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Invited Talk

Biomedical Engineering in Respiratory Medicine

Cindy Thamrin
Dept. of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Inselspital Bern

Abstract

Engineers are trained to be problem solvers and are therefore in demand in a wide range of fields. In biology and medicine, biomedical engineers are especially valuable due to their capability to act as an interface between clinical problems and engineering solutions. Yet their knowledge is not only relevant to the development of new technologies such as in imaging and surgery, but also to basic and applied scientific and medical research. This talk aims to present a broad spectrum of projects in which engineers have contributed to the science behind Respiratory Medicine, particularly in regard to testing of lung function, understanding of disease, and clinical monitoring. Topics discussed will include measurement of respiratory mechanics particularly in children, ventilation heterogeneity and strategies, the idea of a disease as a dynamical system, and use of time series techniques to assess or even predict clinical well-being. Some time will also be spent on possible new directions such contributions may take on in the future.

 

Biography

Cindy Thamrin obtained a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Western Australia in Perth in 2001. She then migrated to the Department of Paediatrics to pursue a PhD in assessment of lung mechanics using “broadband” forced oscillations, which she completed in 2005. She worked briefly as a research associate at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth where she gained experience with more lung function techniques in infants and children. A continuing interest in getting more out of lung function data brought her to the Inselspital in Bern in 2006, where she currently works as a postdoctoral research fellow. She is primarily involved, among other activities, in applying time series analysis methods to multiple measures of lung function and breathing patterns over time.

Volker Koch, 03/2009