WHAT:
The iSURGITEC 2009 Conference in Detroit is an international event highlighting the latest advances in surgical technology, research and practice. It brings together departments of surgery from across the United States and abroad to compare progress and highlight opportunities for future collaboration. In particular, iSURGITEC 2009 will feature exciting new technologies being developed at Wayne State University (WSU), the Detroit Medical Center, Oakwood Hospital, Beaumont Hospital, Henry Ford Health System, DMC Children's Hospital of Michigan, Karmanos Cancer Institute, the University of Chicago, the City of Hope in California, and Madrid, Spain.

"The iSURGITEC 2009 conference establishes the ASTII program squarely as a leader in surgical technology innovation," said Donald Weaver, MD of the Wayne State University Department of Surgery. "The future of surgery will be increasingly minimally invasive, image guided, and technology driven," he said. "The ASTII program is at the forefront of the development of new systems of surgery that are less invasive and less painful, affording quicker patient recovery. Microrobotics, new energy delivery systems designed to destroy tumors, and better, real-time, in-surgery diagnosis of cancer - which are all at the heart of ASTII's present activities -- have strong potential for commercialization, small business development and the retraining of engineers in this area."

WHEN:
Conference recap session is Friday, October 30, 10 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at the Motor City Casino and Hotel. See detailed agenda below.

WHO:
Principal organizers of the iSURGITEC 2009 Conference include Michael Klein, MD, Children's Hospital of Michigan; Donald Weaver, MD and Madhu Prasad, MD of the Wayne State University Department of Surgery; and Gregory Auner, PhD of the Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems Program and Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of Wayne State University.

MORE INFO:
iSURGITEC is sponsored by the Advanced Surgical Technologies and Innovations Initiative (ASTII), an alliance of the departments of surgery at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, the Detroit Medical Center (including Children's Hospital of Michigan), the Karmanos Cancer Institute and the WSU College of Engineering's Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems Program (SSIM). ASTII's mission is to bring advanced surgical technologies to the global marketplace, including those developed by medical centers affiliated with Wayne State, such as Oakwood, Beaumont, and Henry Ford hospital systems.

ASTII is the brainchild of Wayne State University physicist Gregory Auner, PhD and Detroit Medical Center Chief of Surgery Donald Weaver, MD. Together they recognized the unparalleled academic and clinical benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration. That is, engineering and medical school students and faculty working side-by-side in the same laboratories. Through enhanced communication and problem-solving, ASTII's interdisciplinary scientists are shortening the time required to develop useful new technologies.

SPEAKER'S AGENDA:
Wednesday, October 28 (7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Wayne State University College of Engineering EDC Auditorium)
Keynote: Gerald Moses, PhD, the University of Maryland and former Director of TATRC
Presentations on surgery and technology include those by:

• Julio Mayol, MD, PhD (Madrid)
• Ernesto Santos, MD (Madrid)
• Rocio Anula, MD (Madrid)
• Charles Shanley, MD (Beaumont Hospital)
• Thomas Siegel, MD (Oakwood Hospital)
• Scott Dulchavsky, MD (Henry Ford Hospital)
• Vivek Prachand, MD (University of Chicago)
• John Alverdy, MD (University of Chicago)

Thursday, October 29 (7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Wayne State University School of Medicine, Morse Auditorium, 4th Floor Hudson)
Keynote: Walter J. Pories, MD, School of Medicine, East Carolina University

Talks will be presented by faculty, graduate students and medical residents from the Wayne State University School of Medicine, Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems Program (SSIM) from the Wayne State University College of Engineering and from members of the Advanced Surgical Technologies and Innovations Initiative (ASTII).

Friday, October 30 (10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., Motor City Casino):

A meeting recap for academic and hospital leadership to raise awareness of technology advances by the WSU College of Engineering and School of Medicine and the leadership of local hospitals, including Oakwood, Beaumont, Henry Ford, Children's Hospital of Michigan and other Detroit Medical Center hospitals.

• Gregory Auner, PhD (WSU-SSIM)
• Donald Weaver, MD (WSU-Surgery)
• Michael Klein, MD (Children's Hospital of Michigan), Director of ASTii
• Madhu Prasad, MD (WSU-Surgery)
• Julio Garcia-Aguilar, MD, PhD (City of Hope)

MEDIA RSVPS:
Contact Barb House, executive director of ASTii at iSURGITEC@gmail.com. by October 16, 2009. Online registration and a complete agenda is posted at www.astii.net and www.astii.org.

"We are at the threshold of a new era in surgery," said conference organizer Madhu Prasad, MD of Wayne State University's Department of Surgery. "The iSURGITEC 2009 meeting brings together a group of visionary surgeons and scientists from around the world who are committed to lead the charge of technological innovation and define the future of surgery."

Wayne State University is a premier urban research university offering more than 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to more than 31,000 students