2008 NEWS: Co-Author & Co-Editor of New Book on Medical Imaging:
"Translational Multimodality Optical Imaging"
Can be ordered from Artech House or Amazon.com ( Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr or Amazon.co.jp)

 New Book
(click for full-resolution picture)

"This is the first book to provide an expert and timely comprehensive overview of the present and future outlook of clinical multimodality optical imaging from the academic to the industrial perspective. Written by pioneers in the field, it will become a useful reference to clinicians and nonclinicians, researchers, scientists, educators and students."
- Britton Chance, Ph.D., Sc.D.

       2007 NEWS: My Book Proceedings of the Int'l Conference on Multimodal Biomedical Imaging & Photonics
                                on Sale now at Amazon.ca , Amazon.fr , Amazon.co.uk , Amazon.de , and Amazon.co.jp !
 

       You can access my Ph.D. and Master theses by clicking on the following link:

       Fred S. Azar - Ph.D. & Master Theses   
-  Or you may also download the official Dissertation at the following
       site: UMI ProQuest Digital Dissertations .

Event Organization


Note: Initiated and chaired four years in a row the first International Conference dedicated to optical and multimodal
            biomedical imaging, at Photonics West, North America's largest commercial exhibition on lasers, biomedical
            optics and imaging technologies (more than 1000 national and international exhibitors). The conference
            Program comprises leaders in the field from key universities, hospitals, major pharmaceutical firms and
            the NI
H. Edited four Book Proceedings, which are now sold on Amazon worldwide sites.

2  Workshop on Novel Standardized Open-Source eXtensible Imaging Platform (XIP) for the Rapid Development of
      Advanced Applications - SPIE Photonics West '09
(San Jose, 2009)
     Workshop Organizer


2
  SPIE Photonics West '09: Multimodal Biomedical Imaging (San Jose, 2009)
     Int'l Symposium on Biomedical Optics
     Conference Chair & Organizer


2 
Was nominated Chairman of the NCI's (National Cancer Institute) Industry Working Group in the Multi-institutional
     Network for Translational Research in Optical Imaging (NTROI, 2006-2008)

1  SPIE Photonics West '08: Multimodal Biomedical Imaging (San Jose, 2008)
     Int'l Symposium on Biomedical Optics
     Conference Chair & Organizer


4  Standardization, Visualization and Data Analysis- Network for Translational Research in Optical Imaging Annual
     Retreat  (Newport Beach CA, 2007)
     Session Chair


4  
IEEE 7th International Symposium on BioInformatics & BioEngineering (Cambridge MA, 2007)
     Program Committee


 
SPIE Photonics West '07: Multimodal Biomedical Imaging (San Jose, 2007)
     Int'l Symposium on Biomedical Optics
     Conference Chair & Organizer

 Eleventh IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV) (Rio de Janeiro, 2007 )
    Workshop on Rigid and Deformable Image Alignment
     
Program Committee

 SPIE Photonics West '06: Multimodal Biomedical Imaging (San Jose, 2006)
     Int'l Symposium on Biomedical Optics
     Conference Chair & Organizer

 Standardization & Postprocessing Techniques - Network for Translational Research in Optical Imaging Annual
     Retreat  (Irvine, 2006)
     Session Chair

 Standardization & Training for Acquisition, Reconstruction, Post-processing & Data Management Techniques
     Network for Translational Research in Optical Imaging  (Princeton, NJ, 2006)
     
Workshop Organizer


 SPIE Optics East '06: Optical Methods for Drug Discovery & Development  (Boston MA,2006)
     
Life Science Applications
     Program Committee


 SPIE Optics East '05: Optical Methods for Drug Discovery & Development  (Boston MA,2005)
     
Life Science Applications
     Program Committee


 Int'l Conference on Medical Image Computing & Computer-Assisted Intervention - MICCAI  (Montreal, 2003)
     
Session Chair


  Reviewer for Several Publications & Conferences:
     - Journal of Academic Radiology
     - Computational & Mathematical Methods in Medicine
     - Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials
     - Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (TBME)
     - Journal of Medical Image Analysis
     - Int'l Conference on Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition (CVPR)
     - Int' Symposium on Biomedical Simulation (ISBMS)
     - Medical Image Computing & Computer-Assisted Intervention (MICCAI)
     - Int'l Workshop on Augmented Environments for Computer-aided Surgery (AMI)
     - Biomedical Engineering Online

Invited Talks


4 The Institute of Photonic Sciences - (Barcelona, 2007)
    Title: Translational Multimodality Optical Imaging: applying state-of-the-art medical imaging technologies
    to bring optical imaging one step closer to the clinic"


Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - (San Jose CA, 2007)
   
Quality and Reliability of Technologies for Medicine and Biomedical Devices

    Int'l Symposium on Biomedical Optics - SPIE Photonics West '07
    Title:
Standardization and postprocessing techniques in the network for translational research
     in optical imaging"


