Update from the Recent Meeting of IEC TC106 and ICES TC34 in Paris

Thanks to the tireless efforts of IEC TC106 and ICES TC34, the aggressive schedule to complete exposure assessment standards for 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) communication technologies continues to be maintained.

Members of the Swiss Society for Biomedical Engineering Visit IT'IS

Members of the Swiss Society for Biomedical Engineering (SSBE) visited the IT'IS Foundation on Friday, 1 June 2018.

Radio Oncology Team of Cantonal Hospital Aarau Visits IT'IS

Members of the Radio-Oncology Center of the Cantonal Hospitals of Aarau (KSA) and Baden (KSB) visted the IT'IS Foundation on Thursday, 31 May 2018.

EUROSTARS RESTORE Project Workshop

The second workshop of the EUROSTARS project RESTORE was hosted by ZMT at Z43 on May 25, 2018.

IT'IS Annual Report 2017

The Annual Report 2017 features news about IT'IS, key figures for 2017, and overviews of selected highlights of last year: 

• Instrumentation for Compliance Testing of 5G Mobile Devices 
• Towards Science-Based Exposure Assessments of 5G Technology
• o2S2PARC – Open Online Simulations for Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions 
• Registration Approach for Personalization of Computational Anatomical Models 

Release of Tissue Database V4-0

IT’IS Tissue Database V4-0:  Now including tissue elemental composition values for x-ray and gamma radiation studies.

Data-driven experimental evaluation method for the safety assessment of implants with respect to RF-induced heating during MRI

Aiping Yao, Earl Zastrow, and Niels Kuster, Radio Science, online 20 April 2018, DOI: 10.1029/2017RS006433

Meeting of IEC TC106 WG9 and New Project Team for WPT Compliance Hosted by IT’IS April 10–11

Z43 was the site of the latest meeting of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Technical Committee (TC) 106 Working Group (WG) 9, held April 10 – 11 April 2018, convened by Dr. Teruo Onishi and hosted by the IT’IS Foundation, with sponsoring by Schmid & Partner Engineering (SPEAG). The 2-day meeting included the inauguration of the new Project Team (PT) 63184, established after the October 2017 plenary meeting of TC106 in Melbourne, Australia to formulate the basic standard for exposure to wireless power transfer (WPT) systems over the frequency range 1 kHz – 10 MHz.

Effect of cell phone radiofrequency radiation on body temperature in rodents: Pilot studies of the National Toxicology Program's reverberation chamber exposure system

Behavioural phenotypes in mice after prenatal and early postnatal exposure to intermediate frequency magnetic fields

Kajal Kumari, Hennariikka Koivisto, Myles Capstick, Jonne Naarala, Matti Viluksela, Heikki Tanila, and Jukka Juutilainen, Environmental Research, Volume 162, pp. 27-34, April 2018, Online: 22 December 2017; doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.12.013.

Surprising Outcome of the Peer Review of the Draft Technical Reports of National Toxicology Program’s Radiofrequency Radiation Studies in Rodents

On March 26 – 28, 2018, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) conducted an intense peer review of draft technical reports of the results of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) study of exposure of rodents to radiofrequency radiation. The public review process was attended by members of the public and was broadcast live from the NIEHS campus in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA. Scientists responsible for the studies made presentations to a panel of external experts on the methodologies used in the studies and the evaluation of the results and answered questions. 

Snow + Sun = Fun: 2018 Z43 Ski Day

A record number of participants enjoyed outstanding snow conditions atop Klosters-Madrisa for Z43 Ski Day 2018 on Thursday, 22 March.

"Brown Bag Lunch" Seminar Series Special Guest Prof. em. Juan Mosig

Prof. em. Juan Mosig of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) visited the IT'IS Foundation on Thursday, March 1. He was a guest speaker in the Brown Bag Lunch Seminar series with a talk on "Graphene-Based Terahertz Antennas and Related Devices."

Update from IEC & IEEE Meeting

Plantation, Florida was the site of engaging standards work last week, where two new standards were initiated for assessing human exposure to electromagnetic fields at frequencies >10 GHz, and two existing standards were revised for SAR measurements at frequencies <10 GHz.

"Brown Bag Lunch" Seminar Series Special Guest Dr. Eilif Muller

Dr. Eilif Muller of the EPFL's Blue Brain Project visited the IT'IS Foundation on Thursday, February 8 as a guest speaker in the Brown Bag Lunch Seminar series. The title of his talk was "The HBP Brain Simulation Platform - Motivation, Architecture, Applications." Dr. Muller's extremely interesting presentation was well attended and stimulated many questions and much discussion.

