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Echoes Issue No. 36 [ June/July 2024 ]
Echoes Issue 36 is packed with the latest news from across the ultrasound world.
We report on the 16th congress of AFSUMB, hosted by the Korean Society of Ultrasound in Seoul in May and attended by over 1600 delegates from 41 countries who enjoyed an excellent scientific program as well as fabulous social events and entertainment.
Our Centres of Education have been busy with progressive course offerings both for beginners and the more experienced users. We welcome our latest CoE in the Dominican Republic, which joins Croatia and China as the 2023/2024 additions to the WFUMB CoE family. Our volunteer network is an integral part of our CoE philosophy and we encourage those interested in assisting to contact the WFUMB office.
The WFUMB Safety Committee has been reviewing its safety policies and has updated its recommendations for endocavity transducer reprocessing. To assist us in creating educational material we invite all users to complete the short survey by scanning the attached QR code. We invite you to Save the Dates for the many educational offerings, via conferences and webinars, that you may be interested in attending.
Spread the word and please forward this issue to your ultrasound colleagues around the world.
Sue Westerway, Publications Committee
WFUMB's Centres of Education Growing in Strength
Centers of Excellence (COE`s) commenced in the late nineteen nineties and were originally a project of WHO. Harald Østensen, a former medical officer of WHO, had the idea to establish centers for education in basic radiology for developing countries, with the aim of one center in each continent of the world. H. Østensen had a special interest for the promotion of ultrasound in developing countries and after discussions with Harald Lutz, it was agreed and decided that the centers for ultrasound should be founded separately from the centers for basic radiology and under the responsibility of WFUMB.
WFUMB founds each COE in cooperation with its regional member-organization. A formal contract with the national societies for ultrasound are drawn up with WFUMB dedicating its support for 5 years from the establishment of each COE through to when it becomes independent.
Through our Centers of Education, WFUMB supports ultrasound education in low resource areas at 22 locations around the globe.
We hope to create new ideas on how to teach ultrasound, new ways to bring out ultrasound to the farthest areas and new COEs to make this come true.
The first COE associated with Bangladesh Society of Ultrasonography (BSU) was established in 2004 and based in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh COE became independent in 2009 and is still teaching today.
Since the opening of the Bangladesh COE in 2004, a further 21 Centres have opened across the world with the most recent ones being COE Beijing, China (November 2023), Zagreb, Croatia (December 2023) and our latest one in Dominican Republic in April 2024.
We are delighted to welcome Jacqueline Reyes, M.D as the President of the Dominican Ultrasound Society and Officer for the Domincan Republic COE. We look forward to great courses from this new Centre coming soon.
AFSUMB 2024 Congress
The 16th Congress of the Asian Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology in conjunction with KSUM 2024 (AFSUMB 2024) was successfully held in Seoul, Korea on May 9 – 11, 2024.
AFSUMB 2024 was a great success thanks to the active participation of each and every one of the 1,657 participants (1,172 domestic and 485 overseas) from 41 countries including the 238 invited guests from 22 countries who helped to make the meeting truly meaningful. Diverse topics including the latest advances in the field of Ultrasound in Medicine were covered through the rich Scientific Program. Furthermore, 21 related companies operated exhibition booths that contributed to making AFSUMB 2024 even more fruitful.
Under the theme “Shaping the Future with Ultrasound,” the wide-ranging Scientific Program consisted of a total of 151 invited lectures and 355 electronic posters including KSUM’s Jisan Lecture, 10 Categorical Courses comprising 34 lectures, 4 Hot Issue sessions comprising 13 lectures, and 8 Special Focus Sessions comprising 25 lectures. Ten renowned speakers gave lectures for the Meet the Professor sessions while 2 Joint Symposiums with related societies, 6 Satellite Symposiums with KISTIA, and Luncheon Symposiums hosted by 5 companies comprising 9 lectures were also organized. Moreover, 11 Scientific Sessions comprising 91 oral presentations and a Young Investigator Award Session including 8 oral presentations were held. Meanwhile, 36 Case Reports were presented orally at the Ultrasound, the Best session held in an open space that allowed participants to listen to the presentations and discuss about the topics in person. Finally, the Interactive Case Review session that was held onsite along with 200 audience members and the 2 Hands-on Sessions provided an extraordinary experience for everyone who participated.
