With warm weather predicted for Friday (-4 to -8), it should be a fun event. We hope to see you there!

We hope to see you out for some interesting presentations about research being done by grad students here at Carleton. Elections for EMBS positions will occur right after, so please think about helping out on the club executive.

Note the location for this event is Room 3269, Mackenzie Building

Agenda:

1. Introduction to CU@EMBS (Carleton University Student Club of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS))
2. Student Presentations
   • Beverley Bradley - "3D Laser Scanning and its Biomedical Applications"
   • Dave Luong - "Onset Detection for Myoelectric Signals"
   • Dilly Mohamed - "Monitoring and Quantifying Apnea using Piezo Sensor"
   • Rosalyn Seeton - "Lung Monitoring using an Electromagnetic Sensor"
   • Alex Mackenzie - "DSP Reverse Engineering of Genetic Networks"
3. CU@EMBS elections
   There will be elections for the following CU@EMBS executive positions this year:
   • Chair
   • Vice-chair
   • Secretary
   • Treasurer
   • Webmaster

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The Carleton University IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology student club (CU@EMBS) club's informal gathering saw many regular faces and a few new ones. We hope you made it out - it was a good opportunity to meet and chat with fellow students and professors who are interested and involved in biomedical engineering.

Sami Shaker Qutob, Ph. D., Health Canada

Abstract

There is considerable controversy surrounding the biological effects of radiofrequency (RF) fields, as emitted by mobile phones. Previous work from our laboratory has shown no effect related to the exposure of 1.9 GHz pulse-modulated RF fields on the expression of 22,000 genes in a human glioblastoma derived cell-line (U87MG) at 6 h following a 4 h RF field exposure period. As a follow-up to this study, we have now examined the effect of RF field exposure on the possible expression of late onset genes in U87MG cells after a 24 h RF exposure period. In addition, a human monocyte-derived cell-line (Mono-Mac-6, MM6) was exposed to intermittent (5 min ON, 10 min OFF) RF fields for 6 h and then gene expression was assessed immediately after exposure and at 18 h post-exposure. Both cell lines were exposed to 1.9 GHz pulse-modulated RF fields for 6 or 24 h at specific absorption rates (SARs) of 0.1 - 10.0 W/kg. In support of our previous results, we found no evidence that non-thermal RF field exposure could alter gene expression in either cultured U87MG or MM6 cells, relative to non-irradiated control groups. However, exposure of both cell-lines to heat-shock conditions (43oC for 1 h) caused an alteration in the expression of a number of well characterized heat shock proteins.

References

Vinita Chauhan1, Sami S. Qutob1, Stephanie Lui1, Anu Mariampillai1, Pascale V. Bellier1, Carole L. Yauk2, George R. Douglas2, Andrew Williams3, and James P. McNamee*1

1. Consumer and Clinical Radiation Protection Bureau, Healthy Environment and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 1C1.
2. Mutagenesis Section, Environmental Health Science Bureau, Healthy Environment and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0L2.
3. Biostatistics and Epidemiology Division, Healthy Environment and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0L2.

Biography

In 1995, Dr. Qutob completed an Honors thesis in physiology at the University of Western Ontario based on the characterization of sacroplasmic reticulum proteins in the AT-1 mouse atrial tumor cell line. Following this, he sought a M.Sc. degree in physiology at the same institution studying the effects of insulin on vitamin C uptake by osteoblastic and astroglial cells employing many biochemical and cell culture techniques. Since that time he has been actively involved in a range of projects, especially in the field of non-ionizing and ionizing radiation biology research. During his doctoral studies, at the Ottawa Regional Cancer Center, he examined the genetic factors that govern cellular radioresponsiveness as well as addressing the ability of exogenous factors (i.e. chemo-drugs) to modulate ionizing radiation sensitivity. Collaboration with Dr Qing Yan Liu and Dr. P. Roy Walker at the Neurogenomics Group, Institute for Biological Sciences, National Research Council of Canada (NRC) has enabled Dr. Qutob to gain valuable experience in the area of genomics research particularly in the area of cDNA microarray technology. Following completion of his Ph. D. studies, this expertise was further utilized where he spent a year at Health Canada performing Postdoctural fellowship research. During this time, the candidate examined the effects of non-ionizing 1.9 GHz pulse-modulated radiofrequency fields on microarray gene expression of a human glioblastoma cell line. Since April 1st, 2004, Dr. Qutob has led a Health Canada partnership with the Radiological Analysis and Defence Group at Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC Ottawa) in a project funded by the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CRBN) Research and Technology Initiative (CRTI). This collaboration involved several federal and industry partners for the purpose of identifying possible biomarkers of ionizing radiation exposure and developing a National Biological Dosimetry Response Plan (NBDRP) in response to a large-scale radiological event. Data obtained from a number of CRTI sub-projects has shown promise and may possibly lead to the development of a prototype fieldable biodosimeter for rapid triage of potentially exposed individuals. As of January, 2007, the candidate has returned to Health Canada as a principle investigator (P.I.), examining the mechanisms of hormesis, radioadaptation, and combined biological effects of radiation in order to provide new information on radiation safety, consistent with Health Canada's mandate. He is a member of the Bioelectromagnetics Society and Radiation Research Society.

