The Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering of Polish Academy of Sciences (IBBE PAS ) was founded in 1975. The Institute is the biggest centre of biomedical engineering in Poland. The Institute has a long history of training and awarding of young generation of the biomedical engineering experts. The Institute is empowered to confer doctoral and post-doctoral degrees and has set up doctoral studies programme.

IBBE PAS is a coordinator of the nationwide scientific network carrying studies in the field of biomedical engineering (BIOMEN), a coordinator and co-implementer of the nationwide Foresight project concerning development of "Scenarios of Medical Technologies' Development until 2020 in Poland". According to appraisal of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education the Institute is a first category institution ranked at 4th position among 53 institutions from group of research units in the field of "Electrotechnics, automatics, electronics and infonformation technologies". In 2008 IBBE PAS joined a new established BIOCENTRUM Ochota consortium that also associates: Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics PAS, Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine PAS, Institute of Fundamental Technological Research PAS and International Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Infrastructure

At present the Institute employs over 140 employees including 13 professors and 11 associate professors. Since 2010 its structure consists of five departments:

1. Department of Hybrid Microbiosystems Engineering
2. Department of Hybrid Microbiosystems Engineering
3. Department for Biophysical Measurements and Imaging
4. Department for Mathematical Modelling of Physiological Processes
5. Department of Engineering of Nervous and Muscular Systems

Scope of Research

The Institute's scope of research in the field of biocybernetics and biomedical engineering corresponds to the newest directions of research in world science and is of interdisciplinary nature.

Within framework of biomeasurements and computer data processing for improvement of the medical diagnosis the following subjects should be listed: studies concerning noninvasive and minimally invasive diagnostic methods including: Laser-Doppler for micro-circulation study, Near Infrared Spectroscopy for testing of brain tissue oxygenation and perfusion, analysis of the electrophysiological signals including high resolution ECG, EEG and evoke potentials, methods for analysis of eye movement for assessment of reading process and psycho-physiological state of a man, microsystems for biochemical analysis, methods of computer aided image processing, methods of large data sets analysis.

Within framework of support and substitution of lost functions of the organism, investigations related to development of the virtual patient for simulation of renal replacement therapies, computer and hybrid (numerical-physical) models of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems are carried out.

In both mentioned directions studies on molecular and cellular engineering have been also conducted in the last years. These studies cover, in particular: application of the semipermeable membranes and microcapsules for immunoisolation of cells, including Langerhans islets, in order to deliver locally biologically active substances for support of pancreas function, xenotransplantation of pancreatic islets and bioreactors for cell culturing, e.g. hepatocytes aiming at liver function support. Investigations on biochemical receptors for development of biosensors, methods of neural cells restitution, analysis of the cytological images including assessment of the development of stem cells and cells' motility as well as molecular modeling of the muscle structure are also carried out.

Additional activity

The Institute publishes the Journal of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, which is indexed and abstracted in the following Thomson Reuters products: Science Citation Index Expanded (SciSearch® ) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition and in Elsevier Bibliographic Databases: SCOPUS and EMBASE.

The Institute has excellent facilities for the organization of conferences and seminars. Since 1975 the Institute organized thirteen National Conferences on Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering. In 1988 the International Centre of Biocybernetics (ICB) associated with the Institute began its activity (see information on the ICB).