The elections took place and the AFSUMB Officers and Councilors for the term 2024 to 2026 are as follows ...
- President ~ Jeong Yeon Cho (KSUM)
- Immediate Past-President ~ Iwaki Akiyama
- President-Elect ~ Ching-Chang Hsieh (CTSUM)
- Vice-President 1 ~ Manjula Virmani (IFUMB)
- Vice-President 2 ~ Shih-Cheh Chen (CTSUM)
- Secretary ~ Masayuki Kitano (JSUM)
- Treasurer ~ Jae Young Lee (KSUM)
- Councilors ~
- Ming-Ren Chen (CTSUM), Jung-Eun Cheon (KSUM), Sudheer Gokhale (IFUMB), Akihiko Kikuchi (JSUM), Jianchu Li (CMA/CSUM), Quan Bao Nguyen-Phuoc (VSUM)
A regional Centre of Education Meeting took place chaired by Prof Yung-Liang Wan. Representatives were present from all the Asian Centres: Sue Westerway & Raymond Keshwan (Fiji), Kanu Bala (Bangladesh), Bao Quan & Co-Director (Vietnam), Dou Jianping (China), Millicent Ong (Philippines), Hidjanto Sidharta (Indonesia), Bavunjah Erdenebileg (Mongolia). Interesting Case Reports were presented and updates on all the Centres activities. Prof KY Leung from HK University was an invited guest and presented the survey being undertaken considering basic requirements in Undergraduate Ultrasound Education in Asia. This is of considerable interest to WFUMB which is working with the International Federations of Medical Students Assoications (IFMSA) (following an introduction from Prof Wan) into this topic. The survey results are awaited with interest.
WFUMB SURVEY: Endocavity transducers – what methods are being used for reprocessing?
WFUMB is conducting a brief worldwide survey on how ultrasound users clean endocavity transducers. This survey is anonymous and the data collected will assist in future projects on reprocessing methods for ultrasound transducers used for endocavity examinations. The data will also enable WFUMB to target what educational support is needed by ultrasound users in regards to ultrasound transducer reprocessing.
To participate please scan the QR code below
The 14th Westlake International Conference of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology
WICUMB is one of the world's three major contrast-enhanced ultrasound conferences sponsored by the International Contrast Ultrasound Society (ICUS), and has been held in Hangzhou for 13 consecutive sessions.
Prof Pintong Huang opened 13th Westlake International Conference on 24-26 may 2024 which hosted 40 international speakers and 1000 attendees - the biggest CEUS meeting of its kind.
During WICUMB, Lynne Rudd (WFUMB Administrative Manager) had the pleasure in meeting Askhat Kultaev, President of Kazakhstan Ultrasound Society.
The Kazakhstan Ultrasound Society was kind enough to submit the following report ...
Until 2020, our specialty in the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK) was called “Radiation diagnostics” and ultrasound diagnostics (USD) was included, along with X-ray, MRI and CT, in the list of a single register with these specialties. Since November 2020, by order of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, we have entered the new specialty “Radiology”. Now in the Republic of Kazakhstan with a population of 20,118,478 there are 7,000 ultrasound specialists working. There are currently 1,500 members of KASUDM. The Association began work in 2015, but there was another team, and there was no work.
The opening and active work began in 2020. Our organization KASUDM is young - we officially registered under this name in 2022. Before this, the name was the Kazakhstan Association of Ultrasound Diagnostics in Medicine. The word “Specialists” was added to the name. Now the work is being carried out actively, traveling to the regions and abroad, opening branches, taking part in the development of official documents of Ministries and departments relating to our service, and we are each experts in our own field.