IEEE Ottawa Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (Technical Presentation and Elections for Vice Chair and Secretary/Treasurer)

Biometrics, RFID and Smartcard in Healthcare

Dr. Qinghan Xiao, Senior Member, IEEE
Elections will follow immediately after the presentation

Abstract

Biometrics, radio frequency identification (RFID), and smartcards are emerging technologies that have been considered to enhance security-related applications such as access control, identity verification, and information protection in a combination. These technologies can be applied in healthcare to provide reliability, scalability, visibility, and accuracy. For instance, a healthcare smartcard system, using both biometric and smartcard technologies could be used to strongly authenticate both healthcare providers and beneficiaries, leading to a better security for patient information, reduction or elimination of benefit frauds, and the possibility of reduced administrative costs. Biometric and RFID technologies can be combined in a staff and patient tracking system to improve the analysis and throughput in emergency rooms, clinics, outpatients, and operating rooms. This seminar will address the following issues based on the speaker's experience in biometric, smartcard, and RFID technologies:

• What is biometrics?
  • Different biometric technologies along with their advantages and limitations
  • Generic biometric system configuration
• What is a Smartcard?
  • Type of smartcards
  • Smartcard applications
• What is RFID?
  • RFID versus contactless smartcards
    • Commonalities
    • Differences
  • Pharmaceutical and healthcare applications
  • Healthcare smartcard system
  • Patient identification and care
  • Medical asset tracking
  • Authenticity and safety of drug supply
  • Benefit and challenges
  • Reduce healthcare paperwork
  • Protect patient records
  • Vulnerabilities and security threats

Biography

Dr. Qinghan Xiao, IEEE Senior Member, is a Defence Scientist at the Defence R&am;D Canada. He serves as the Vice Chair of Task Force on Biometrics of ISATC (the IEEE/CIS Technical Committee on Intelligent Systems Applications), and the Testing and R&am;D Chair of Interdepartmental Biometrics Working Group (Canada). His current research interests include biometrics, smart card technology and RFID security issues. Dr. Xiao is a Canadian delegate of the ISO/IEC JTC1 SC37 standards committee on biometrics, and leads “Red Team/Blue Team” study for the Canadian Operational Support Command. He has been invited as a session chair and speaker to many national and international conferences. Dr. Xiao holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Regina.

Speaker: Colleen Ennett, Ph.D., Philips Research North America, Briarcliff Manor, NY
Topic: Improving Medical Outcomes Using Biomedical Informatics

Abstract

This talk will provide an overview of two of the interesting projects that are underway in the Biomedical Informatics Department at Philips Research. Projects in our department focus on clinical decision support that often combines information from multiple sources (patient medical record, patient monitors, imaging, genomic data, etc), and presents this information to the clinicians in a meaningful manner. We use a wide range of technologies including case-based reasoning, physiological modelling, genetic algorithms, specialized machine learning techniques, Bayesian networks, and natural language processing. The two projects that will be presented are computer-aided diagnosis for lung cancer and a stroke management system.

Biography

Colleen graduated from Carleton University in 2003 with a PhD majoring in Biomedical Engineering from the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering. Prior to that, she completed a master's at the University of Ottawa, and an undergraduate degree in Biological Engineering at the University of Guelph. In 2004, Colleen started working at Philips Research in Briarcliff Manor, NY as a Senior Researcher focusing on clinical decision support systems. Past projects at Philips for Colleen have included investigative work for decision support requirements for molecular imaging, development of a case-matching algorithm for cardiovascular patients, and currently, she is working on feature identification for patients on mechanical ventilators.