NTP Press Conference: Draft Technical Reports of the National Toxicology Program’s Radiofrequency Radiation Studies in Rodents

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) announced the release of two draft technical reports of the results of studies of the health effects of exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation in rodents. The NTP held a telephone press conference on Friday, February 2, 2018 to summarize the findings in the reports and answer questions. At a peer review of the draft reports, scheduled for March 26 – 28, 2018, Niels Kuster and Myles Capstick of IT'IS will provide background information on the design and rationale of the exposure regime.

Fake vs. Real – The Zurich43 Retreat 2018 at Pilatus Kulm

Zurich43's annual retreat, this year with the theme "Fake vs. Real", was held 29 – 30 January 2018 at Hotel Pilatus-Kulm. The two days were packed with presentations and discussions to dissect high-quality science, products, and services.

Game On! Z43’s Annual Party, 2018 “The Next Level” Edition

The annual Zurich 43 party, this year with the gamer theme “The Next Level”, was held at Halle 622 in Zurich-Oerlikon on Friday 19 January 2018.

Major ViP Extension: Morphing of Virtual Population Models Broadens BMI Population Coverage

IT’IS achieves long-awaited breakthrough with the release of morphed ViP models that cover slender to obese subjects.

Faculty and Masters Students from the ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences Visit Zurich43

Prof. Sven Hirsch of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) visited Zurich43 with students in the Life Sciences - Applied Computational Life Sciences (ACLS) Master's Program on the afternoon of Monday, January 15, 2018 for a tour and an introduction to IT'IS research activities.

"Brown Bag Lunch" Seminar Series Special Guest Prof. Dr. med. Friedhelm Hummel

Prof. Dr. med. Friedhelm Hummel, the Chair of Clinical Neuroengineering of the Brain Mind Institute, SV, EPFL, visited the IT'IS Foundation on Tuesday, December 19 and was a guest speaker in the Brown Bag Lunch Seminar series. The title of his talk was "Non-invasive brain stimulation for recovery: Towards precision medicine."

Winter 2017 Info Day at Z43

On Thursday, December 14, Niels Kuster delivered his annual "State of Z43" report to all employees. The presentation was followed by an apéro, where Niels was presented with a life-size portrait of himself!

Z43 Visit to the Wyss Center at Campus Biotech in Geneva

Several representatives of Z43 visited the Wyss Center for Bio & Neuroengineering at Campus Biotech in Geneva.

IT’IS Paper Selected for the May 2017 Cover of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

The paper "Pregnant women models analyzed for RF exposure and temperature increase in 3T RF shimmed birdcages" by Manuel Murbach, Esra Neufeld, Theodoros Samaras, Juan Córcoles, Fraser J. Robb, Wolfgang Kainz, and Niels Kuster was selected for the May 2017 issue of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

IT’IS Foundation at the 2017 International Wireless Certification Conference and CTTL Forum-International Certification Sub-Forum, Shanghai CN, November 28 – 29, 2017

Prof. Niels Kuster was an invited speaker at the 2017 International Wireless Certification Conference and CTTL Forum-International Certification Sub-Forum, held November 28 – 29, 2017 in Shanghai, China on the challenges faced by the wireless industry in response to changes in certification rules and regulations.

SPARC Data and Resource Kick-Off Meeting

On November 16-17, 2017, over 70 members of the SPARC consortium met for the "SPARC Data and Resource Center Kick-Off Meeting" organized by the NIH in Washington, DC.

IT’IS Receives 5-Year NIH Award to Build an Integrated Simulation Platform for the Neuroscience World

IT’IS is pleased to announce the award of the project o²S²PARC – Open Online Simulations for Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions. The project is funded by NIH through the Common Fund’s SPARC program to establish a Modeling and Simulation (SIM-) Core within the SPARC Data and Resource Center.

Future Photonics Engineers! Z43 Future Day 2017

On Thursday, November 9, nine preteens participated in the 2017 edition of Swiss National Future Day at Z43 to assemble their own photo-active circuits and build light-sensitive robots.

IT'IS Research Featured at SPEAG / ZMT Workshop in South Korea

Schmid & Partner Engineering AG (SPEAG) and ZMT Zurich MedTech AG (ZMT) held their annual Hardware and Software Workshop at the Gachon Convention Center in Sungnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea on 27 October 2017. The workshop is an opportunity to demonstrate Z43's latest innovations and products, and to exchange information on recent advances and solutions for electromagnetic safety assessment and medical applications.

Fats Domino, Namesake of ViP “Fats” Model, Dead at Age 89

Fats Domino, for whom the ViP obese male model “Fats” is named, died of natural causes at his home in Louisiana, USA on 24 October, 2017. The R&B legend was 89 years old.