technologies of this discipline are primarily relational, linking, and humanizing.
He concluded by prioritizing the role of the biomedical engineer in health services and equipment, and appreciated the usual willingness of this professional to integrate their knowledge and capabilities towards common goals, which today is clearly manifested in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Presentation of Dr. Arnaldo Medina:
Presentation and Exposition of Dr. Luis Kun (Representative of IFMBE, IEEE-SSIT y EMBS) Plenary Speaker
Dr. Armentano presented Dr. Luis Kun (Representative of IFMBE, IEEE-SSIT and EMBS) to the Conference Plenary Speaker, referring to the relevant performance of Dr. Kun at EMBC 2010, his outstanding career in the field international, and its leading role in the exercise and promotion of a systemic vision (open, multidisciplinary and multidimensional) that contributed to express renewed integrative visions about the processes, interactions, effects and impacts of technology.
Dr. Luis Kun began his presentation on “Holistic vision of the needs of humanity from the perspective of global citizen security” by making explicit his position as a biomedical engineer dedicated to analyzing the intersection of information technologies with health, public health and national security (particularly in the area of critical structures), with a perspective of medical and technological humanism, with the exercise of critical thinking.
He outlined his vision through a set of propositions such as the following:
“Everything is connected but still disconnected.”
All problems should be addressed: (a) from a holistic point of view, (b) with a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective ”, and (c) exploring the connections between dimensions and factors.
For health systems to be sustainable, it is necessary to change the paradigm of “diagnose, treat and cure” for that of “maintain and preserve being well through prevention and foresight.” It will be necessary to strengthen training in quality of life, mental health, healthy habits, nutrition, hygiene and prevention of addictions.
While an average of 350 “disasters” (floods, fires, earthquakes) occur in the world per year, today we have new threats such as problems of food, drinking water, air and water pollution. The “threats” that each person perceives are associated with their own conditions and the views about them are different but complementary. To face threats it is necessary to analyze the various dimensions for different actors.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made us clearly dependent on digital networks for telelearning, teleworking, telemedicine, etc. The “digital divide” between rich and poor implies a notorious difference in possibilities and opportunities between those who can and those who cannot access these services, but – in short – given that we are all interdependent (as members of the same community) we are and will be affected by the limitations of those who cannot access.
Some vulnerability factors in coping with problems are given by: (a) organizational limitations to make processes, technologies and people’s needs compatible, (b) limitations in the holistic vision, (c) limitations in critical thinking, (d) limitations (operational, semantic or cultural) for interoperability, (e) “islands of information” where each sector safeguards the information it is responsible for without sharing it with the others. All of these factors lead to wrong diagnoses and answers. For example, in the event of a cholera outbreak, doctors are usually summoned as a priority, when the right thing to do would be to summon civil or sanitary engineers to solve problems of access to drinking water.
He concluded by pointing out that the holistic vision, the systemic approach and critical thinking contribute to the quality, efficiency and interoperability of systems.
Presentation of Dr. Luis Kun -Holistic view of the needs of humanity:
Round Table
Subsequently, a round table was held that was moderated by Ricardo Taborda (IEEE SSIT Arg Representative), acting as panelists Jorge Monzón (President of the EMBC 2010 Program), Ricardo Armentano and Luis Kun.
Ricardo Taborda, as moderator, pointed out that the objective of the table was to evaluate what has been done, at the local and regional levels, during the 10 years that have elapsed since the EMBC 2010.
Jorge Monzón emphasized the social commitment of medicine and bioengineering and specified the progress made during the decade in each of the specialties; e.g. bioinformatics, computational biology, neural engineering and rehabilitation, tissue engineering and biomaterials, biorobotics, etc.
Ricardo Armentano pointed out that the IEEE-EMBS exhibits a whole legacy in the integration of physicians, representatives of industry, academia and governments, but expressed concern about the fact that –today- a part of those who approach as “birds of passage” in search of transitory interests. He recognized certain biases that condition the arrival in sectors that could make it more dynamic and proposed a greater emphasis on teaching and translational research with a multi and interdisciplinary perspective.
Luis Kun insisted on the need for multi and interdisciplinary work, bringing together the entire range of relevant actors; for example, nurses, psychologists, nutritionists, physiatrists, etc., as well as computer and communications people. He stated that interdisciplinary collaboration in cyberspace can save lives. On the other hand, he pointed to the question of the favorable and unfavorable implications of the use of technologies, as well as the ethical and moral problems present and potential (for example in the CRISP). He expressed that to address present and future complexity, convergence between disciplinary fields and knowledge management is essential (to determine how to record, store and classify knowledge so that it is retrievable, it is necessary to turn to librarians). Finally, he encouraged students to persevere in what they experience true attraction, delight, and passion, knowing that they will have more failures than achievements, but learning from each failure to improve and persist.