The President Askhat Kultaev, graduated from the medical faculty of the Almaty State Medical Institute in 1992. After graduation, he entered graduate school and defended his PhD thesis at the Kazakh Scientific Research Institute of Oncology and Radiology (KazNIIOIR) in the section “Radiation diagnostics, radiation therapy.” He has been working in this institution for many years. From the first days of work, Askhat Kultaev drew attention to the fact that early diagnosis is 50% of the success of treatment, especially in the field of oncology, and became one of the founders of the introduction of ultrasound in the Republic of Kazakhstan.He took an active part in the development of scientific research from 1990 to 2006 on amplitude histography in 4 localizations - mammary and thyroid glands, ovaries and liver. Employees of KazNIIOIR defended dissertations and made publications. These studies formed the basis for the development, since 2010-2011, of the Samsung company of the artificial intelligence program C detect for identifying the early stage of breast cancer, which is now successfully used within the walls of this institution. Our experienced employees are training personnel in the field of ultrasound at the department of universities of the Kazakh-Russian Medical University and the Higher School of Public Health. We understand that we need a very competent and advanced replacement of specialists and take an active part in this.
Our KASUDM team sees our joint co-operation in the field of introducing artificial intelligence in various areas of ultrasound (pediatrics, oncology, cardiology, therapy, surgery and emergency medicine) through training teachers for further implementation in all regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, inviting foreign speakers to participate in conferences and master classes. Joint scientific work in various areas of ultrasound and the introduction of the latest achievements of ultrasound in our Republic of Kazakhstan. Joint fruitful work with your Associations.
I hope for further cooperation and good luck in all your endeavors.
Best regards, Aiman Imambetova
Continuing our run of successful WFUMB Webinars ...
Gastrointestinal Ultrasound (GIUS) in IBD
Our highest attended webinar for several years with over 983 registered and 517 attendees. Chaired by Odd Helge Gilja and Kim Nylund, Alina Popescu and Giovanni Maconi speaking.
Update to WFUMB 2018 Guidelines on Liver Ultrasound Elastography
The first Liver Webinar took place on 15th April. Chaired by Vincent Wong and with three excellent speakers this event gained 388 participants making it very successful.
Liver multiparametric ultrasound. Part 2: Guidance on liver fat quantification
The second part of the liver webinars took place on 20 June 2024. Chaired by Vincent Wong, the webinar had 366 participants.
WFUMB COE Timisoara-Romania, Meets WFUMB COE, China
Our most recent webinar took place on 25 June 2024. Chaired by Prof. Ioan Sporea & Prof. Ping Liang and with highly acclaimed list of speakers, the webinar was a huge success.
Report on Fiji COE May 2024
The 10th Fiji CoE Workshop was held at the Fiji National University Suva campus in May.
The Fetal Growth & Wellbeing Workshop attracted 47 registrants from across the Pacific. Due to the hands on nature of our courses & the small tutor/student ratio, the course was restricted to 24 participants from 7 nations. Attendees were from Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, American Samoa, Niue, Tavalu & Papua New Guinea.
Micah Misivet, a rural medical officer from Kokopo in PNG was awarded a WFUMB Scholarship to attend the course. Micah is the only GP in an area servicing 20,000 residents & his ultrasound work is done with a Butterfly. The skills he learnt during the course will hopefully improve the birth outcomes in his region.
The faculty of 5 for this course included a returning team of volunteers from John Hunter Hospital in NSW Australia. Led by Dr Felicity Park, a Fetal Maternal Medicine specialist, two days were spent at the Colonial Memorial Hospital assisting the O&G doctors to scan over 100 patients. The team worked in the general & high risk clinic as well as assessing pregnant ladies for rheumatic heart disease. All the patients scanned in the workshop were from the antenatal clinic at CMH and attended by an O&G resident.
The facilities at FNU are exceptional with cameras set up to project images onto a large screen as well as filming the scanning sequences of whoever was performing the scan. This allowed for valuable discussion re pregnancy management, especially with the mums having twins & triplets.
Thank you to the dedicated FNU staff, in particular Edwin Singh, who is also the PISUM secretary, for organising such a successful event (with delicious catering).
The next event for the CoE will be a vascular course in October.
