Physics transforms medicine
Laser on the heart
Svetlana Belyaeva, "Search" No. 24-2014
Modern medical technologies are unthinkable without the use of the latest achievements of fundamental science. This was discussed during the VI Trinity Conference "Medical Physics and Innovations in Medicine" (TKMF-6), which was held in Novomoskovsk Science City with the support of the Russian Academy of Sciences, RFBR, the Government of Moscow, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
As the name of the event implies, the main emphasis of its organizers (among them the Institute of Laser and Information Technology Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Spectroscopy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Trinity Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences) was on the practical implementation of the latest physical methods in medicine. Today, their widespread use in diagnostics and treatment leads to the need for the participation of physicists both at the stage of research and development of equipment and in the treatment of patients.
The organizers of TCMF-6 set themselves the task of providing an interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge, giving a new impetus to fundamental and applied research and development in the field of medical physics, discussing trends and the most promising areas of research and ways of practical implementation of their results. Scientists and specialists were invited to participate in the conference and make plenary presentations, who introduced the forum participants to current health problems and presented innovative projects and technologies that have already found application in medicine or are just on their way.
Opening the conference, Academician Vladislav Panchenko, Director of the Institute of Laser and Information Technologies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, expressed confidence that the meeting would enrich all those gathered with new knowledge and serve for the benefit of medicine and healthcare.
A kind of excursion into the history of the forum was conducted by the president of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" Academician Evgeny Velikhov. He noted that 10 years ago, when the first such event was held in Troitsk, medical physics issues were not a priority for scientists. At the same time, the Spectroscopy Institute and the L.F.Vereshchagin Institute of High Pressure Physics located in the city "had outlets for human sciences, health sciences." The idea of holding a broad forum in the form of conferences to which not only physicists could be invited, but also practitioners and researchers from medical institutions, just came from the leadership of IPLIT and ISAN. During the first meeting in Troitsk, the possibilities of biomedical photonics, information technologies in medicine, new biomedical methods and materials, nuclear and radiation diagnostics and therapy were considered.
Today, of course, the situation has changed. The interest of representatives of "non-core" sciences in medical topics is greater than ever. The Center for Convergent Nano-, bio-, info-, Cognitive, Socio–Humanitarian Sciences and Technologies has been created in the Kurchatov Institute, native to Evgeny Pavlovich. It is one of the first sites in the world where research in the field of physics, chemistry, biotechnology, cellular and molecular biology, nano- and information technologies, cognitive science are developing in close interpenetration. All this, according to the academician, allows us to bring the results of the latest scientific developments into medicine.
The colleague was supported by the co-chairman of the TCMF-6 program Committee, the scientific director of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Anatoly Grigoriev. Recalling the events of a decade ago, Anatoly Ivanovich admitted that he felt a certain skepticism caused by the fact that a relatively small city undertook to organize an event focused on solving problems unusual for fundamental science. However, the arguments of the scientists participating in the General Meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences held at the end of 2003, dedicated to the topic "Fundamental Science – human health", convinced of the need for interdisciplinary research aimed at improving the health and quality of life of people and generalizing their results.
– At that time, – Anatoly Grigoriev continued, – there was obviously a significant lag in domestic medicine, and to a large extent it was observed not so much in terms of theoretical approaches (they were just developing well), as in the instrument base, in the development of medicines.
Following the results of the memorable General Meeting, it was decided to actively involve leading physicists, chemists, and mathematicians in the consideration of medical problems.
The success of the first TCMF exceeded all expectations. The number of forum participants was constantly increasing, the geography of the institutions and organizations represented was expanding, new directions and reports were included in the conference topics. The Trinity conferences on medical physics were characterized by a wide exchange of scientific knowledge, close communication with medical centers throughout the country, an increase in the number of reports made by young participants and reports on the practical implementation of previously proposed innovative methods, technologies, devices and materials.
According to Anatoly Grigoriev, the organizers of the forum feel the spirit of the times, select topics that are very much in demand in medicine today. For example, this year the emphasis is on cognitive research, which, according to the academician, cannot be carried out without good biophysics. The problems of regenerative medicine also sounded in a new way at the forum, which, according to experts, cannot be successfully solved without the use of achievements in physics and mathematics.
Among the first speakers at the forum were presentations that show the modern development of laser technologies in medicine. Thus, Vladislav Panchenko's report was devoted to the results obtained in three organizations – IPLIT, Kurchatov Institute, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Starting his speech, the academician noted that first of all it is necessary to understand which threats in the world are the most dangerous to human health and how representatives of medical physics help to counter them.
Speaking about general health problems, V. Panchenko recalled that the so–called non-communicable diseases, which include cardiovascular, oncological, chronic respiratory diseases and various forms of diabetes, take a huge number of lives - about 35 million a year. And in the next 10 years, according to the World Health Organization, there will be an annual increase in the incidence of about 17%!
However, physicists do not remain indifferent to the problem, and laser-information technologies occupy not the last place in its solution. So, laser methods have made a big role in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. It is impossible to do without them today either at the stage of manufacturing tools, or in operational practice.
In particular, the technology of transmyocardial laser revascularization of the heart has successfully entered medicine, for which IPLIT has a patent together with the A.N.Bakulev Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, and the scientists involved in its development have been awarded the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation. The essence of the method is as follows: powerful laser pulses in the heart muscle break through several dozen of the thinnest channels and through them the blood supply to the diseased heart is restored. This operation, according to V. Panchenko, competes in many ways with aorto-coronary bypass surgery and is indicated for about 30% of patients who, for a number of reasons, cannot be recommended CABG. More than 1000 successful operations have already been performed on the systems of the "Perforator" series designed for transmyocardial laser revascularization on a working heart. It is very important, the academician stressed, that "we in Russia have the technology to create such devices. These are Russian products that are entirely made from domestic components."
IPLIT is rightfully proud of the unique technology developed within its walls for creating copies of fragments of the human skeleton, individual models of biocompatible and bioactive implants for replacing bone defects by laser stereolithography based on data obtained from X-ray and NMR tomographs transmitted from various clinics over the Internet. Plastic stereolithographic models manufactured at IPLIT RAS were used by surgeons of 50 clinics in 15 cities of Russia – from Murmansk to Vladivostok – for the preparation and planning of more than 3 thousand operations in the field of craniofacial surgery, neurosurgery, spinal surgery and oncology.
Ophthalmology is another relevant medical field in which physical methods are successfully used to treat patients. According to 2010 data, almost 300 million people suffer from various visual impairments worldwide, of which 40 million are completely blind. At the same time, according to WHO, 80% of all cases of visual impairment can be prevented or cured. IPLIT together with the Moscow State University. M.V.Lomonosova has created an adaptive optical system for ophthalmology, designed for laser vision correction operations and allowing to register a retinal image with a spatial resolution of up to 1 microns by the method of active correction of dynamic aberrations of the human eye.
The examples given from V. Panchenko's report are only a small part of what Russian physical science already offers medicine today. In many ways, such a surge in the interest of scientists is associated with increased funding for biomedical research. Thus, Academician A. Grigoriev recalled that only this year, at the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation, about 200 million rubles were allocated for the program of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Fundamental Research for the development of biomedical technologies", aimed at adapting the latest knowledge and technologies to solve medical problems.
The guest of the conference, Deputy Oksana Dmitrieva, acknowledged that the State Duma is also attentive to the problems identified at the forum, and for her part promised to contribute in every possible way to "financing science and science cities."
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru16.06.2014