Thanks to recent advancements, optimization is now recognized as a crucial component in research and decision-making across a number of fields. Through optimization, scientists have made tremendous advances in cancer treatment planning, disease control, and drug development, as well as in sequencing DNA, and identifying protein structures. Op

This volume presents a wide range of medical applications that can utilize mathematical computing. This work grew out of a workshop on optimization which was held during the 2005 CIM Thematic Term on Optimization in Coimbra, Portugal. It provides an overview of the state-of-the-art in optimization in medicine and will serve as an excellent reference for researchers in the medical computing community and for those working in applied mathematics and optimization.

This book highlights recent research on metaheuristics for biomedical engineering, addressing both theoretical and applications aspects. Given the multidisciplinary nature of bio-medical image analysis, it has now become one of the most central topics in computer science, computer engineering and electrical and electronic engineering, and attracted the interest of many researchers. To deal with these problems, many traditional and recent methods, algorithms and techniques have been proposed. Among them, metaheuristics is the most common choice. This book provides essential content for senior and young researchers interested in methodologies for implementing metaheuristics to help solve biomedical engineering problems.

Optimization in Computational Chemistry and Molecular Biology: Local and Global Approaches covers recent developments in optimization techniques for addressing several computational chemistry and biology problems. A tantalizing problem that cuts across the fields of computational chemistry, biology, medicine, engineering and applied mathematics is how proteins fold. Global and local optimization provide a systematic framework of conformational searches for the prediction of three-dimensional protein structures that represent the global minimum free energy, as well as low-energy biomolecular conformations. Each contribution in the book is essentially expository in nature, but of scholarly treatment. The topics covered include advances in local and global optimization approaches for molecular dynamics and modeling, distance geometry, protein folding, molecular structure refinement, protein and drug design, and molecular and peptide docking. Audience: The book is addressed not only to researchers in mathematical programming, but to all scientists in various disciplines who use optimization methods in solving problems in computational chemistry and biology.

Handbook of Optimization in Medicine is devoted to examining the dramatic increase in the application of effective optimization techniques to the delivery of health care. The articles, written by experts, focus on models and algorithms that have led to more efficient and sophisticated treatments of patients. Topics covered include: optimization in medical imaging, classification and data mining with medical applications, treatment of epilepsy and other brain disorders, treatment of head-and-neck, prostate, and other cancers using conventional conformal and intensity-modulated radiation therapy as well as proton therapy, treatment selection for breast cancer based on new classification schemes, optimization for the genome project, optimal timing of organ transplants.

In March 2000 leading scientists gathered at the Centro Seminariale Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland, for the Third International Symposium on "Fractals 2000 in Biology and Medicine". This interdisciplinary conference provided stimulating contributions from the very topical field Fractals in Biology and Medicine. This volume highlights the growing power and efficacy of the fractal geometry in understanding how to analyze living phenomena and complex shapes.

This volume comprises a selection of papers presented at ANNIMAB-1, the first conference to focus specifically on the topics of ANNs in medicine and biology. It covers three main areas: The medical applications of ANNs, such as in diagnosis and outcome prediction, medical image analysis, and medical signal processing; The uses of ANNs in biology outside clinical medicine, such as in data analysis, in molecular biology, and in simulations of biological systems; The theoretical aspects of ANNs, examining recent developments in learning algorithms and the possible role of ANNs in the medical decision process. Summarising the state-of-the-art and analysing the relationship between ANN techniques and other available methods, it also points to possible future biological and medical uses of ANNs. Essential reading for all neural network theorists, it will also be of interest to biologists and physicians with an interest in modelling and advanced statistical techniques.

This book contains fourteen chapters dealing with various aspects of the biomechanics of today. The topics covered are glimpses of what modern biomechanics can offer scientists, students, and the general public. We hope this book can be inspiring, helpful, and interesting for many readers who are not necessarily concerned with biomechanics daily.

Achieving a better solution or improving the performance of existing system design is an ongoing a process for which scientists, engineers, mathematicians and researchers have been striving for many years. Ever increasingly practical and robust methods have been developed, and every new generation of computers with their increased power and speed allows for the development and wider application of new types of solutions. This book defines the fundamentals, background and theoretical concepts of optimization principles in a comprehensive manner along with their potential applications and implementation strategies. It encompasses linear programming, multivariable methods for risk assessment, nonlinear methods, ant colony optimization, particle swarm optimization, multi-criterion and topology optimization, learning classifier, case studies on six sigma, performance measures and evaluation, multi-objective optimization problems, machine learning approaches, genetic algorithms and quality of service optimizations. The book will be very useful for wide spectrum of target readers including students and researchers in academia and industry.

Facility in the targeted manipulation of the genetic and metabolic composition of organisms, combined with unprecedented computational power, is forging a niche for a new subspecialty of biotechnology called metabolic engineering. First published in 2002, this book introduces researchers and advanced students in biology and engineering to methods of optimizing biochemical systems of biotechnological relevance. It examines the development of strategies for manipulating metabolic pathways, demonstrates the need for effective systems models, and discusses their design and analysis, while placing special emphasis on optimization. The authors propose power-law models and methods of biochemical systems theory toward these ends. All concepts are derived from first principles, and the text is richly illustrated with numerous graphs and examples throughout. Special features include: nontechnical and technical introductions to models of biochemical systems; a review of basic methods of model design and analysis; concepts of optimization; and detailed case studies.