2^nd International Conference on Medical Physics and Biophysics November 07-08, 2016 Barcelona, Spain

D V Giri has completed his PhD in 1975 from Harvard University. He has over 40 years of work experience in the field Applied Electromagnetics. He is a Life Fellow of IEEE, and International Chairman of Commission E, URSI. He has co-authored a book titled “High-Power Microwave Systems and Effects” published by Taylor and Francis in 1994. He is a co-recipient of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society’s 2006 John Kraus Antenna Award. His second book titled “High-Power Electromagnetic Radiators: Nonlethal Weapons and Other Applications” has been published by Harvard University Press in 2004. He has also published over 150 papers, reports, etc. He is a recipient of 2006 John Kraus Antenna Award by IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society

In this paper, we wish to review the medical uses of electromagnetic energy both in diagnosis and therapy. The electromagnetic (EM) spectrum ranging from DC to gamma rays and beyond is a vast natural resource that has been very valuable for mankind. With the rapid advances of medical technology, radio frequency (RF) techniques are becoming increasingly popular for a variety of applications such as non-invasive diagnosis, continuous monitoring of physiological data, communication between implanted devices, and communication to external devices. In this paper, we have reviewed the medical uses of EM energy. Therapeutic applications of EM energy can be broadly classified into two groups as (1) conventional and (2) emerging therapies. Examples of conventional therapies are: a) hyperthermia (thermal therapy); b) MRI; c) X-ray; and d) CT scan. In the emerging category are THz imagery and implantable devices. Examining the EM spectrum one can observe a dichotomy at about 1015 Hz to delineate non-ionizing and ionizing radiation. At f=1015 Hz, the quantum of energy associated with the EM radiation is E=hf ~ 4 eV where ‘h’ is the Planck’s constant. Medical applications are possible at many frequencies such as DC, RF, microwave, X-rays and gamma rays. In the past decade, there have been some remarkable strides made by electromagnetic applications implemented in medical technologies. With the rapid advances in the electronic and digital technologies, some very interesting electromagnetic biomedical applications are being pursued by several researchers. Most of the work is still in the clinical trial stages. The challenges are primarily because of well- known competing technologies. The objective of thispaper is to summarize some significant developments with electromagnetics in emerging medical technologies.

Susan B Klein completed her PhD in Biophysics at University of California (Berkeley) in 1986. She completed her Post-doctoral training at University of Michigan in Biophysics and Radiation Oncology. After several years of bioengineering, she joined Indiana University Cyclotron Facility in 1990 where she examined proton radiation biology and began practicing medical physics. She is one of the seven intellectual property holders of the design, fabrication and operation of Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute. She is currently an Associate Director at Indiana University-Purdue University

Although particle therapy, particularly proton therapy is not a new technology having been initiated in 1952 at the University of California at Berkeley cyclotron, it may be considered relatively new and certainly medical physicists are less familiar with the clinical practice of particle therapy due to the scarcity of facilities worldwide. At last accounting, there were 67 facilities in operation worldwide with another 49 under construction and a small fraction of the several thousands of linear accelerator Xray therapy facilities. As charged particles interact with matter in fundamentally different ways than neutral particles, the planning and delivery of particle therapy requires a unique intuition based both on physics and on radiation biology. This presentation will discuss the therapy, radiation machine design, radiation biology and clinical techniques relevant to particle therapy.

Maria Elisabete C D Real Oliveira is an Associated Professor with Habilitation at Physics Department of UMinho. She has completed her BSc in Physics, UCoimbra, Portugal, 1975, and her PhD at the University of Salford, UK/University of Minho in 1986. She was Head of the Master’s Degree in Biophysics and Bionanosystems, UM (2009-2014), Head of the Research Group Atomic Molecular and Optics Physics, Centre of Physics, UM (2013-present) and President of the Group of Colloids and Polymer (Portuguese Chemical Society), since 2013. She is author of more than 54 full publications (ISI) in repute journals (h index-16) and author of 2 patents. She was also Founder of the Spin-off Nanodelivery–I&D in Bionanotechnology, LDA

Over the past 30 years, liposomes have been used as key components in several therapeutic strategies, due to the structure, biocompatibility, biodegradability and low toxicity of these self-assembled nanostructures. The physicochemical characteristics of liposomes have been found to be suitable for the encapsulation and therapeutic delivery of several water soluble molecules, including nucleic acids and proteins. Recently, our group has developed a liposomal formulation based on the helper lipid monoolein (MO) and cationic lipids from the dioctadecyldimethylammonium family (DODAX) that has shown great potential as a drug nanocarrier. In this work, we show that liposomal formulation, composed by DODAB:MO (1:2), can be a suitable nanocarrier for different molecules. DODAB: MO was developed as hybrid vector used for: (i) plasmid DNA (pDNA) and small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery (ii) drug delivery and also as (iii) an adjuvant to present vaccine antigens to the immune system. The physicochemical properties of the nanocarriers were evaluated by dynamic light scattering (DLS), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET). In vitro and in vivo assays were performed to assess the cytotoxicity, internalization, transfection efficiency or immunostimulation of the different nanoparticles produced. Our results demonstrate that DODAB:MO (1:2) can efficiently deliver different molecules (pDNA, siRNA, drugs and Candida albicans cell wall surface proteins (CWSP), without inducing significant cytotoxic effects, whichmakes this a very versatile nanocarrier system with a great therapeutic potential.