9521719 Kanade An international workshop "Toward a Research Agenda and Infrastructure Development in Computer Assisted Diagnosis and Therapy" is to held in the Spring of 1996 and will be convened at a conference center near Bristol, England. The goals of the workshmp are to: 1) Produce an inventory, at an international level, of the medical, engineering, and computer science research in medical robotics, computer assisted diagnosis and therapy, and virtual reality in medicine and telemedicine. 2) Develop a five year research agenda and development plan, and 3) Elucidate measures that could promote the establishment of an infrastructure to facilitate the development of the field. The workshop report is to be widely disseminated in electronic and printed formats, and a printed report of the project recommendations will be produced. The project has important implications to NSF and other research grant-making agencies, as well as the nation's research community, for planning research programs and the allocation of limited resources in this area. The workshop organizers have high competence in organizing and directing large scientific meetings. The planning process for the workshop involves an innovative technique wherein the workshop participants will contribute to the preparation of a "pre-workshop document" to facilitate deliberations and conclusions during the three day meeting. Much of the planning process is to be conducted using INTERNET to hold "virtual" meetings of the workshop Executive Oversight Committee. NSF funds will support only the U.S. participants. Expenses of attendees from other countries will be borne by their own institutions or government agencies. Biomedical engineering research in medical robotics and their interventional procedures holds high promise for the development of the technologies needed to provide new capabilities to diagnosticians and therapists, to the reduction of patient morbidity and mortality, and, in certain cases, to lowering the cost of health care. The workshop is expected to contribute significantly to progress in this area of research and technological development. ***