Optical Imaging Seminar Series - (Piscataway NJ, 2007)
   
Rutgers University

    Title:
Optical and Multimodal Image Registration, Segmentation and Analysis"

National Institues of Health (Bethesda, MD, 2006)
    Fifth Inter-Institute Workshop on Optical Diagnostic Imaging from Bench to Bedside
    Title:
An optical and multimodal imaging platform for integration, post-processing and standardization"

Optical methods in drug discovery and development (Boston MA, 2005)
    Int'l Symposium on Biomedical Optics - SPIE Optics East
    Title:
Multimodal information integration & visualization: optical imaging and MRI"

 Siemens Corporate Research, Dept. of Imaging & Visualization (Princeton, NJ, 2002)
    Title: Deformable Models in Medical Imaging I"

 Princeton University, Dept. of Computer Science (Princeton, NJ, 2002)
    Title: “A Deformable Finite Element Model of the Breast for Predicting
     Mechanical Deformations Under External Perturbations”

 SARNOFF Corporation, Medical Group   (Princeton, NJ, 2001)
     Title:
"A Finite Element Model of the Breast for Predicting Mechanical Deformations
     under External Perturbations"

 Medical Image Processing Group (MIPG)   (University of Pennsylvania, 1998)
     Title:
"A Finite Element Model of the Breast for Predicting Mechanical Deformations
     during Interventional Procedures"

 General Electric Medical Systems   (Buc, France, 1998)
     Title:
"Creating a Deformable Model of the Breast for Possible Applications in Multimodal
     Registration"

  French Institute for Culture and Technology   (University of Pennsylvania, 2000)
     Title: "Montreal, Philadelphie, Paris: des Hommes et des Femmes"

Publications & Conferences


3
  World Molecular Imaging Congress (Nice, France, 2008)
      Title: "Clinical Translation of a Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging Platform for Image-Guided Surgery"

3
  SPIE Photonics West - Multimodal Biomedical Imaging (San Jose CA, 2009)
      Title: "State-of-the-art in multimodal image processing techniques"

4   Int'l Symposium on Biomedical Optics - SPIE Photonics West (San Jose CA, 2009)
      Title: "An extensible imaging platform for optical imaging applications"


3
  Optical Society of America: BIOMED Meeting (St. Petersburg FL, 2008)
      Title: "A 3D Image-Based Guidance System for Handheld Optical Imaging Devices"

3   Book: Translational Multimodality Optical Imaging, Artech House Editors (2008)
      Book Chapter: "Introduction to Clinical Optical Imaging"

3   Book: Translational Multimodality Optical Imaging, Artech House Editors (2008)
      Book Chapter: "Software Platforms for Integration of Diffuse Optical Imaging and Other Modalities"

3
  Medical Physics Journal (2007)
      Special Section on Optical Diagnostic Imaging from Bench to Bedside
      Title: "
Coregistered Diffuse Optical and Positron Emission Tomography of Human Breast"

  Journal of Biomedical Optics - JBO (2007)
      Special Section on Optical Diagnostic Imaging from Bench to Bedside
      Title: "
A Standardized Platform for Coregistration of Non-Concurrent Diffuse Optical and Magnetic Resonance
      Breast Images Obtained in Different Geometries"


3    Joint Molecular Imaging Conference (Providence RI, 2007)
      The Academy of Molecular Imaging & The Society for Molecular Imaging
      Title: "
Feasibility of MRI-PET-CT mutual image co-registration for Cancer Staging and Therapeutic Planning"

3
    NTROI/National Cancer Institute Annual Workshop, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda MD, 2007)
      Title: "The NTROI Working Group: Mission & Goals"

3    Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA, Chicago MI, 2007)
      caBIG In Vivo Imaging Workspace, Imaging Software Special Interest Group
      Title: "Algorithm Validation Tools (AVT)"

3
  Int'l Workshop on Mathematical Methods in Biomedical Image Analysis (Brazil, 2007)
      Eleventh IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision
      Title: "
A Unified and Efficient Approach for Free-form Deformable Registration"

3   2007 Annual Retreat of the Network for Translational Research in Optical Imaging (Newport Beach CA, 2007)
      Title: "A New Method for Connecting MATLAB Routines to MS Visual C++ Programs for a Flexible and
      Modular Programming Environment"

3   2007 Annual Retreat of the Network for Translational Research in Optical Imaging (Newport Beach CA, 2007)
      Title: "Translational Optical Imaging: A 3D visualization and guidance system for handheld imaging devices"

  SPIE Medical Imaging '07 (San Diego CA,2007)
      Title: "
A 3D visualization and guidance system for handheld optical imaging devices"

  SPIE Photonics West - Multimodal Biomedical Imaging (San Jose CA, 2007)
      Title: "
Characterization of breast lesions using diffuse optical tomography and positron emission tomography"