Sue Westerway
Raymond Keshwan
Fiji CoE Directors
Tonga, May 2024
To further improve ultrasound education and the effective delivery of ultrasound services, the RAD-AID / WFUMB collaboration held a three day ‘in country’ support session in Tonga in May. Working alongside the imaging staff at the Vaiola Hospital in Nuku’alofa our volunteers assisted the scanning staff with techniques and report writing during their routine lists.
Multiple patients were seen for abdominal, OBGYN, small parts and vascular scans. The hospital was very well equipped and the enthusiastic staff made for a rewarding visit. As part of the WFUMB Fiji Centre of Education and the Pacific Islands Society for Ultrasound in Medicine more visits are being planned to other Pacific nations.
Croatian COE Event: Abdominal Ultrasound Euroson School
In early July 2024 a combined WFUMB Centre of Education, EFSUMB and CSUMB event is being held.
The Euroson School - Abdominal Ultrasound takes place over two days (5th-6th July) at the Hotel Dubrovnik in Zagreb, Croatia. With very reasonable course fees of only 50 EUR for Doctors in training 100 EUR for Specialists, this course is sure to be very well attended.
COE Workshop during The 27th National Conference of the Romanian Society of Ultrasonography in Medicine and Biology
The 27th National Conference of the Romanian Society of Ultrasonography in Medicine and Biology took place in Cluj-Napoca on 9-11 May 2024.
During this prestigious event a half day WFUMB COE workshop took place which was attended by 115 participants.
With thanks to Ioan Sporea, Roxana Sirli, Alina Popescu and Team for another successful COE event.
2nd Ultrasound Conference in Albania
June 7-8, 2024
The Albanian Ultrasound Association and CoE Tirana with the support of WFUMB and EFSUMB through the presence of distinguished lecturers such as, Prof. Ioan SPOREA, Prof. Dieter NUERNBERG, Prof. Odd Helge GILJA and the special support of Mrs. Lynne Rudd successfully organized its 2nd Conference, attended by over 100 medical doctors, residents, students, and nurses, including Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia.
Lecturers from various specialties and countries shared their expertise during two intensive days of education and practice organized in two halls.
The feedback from participants was highly positive, with an average rating of 4.8 out of 5.
Attendees expressed the wish for more events like this, highlighting the importance that ultrasound has in their everyday practice.
Blerina Saraci
Application of UDFF in Evaluation of Pediatric Steatosis Liver Disease
The kick-off meeting of an international multi-center study was successfully held in Shanghai
The incidence of steatosis liver disease has shown an increasing trend worldwide. Alongside the growing prevalence of childhood obesity, steatosis liver disease presents a trend of younger onset. The morbidity of pediatric steatosis liver disease is increasing in Asia, from 4.4% in 2004-2010 to 7.1% in 2011-2020. The hundreds of millions of patients with steatosis liver disease initially have no specific symptoms and have been neglected for too long, with severe consequences. Steatosis liver disease interacts with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes and is related to cardiovascular diseases, and extrahepatic malignancies. Moreover, steatosis liver disease is emerging as a leading cause of liver-related morbidity, mortality, liver cancer, and liver transplantation, causing deterioration in quality of life.
Global challenges demand global action, from early diagnosis to therapeutic responses. Given the costs and risks of liver biopsy, there is an important need for noninvasive and cost-effective methods for evaluating hepatic steatosis. However, there is limited research on screening modalities for pediatric hepatic steatosis.
To make globalized research in the noninvasive assessment of hepatic steatosis in children, an international multi-center study named ‘Application of UDFF in Evaluation of Pediatric Steatosis Liver Disease’ was carried out by six hospitals on May 27th in Shanghai China. The new ultrasound liver quantification technology – Ultrasound Deriver Fat Fraction (UDFF) from Siemens Healthiness will be used in this study. Ms. Lynne Rudd, the administrator of WFUMB witnessed the kickoff meeting.
The primary investigative hospitals include Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and Children Hospital of Fudan University. The member hospitals include the Kliniken Hirslanden Beau Site, Salem und Permanence Bern Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Hangzhou Children’s Hospital, and the Pediatric Hospital of Bozhou.
