The May webinar featured W. Apoutou N'Djin, M. Eng., M.S., Ph.D. from LabTAU in Lyon, France, presenting:
"Single-Pulse MHz-Range Focused Ultrasound Neurostimulation"
This session was moderated by Mark E. Schafer, Ph.D., from Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University.
About the Speaker
W. Apoutou N’Djin received the M. Eng. degree in Instrumentation from the National Graduate School of Engineering & Research Center of Caen (Ensicaen, France) in 2004, the M.S. degree in Image & Signal Processing from the Centrale Graduate School of Lyon (ECL, France), in 2005, and the Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University Claude Bernard Lyon I (UCBL, University of Lyon, France), in 2008. From 2005 to 2008, he completed his PhD thesis at the LabTAU laboratory (Lyon, France) of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and UCBL, on intraoperative USgHIFU therapies for focal thermal ablations of liver metastases. From 2009 to 2011, he joined the Imaging Research Laboratory of Sunnybrook (SRI, Toronto, Canada) and University of Toronto (U of T, Canada), as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow to study endocavitary/interstitial MRgHICU therapies for conformal thermal ablations of localized tumors in prostate and brain. In 2012, he returned to LabTAU as a Junior Researcher, and has worked there since 2013 as a Research Associate (PI). His research interests include focal/conformal image-guided HIFU/HICU therapies, novel MEMs-based CMUTs technologies, and the mechanisms/applications of FUS neurostimulation. Dr. N’Djin has been a member of the ISTU since 2011, the national SFGBM since 2015, the IEEE UFFC since 2016 and the ITRUSST consortium since 2021, among others. Since 2022, he has served as a Member of INSERM’s national Specialized Scientific Commission “Technologies for Health”. In 2019, he received the international Frederic LIZZI Early Career Award of the ISTU (ISTU/EUFUS symposium, Barcelona, Spain) and is currently an ISTU Board Member.
About the Moderator
Mark E. Schafer, Ph.D.
Director, Ultrasound Engineering for Neuromodulation
Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute
West Virginia University
Dr. Mark Schafer is the Director of Ultrasound Engineering for Neuromodulation at the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, where he’s developing new approaches to treating neurological conditions using transcranial ultrasound. He is an internationally recognized expert in multiple aspects of ultrasonic/acoustic technology, including transducers, systems, acoustic output, biological interactions, and standardization/regulatory affairs. He has over 35 years of experience as an entrepreneur, consultant, and executive in the field, with hands on development and program management experience that spans R&D through regulatory and commercialization. He is best known for his work and expertise in ultrasound measurement, dosimetry and standardization for diagnostic, surgical, therapeutic and shock wave ultrasound systems; he has published key works in those fields, and developed several international standards. He is a named inventor on over 40 patents. Dr. Schafer is a former president of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control Society and the Ultrasound Industry Association, and has been elected to the Board of the IEEE. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, the Acoustical Society of America, the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and the Ultrasound Industry Association. His career passion has always been the application of acoustic technology in service to patients.