  SPIE Photonics West - Optical Tomography and Spectroscopy of Tissue (San Jose CA, 2007)
      Title: "
Joint Analysis of Non-Concurrent Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Diffuse Optical Tomography of
      Breast Cancer"


 
Int’l Society Molecular Imaging, 5th conference (Hawaii, 2006)
      Title: "A Novel Approach for Joint Analysis of Non-Concurrent Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Diffuse
      Optical Tomography of Breast Cancer
"

  Int’l Society Molecular Imaging, 5th conference (Hawaii, 2006)
      Title: "Deformable Registration of Mion-Enhanced MRI to CT images for Presurgical and Radiotherapy
      Planning of Lymph Nodes"

  International Textbook of in vivo Imaging in Vertebrates (in press), John Wiley & Sons
     
Book Chapter: "Concurrent Imaging vs. Computer-assisted registration"

  World congress on medical physics and biomedical engineering (Seoul, Korea, 2006)
      Title: "Fast multi-spectral multi-angle CW diffuse optical tomography instrument for human breast imaging"

  Int’l Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine - ISMRM (Seattle WA, 2006)
      Title: "
Deformable registration of abdominal mion-enhanced MR images for presurgical and radiotherapy
      planning of lymph nodes"

  22nd Int’l Conference on Data Engineering (Atlanta GA, 2006)
      Title: "
Experiment management with metadata-based integration for collaborative scientific research"

  SPIE Photonics West - Multimodal Biomedical Imaging (San Jose CA, 2006)
      Title: "
Co-registration of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and broadband Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy
       in breast tissue"

  SPIE Photonics West - Multimodal Biomedical Imaging (San Jose CA, 2006)
      Title: "
A Software Platform for visualization & multimodal registration of diffuse optical tomography
      and MRI of breast cancer"

  DICOM 2005 Int’l Conference - Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (Budapest, Hungary, 2005)
      Title: "
A new method for increasing the flexibility of DICOM tags management in application-specific
      integration"

  Int’l Society Molecular Imaging - 4th conference (Cologne, Germany, 2005)
      Title: "
Multimodal 3D registration of non-concurrent diffuse optical tomography with MRI of breast cancer"

  SPIE Medical Imaging 2005 (San Diego CA, 2005)
      Title: "
Registration of high-resolution 3D atrial images with electroanatomical cardiac mapping:
      Evaluation of registration methodology"

  Int’l Society Molecular Imaging - 3rd conference (St Louis MO, 2004)
      Title: (Proffered Talk) "
A Software Platform for Multi-Modal Information Integration & Visualization:
      Diffuse Optical Tomography and MRI of Breast Cancer"

  Handbook of Numerical Analysis - Vol.12, Special Volume, Computational Models for the Human Body,
      edited by N. Ayache, series editor P.G. Ciarlet. (2004)
      Book Chapter: "
Methods for Modeling and Predicting Mechanical Deformations of the Breast under External
      Perturbations"

  SPIE Medical Imaging 2004 (San Diego CA,2004)
      Title: "
A User Performance Analysis of Different Image-Based Navigation Systems for Needle Placement
      Procedures"

  6th International Conference on Medical Image Computing & Computer Assisted Intervention -
      MICCAI (Montreal, 2003)
      Title: "
Local 3D Reconstruction and Augmented Reality Visualization of free-hand Ultrasound for Needle
      Biopsy Procedures"

  11th Medicine Meets Virtual Reality Conference (Newport Beach CA, 2003)
      Title: "
An Augmented Reality System for MRI-Guided Needle Biopsies"

  Journal of Medical Image Analysis (MedIma)   (March 2002)
     
Title: "Methods for Modeling and Predicting Mechanical Deformations of the Breast under
      External Perturbations"

      PDF Download - ( Abstract )

  Journal of Academic Radiology   (Oct. 2001)
     
Title: "A Deformable Finite Element Model of the Breast for Predicting Mechanical Deformations
      under External Perturbations"
      PDF Download

  MICCAI International Conference   (The Netherlands, 2001)
      
4th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention
     
Title: "Methods for Modeling and Predicting Mechanical Deformations of the Breast under
      External Perturbations"

 Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting   (Seattle, 2000)
     Title: "A 3D Deformable Model of the Breast for Predicting Mechanical Deformations
     under Plate Compression during Interventional Procedures"

 SIGGRAPH 2000, Course #20 Modeling Techniques for Medical Applications   (New Orleans, 2000)
     27th International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques
     Title: "Methods for Modeling and Predicting Mechanical Deformations of the Breast during
     Interventional Procedures"

  IEEE Workshop on Mathematical Methods in biomedical Image Analysis   (South Carolina, June 2000)
     Title:
"A Finite Element Model of the Breast for Predicting Mechanical Deformations during Biopsy
     Procedures"

