KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Recent Advances in Intelligent Control Systems, & Inventing and Developing an Automated Haematopoietic Stem Cells Harvesting Machine

Prof. Tong Heng Lee
Professor & Cluster Head (Control Systems)
Professor in the Graduate School, NUS NGS
Dy Editor-in-Chief, IFAC Mechatronics Int Jnl
National University of Singapore, Singapore

Abstract

The human placenta and umbilical cord blood (UCB) provide a rich source of highlyproliferative haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for many clinical uses with advantages over traditional sources like the bone marrow and periphery blood. However, the current constraint with this source of HSCs is the inadequate number of HSCs cells which can be harvested in a single collection using current approaches which render a large number of collections unusable on their own, even for paediatric patients. The large reservoir of useful HSCs within the placenta has to be discarded upon the delivery of the placenta out of the maternal body. A novel design, involving mechanical, electronics and control components, seeks to create an artificial uterus force to harvest the HSCs. This paper will present the development of this automated device to enable more effective harvesting of HSCs from placentas, upon the discharge of placentas after deliveries. Comprehensive results, in terms of mononucleated cells (MNCs) count and CD34+ cells count, will be furnished to verify the effectiveness of the developed system, over the other current approaches. (Note: This invention was a winner of the IEEE ICMA 2009 Best Paper in Automation Award. It is patented in U.S.A., Europe, Japan and Singapore. A company, Dynamed Hi-Tech Medical Instruments, has licensed it and will market it in 2010.)
Additionally, the Keynote Paper will also present recent advances in Intelligent Precision Modeling, Simulation & Control for Life Sciences developments; including recent research and development work in developing portable precision Tissue Micro-Arrayers for Tissue Repositories.

Biography of the Keynote Speaker

T. H. Lee received the B.A. degree with First Class Honours in the Engineering Tripos from Cambridge University, England, in 1980; and the Ph.D. degree from Yale University in 1987. He is a Professor and Senior NGS Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He was a Past Vice-President (Research) of NUS.
Dr. Lee's research interests are in the areas of adaptive systems, knowledge-based control, intelligent mechatronics and computational intelligence. He currently holds Associate Editor appointments in the IEEE Transactions in Systems, Man and Cybernetics; IEEE Transactions in Industrial Electronics; Control Engineering Practice (an IFAC journal); and the International Journal of Systems Science (Taylor and Francis, London). In addition, he is the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of IFAC Mechatronics journal.
Dr. Lee was a recipient of the Cambridge University Charles Baker Prize in Engineering, and the 2004 ASCC (Melbourne) Best Industrial Control Application Paper Prize. He has also co-authored five research monographs, and holds four patents (two of which are in the technology area of adaptive systems, and the other two are in the area of intelligent mechatronics).
Dr. Lee was an Invited Keynote Speaker for IEEE International Symposium on Intelligent Control, IEEE ISIC 2003 Houston U.S.A.; and an Invited Plenary Speaker for LSMS 2007, Shanghai China. He was also an Invited Panelist at the World Automation Congress, WAC2000 Maui U.S.A.