Prof. Christoph Frank Dietrich, WFUMB Treasurer (2023 - 2025), who came from the Kliniken Hirslanden Beau Site, Salem und Permanence Bern Hospital in Switzerland, gave a lecture on how to perform UDFF measurement and introduced practical skills to increase the successful rate of UDFF measurements in children.
Prof. Jian-Gao Fan, the chief of the Gastroenterology department of Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, introduced the prevalence of steatosis liver disease in children worldwide and the important role of ultrasound-based technique in the non-invasive diagnosis and follow-up of hepatic steatosis.
Prof. Yi Dong, the chief of the Ultrasound department of Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, made a brief introduction to the program of the multi-center study. As the PI of this study, Prof. Yi Dong will be responsible for the progress and completion of the study.
Let’s look forward to the achievements of the multi-center study, which might shape a brighter future for the hundreds of millions of children living with, or at risk of developing steatosis liver disease.
JSUM & Kyoto Site Visit for WFUMB 2025 Congress
The Japanese Society for Ultrasound in Medicine hosted its annual congress in Yokokama, Japan with 6,300 attendees.
Invitations were extended to WFUMB ExB members to give presentations in English, as well as honouring Christoph F Dietrich with Honorary Membership.
The ExB is under no doubt of the organisational capability of the JSUM team under their new President to host WFUMB 2025 in Kyoto, Japan.
Kyoto, Japan site visit by the ExB
The purpose built congress centre is outside Kyoto and surrounded by fields with deer roaming and ponds with Koi carp. The rooms range is size from 150 to 1500. There is a vast exhibition hall which will accommodate our industry partners. There are a number of hotels not far from the congress venue on the metro line which arrives directly at the congress venue.
WFUMB AFSUMB Student Webinars
After a successful series of Student Webinar events over the last 9 months, the final WFUMB-AFSUMB Student Webinar takes place on July 13th, 2024. The webinar consists 1 hour lectures and will take place via Zoom connection in English language.
Time: 10:00am Central European Time (CET or CEST) – you can check your own time zone at https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/
Register by clicking on the schedule below >
View the last four webinar presentations below >
Volunteer to Review – WFUMB Ultrasound Open
WFUMB Ultrasound Open is the official international peer-reviewed Open Access journal of the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (WFUMB). It is a partner journal of Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. The journal aims to advance our understanding of the applications of ultrasound in medicine and science.
Join our team of Reviewers and shape the future of the journal!
We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of quality and integrity in the articles we publish. As a reviewer, you will play a crucial role in ensuring the accuracy, rigor, and significance of the research published in WFUMB Ultrasound Open. Reviewing articles exposes you to the latest advancements and breakthroughs as well as engaging with leading WFUMB researchers, building connections, and establishing collaborations with experts from around the globe.
We are seeking experts (with):
- A strong publication record in the field of ultrasound….
- In-depth knowledge and expertise in …..
- Strong attention to detail and the ability to provide constructive feedback
- A commitment to confidentiality and ethical conduct in the review process
If you are interested in becoming a reviewer and making a significant impact on the scientific community, we invite you to send us your CV, a list of your areas of expertise, and a brief statement outlining your qualifications to e-mail lrudd@wfumb.org
WFUMB Ultrasound Open has published two issues in 2023 and finalizing its June 2024 issue. It has been indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Open access publication fees for submitted articles by 31 July 2024 will be waived —do not miss this opportunity to share your research to the world through WFUMB Ultrasound Open!
SUBMIT YOUR ARTICLE HERE
EUROSON 2024
35th Congress of the European Federation of Ultrasound Societies in Medicine and Biology
Congress Centre “Stazione Marittima”, Naples, 9-11 November
In conjunction with SIUMB Educational Programme, 9-12 November
Paper Registration Form only for LDC (Least Developing Countries)> click here
Running in tandem with EUROSON 2024 ....
EUROSON SCHOOL: From Basic to Advanced Application
NAPLES ITALY NOVEMBER 9|10
ROOM ELETTRA
View the full programme for this Euroson School here >
Organising Secretariat:
Email: euroson2024@siumb.it
Telephone: +39 06 32110740 / +39 06 3218257
Upcoming Congresses
