The International Symposium for Telemedicine and Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (ISTAIM2020), organized by the Communication and Information Research Centre (CIRC) and the Medical Research Centre (MRC) at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) commenced on Monday, 17 February 2020. The opening ceremony of the symposium was held under the patronage of HE Dr. Mubarak bin Saleh Al-Khadouri, Special Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan.
The main theme of this symposium is “Towards an Intelligent Healthcare System Reaching the Farthest Areas in the Sultanate of Oman”. The aim of this event is to promote the telemedicine concepts and discuss the use and development of artificial intelligence in medicine for professionals, engineers, medical staff, students and the community. A number of well-known specialists from across the world are participating in this two-day symposium. In addition to that, well-known researches from the Gulf countries will present their experiences in telemedicine and artificial intelligence in medicine.
Speaking on behalf of SQU on the occasion, Dr. Rahma Ibrahim Al Mahrooqi, SQU Deputy Vice Chancellor for Postgraduate Studies & Research, said that under the national priority of health, Vision 2040 highlights the importance of creating an advanced health system. In line with this vision, the health sector in Oman seeks to adopt global standards through the strategic goals of enhancing national talent and capabilities at the cutting edge of health scientific research and innovation, and deploying technical medical systems and services”.
She said that ‘ISTAIM 2020’ fully supports the realization of these strategic development goals by promoting the understanding of telemedicine among a wide range of stakeholders in medicine, and offering the opportunity to explore the potential application of artificial intelligence in medicine for medical professionals, engineers, students, and the general community.
Dr. Abdulnasir Hossen, Chairman of the organizing committee of the symposium said that the main goal of this event is to come up with recommendations to develop the healthcare sector in the Sultanate to operate with an intelligent diagnostic system and to reach citizens in the most remote areas of the country. “It also aims to support the local industry and to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and the transfer and localization of modern technologies by showing models of successful international and local experiences in this field”, he said.
The topics to discuss include telemedicine techniques, telemedicine systems, best international experiences in telemedicine, artificial intelligence in telemedicine, artificial intelligence in healthcare, and applications of artificial intelligence in the diagnosis of diseases as well as artificial intelligence in biomedical engineering. The symposium has invited five keynote speakers to talk about the symposium’s main themes. In addition, it has invited six experts from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and many experts and researchers from the Sultanate to talk about the latest developments and international and local experiences in the fields of telemedicine and artificial intelligence in medicine. The symposium also includes several plenary discussions to exchange knowledge with our keynote speakers about the best practices in the symposium areas of interest.
In the first keynote address, Prof. Roland Tilz from Lubeck, Germany shared the German experience in telemedicine and cardiology.