     
PDF Download

 World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering   (Chicago, 2000)
     Title:
"A Deformable Finite Element Model of the Breast to Register MR Images of the
     Same Breast under Different Plate Compressions"

 26th IEEE Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference   (U. of Connecticut, 2000)
     Title: "Methods for Predicting Mechanical Deformations in the Breast during Clinical
     Breast Biopsy"

  
 · First Prize at the graduate student paper competition
     
PDF Download

 SIGGRAPH '99, Course #33 Modeling Techniques for Medical Applications   (Los Angeles, 1999)
     26th International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques
     Title:
"Methods for Modeling and Predicting Mechanical Deformations of the Breast during
     Interventional Procedures"

 ISMRM International Meeting   (Philadelphia, 1999)
     Seventh Scientific Meeting
of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Medicine
     Title: "A Finite Element Model of the Breast for Predicting Mechanical Deformations during
     Interventional Procedures"
   
  PDF Download

 Third International IEEE-EMBS Summer School on Biomedical Imaging   (Britanny, France, 1998)
     IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
     Title:
"Modeling of the Breast for Predicting Mechanical Deformations during
     Interventional Procedures"

   · FICT Fellowship Award: awarded by the French Institute for Culture and Technology

 Canadian Annual Congress of Electronics Engineers and Computer Science   (Vancouver, Canada, 1993)
     Title: "Three Dimensional Volume Estimation Using Superellipsoids"
  
 ·
Life Member Award: 1st prize at the IEEE Canada Student Paper Competition
 
    PDF Download

 

Technical Reports


 "Imaging Techniques for Detecting Breast Cancer: Survey and Perspectives"
     
Technical Report
MS-CIS-00-11, Dept. of Computer Science, U. of Pennsylvania (2000)
     Technical Report MS-BE-00-02, Dept. of BioEngineering, U. of Pennsylvania (2000)
     PDF Download

 "Multiattribute Decision-Making: Use of Three Scoring Methods to Compare the
     Performance of Imaging Techniques for Breast Cancer Detection"
     
Technical Report
MS-CIS-00-10, Dept. of Computer Science, U. of Pennsylvania (2000)
     Technical Report MS-BE-00-01, Dept. of BioEngineering, U. of Pennsylvania (2000)
     PDF Download

 "Methods for Modeling and Predicting Mechanical Deformations of the Breast during
    Interventional Procedures"
     Technical Report MS-CIS-99-13, Dept. of Computer Science, U. of Pennsylvania (1999)
     Technical Report
MS-BE-00-03, Dept. of BioEngineering, U. of Pennsylvania (2000)
     PDF Download

 "Effects of Demyelination on the Time Constants and Amplitude of the Action Potential
     Due to Multiple Sclerosis"

     Technical Report
MS-BE-00-04, Dept. of BioEngineering, U. of Pennsylvania (2000)
     PDF Download

Awards


 15+ filed Patents and Provisional Patents

 Biography selected and published in Marquis Who's Who in Science & Engineering

 Towne Fellow Award in Technology and Management   (U. of Pennsylvania, 2001)
   ·
Awarded to a select group of Engineering Ph.D. students who take a number of Executives Masters
     and Wharton business courses, to prepare them for managerial / financial positions.

 IEEE Paper Award
   ·
26th IEEE Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference   (U. of Connecticut, 2000)
   · First Prize at the graduate student paper competition for the paper titled "Methods for
     Predicting Mechanical Deformations in the Breast during Clinical Breast Biopsy
"

 FICT Traveling Fellowship
    ·
French Institute for Culture and Technology, U. of Pennsylvania (1998)
    · $1,500 awarded to participate in a scholarly conference in France

 FCAR Fellowship  for Ph.D. studies
    · Government of Quebec, Canada (1995-1999)

 Dean's Fellowship
    · Dept. of BioEngineering, University of Pennsylvania (1995 - 1996)
    · Full tuition and stipend for the first year of the Ph.D. program

 Eastern Canada Council Life Member Award
    · Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, IEEE (1993)
    · 1st prize at the IEEE Canada Student Paper Competition, for the paper titled "Three
     Dimensional Volume Estimation Using Superellipsoids
"

 NSERC Summer Research Award Scholarship
    · National Science and Engineering Research Council, Canada (1992)
    · "T.Mc.Lagan Award" - Faculty Scholar (top 10% of Faculty), McGill U. (1991-1992)

 European Mathematics Competition for International Schools
   · Team member of the Paris International School in Hamburg (1988) and Frankfurt
     (1989), Germany

 Professional Societies:
   · Associate Member, American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO)
   · International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE)
   · Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (
IEEE)
   · IEEE
Computer Society
   · Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (
EMBS)
   · European Society of Electrical Engineers (
SEE)

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