MEDICALGROUP

Body MattersSPRING 2014

IN THISISSUE...

Visualising MedicineFrom 1st to 30th May, Fenton House is hosting a new exhibition of medical photography. The exhibition’s co-ordinator Dr AFZAL ANSARY ASIS FRPS tells us more.

Group ChairDr Afzal Ansary ASIS FRPSafzalansary@aol.com

Hon. SecretaryMr Bob Tapper ASIS FRPSbob.tapper@bartshealth.nhs.uk

Hon. TreasurerMr Gary Evans ASIS FRPSgary@sciencephoto.com

Serving and promoting the interests of medical and biomedical imaging

“I have just finished co-ordinating ‘Visualising Medicine: An exhibition of medical photography’ which will be on display at the Fenton House, Royal Photographic Society, Bath during the month of May.

Although this exhibition of 32 prints only shows a small sample of the range of work of medical photographers, it covers a wide area where imaging in medicine plays an important role: histo-pathology, surgery and plastic surgery, pathology, dermatology, obstetrics, ophthalmology and more.

The exhibition explores the way in which modern medical photographers use aesthetic

judgments of composition, while using specialised lighting techniques, to meet the diagnostic and patient care needs of clinicians.

A range of imaging techniques is on show. There is electron microscopy and light microscopy, retinal imaging and fluorescein angiography, clinical imaging from the operating theatre and the pathology laboratory as well as a more conceptual look at medicine.

Together these images display a range of talents and skills recognisable to any clinical photographer as well as knowledge familiar to any healthcare worker.”

Norm

Barker, JHU

Culture Plates

GROUP EXHIBITION

FROM THECHAIR

AUTUMN SEMINAR

SCIENCE IN CAMBRIDGE

JOHN BARTLETT

AGM

The Medical Group takes over Fenton House

An update from the Group Chairman

Medical Imaging for Producers and Users

The RPS and the Art of Scientific Imaging

In memoriam

A full report

Medical Imaging: for Producers and Users

From the Chair...

The Medical Group will be hosting a one day symposium in the autumn focusing on how effective medical imaging is as a collaboration between the producer and the user.

Established and renowned practitioners will address the issues and best practice in four areas of medical imaging such as Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and Medical Education. These subjects will then be developed with specialist clinicians discussing their use of clinical photography in these areas.

The symposium convener, Dr Afzal Ansary ASIS FRPS, sees this event as particularly novel.

“I can’t think of another meeting in which the people producing medical images have shared a forum with those who use it,” he

says. “This will be a unique opportunity to share ideas and knowledge in some key areas in which medical photography is used today. I am looking forward to some lively discussions.”

The symposium is being generously supported by the Wellcome Trust. The exact date and central London venue will be confirmed shortly and announced on the RPS website.

The Medical Group AGM was held on 16 January 2014 at the Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. It was attended by The Society President Derek Birch ASIS FRPS, Vice President Walter Benzie ARPS and Past President Professor Ralph Jacobson ASIS FRPS and Group members. A report is on the back page of this newsletter.

The new committee is examining many ways to increase the membership of the Group. Discussions have been held, in committee and at the AGM, about changing the Group name to include ‘biological imaging’. We think this will help broaden the appeal of the Group to those using imaging in the sciences allied with medicine. Of course, any such proposal would need the agreement of the membership and will require the further approval of the Council of the Society.

Meanwhile we are looking to engage with the needs and interests of those not directly involved with medical photography, but with

allied sciences and biological imaging. You will have noticed that we now use the strapline ‘serving and promoting the interests of medical and biological imaging’ in our newsletters. In my annual report, I also highlighted the need to interest others such as physiologists, biologists, histopathologist, parasitologists, radiologists - those who use imaging as a tool in their profession, including photomicrographers.

You will also read here about some major events led by the Group - our exhibition at Fenton House next month and our symposium in London later this year. We are looking into a range of future events, talks, visits and social gatherings, that we think will help attract new members while keeping us in touch with the existing membership.

Finally, a reminder that membership of the Group is open to all RPS members who share an interest in any aspect of medical and biomedical imaging - professional or enthusiast.

Dr Afzal Ansary ASIS FRPS

David C Bishop, Laparoscopy

The Art of Scientific Imaging

In memoriam

John Richard Bartlett, who died on 6th January 2014 aged 79, had a long association with the Royal Photographic Society and was an active member of the Medical Group.

John had a keen interest in photography from a young age and his subjects were wide-ranging, from portraits of his own children to abstracts, landscapes and the wider world. He also enjoyed medical photography alongside his career as a neurosurgeon. He photographed his colleagues at work and in 1993 attained his ARPS with a panel depicting the daily life at the Brook Hospital where he was in charge of the Neurosurgical Unit.

In retirement, John continued to enjoy photography as London Regional Organiser of the RPS and as programme secretary and President of the Bromley Camera Club. He also had a number of successful solo exhibitions of his work in Blackheath, South London.

John was always full of enthusiasm and encouragement for all photographers and he passed on his love of the medium to his children, three out of four of them have made their careers in photography and film, a testament to his inspirational example and expert tutelage.

John Bartlett ARPS 1934-2014On Saturday 15th March, the three ‘science’

Special Interest Groups (Medical, Imaging Science, 3D & Holography) joined with the East Anglia Region and Cancer UK’s Cambridge Institute for a day of talks, collectively ‘The Art of Scientific Imaging’, as part of the Cambridge Science festival. Organised by Dr Ian Wilson ARPS and hosted by Dr Stephanie Riechelt of CRUK, the meeting attracted over 100 visitors including RPS President Derek Birch ASIS FRPS.

Medical Group members Afzal Ansary ASIS FRPS and Gary Evans ASIS FRPS contributed talks on medical imaging and high-speed video respectively, alongside fascinating discourses on subjects such as 3D imaging, how many pixels you really need and the aesthetics of scientific imaging. The meeting hosted a display of the 2013 International Images for Science Exhibition and a visit by the ‘Camper Obscura’, a camper van converted into a camera obscura!

The audience get ready for a 3D presentation!

Visitors discussing a photograph in the IISE 2013 Exhibition in the ArtCell Gallery

Ian Wilson ARPS

Ian Wilson ARPS

Annual GeneralMeeting

If there is any news or information you would like to have published in the Newsletter or on the web site, then please contact the editor GARY EVANS ASIS FRPS gary@sciencephoto.com

The Chairman’s Award is given entirely at the whim of the Group Chair, with no rules laid down as to its purpose and no advice or opinion sought from any other members. However, it is traditionally used, as here, to celebrate outstanding service to the Medical Group.

The award is a mounted Kinora, a ‘flip card’ motion picture device similar to a mutoscope, invented by the Lumiere Brothers and made in London prior to 1914.

Following the Medical Group AGM, the first Group event of 2014 was a talk on the use of scientific and medical images in the stock photography industry. The talk was given by Gary Evans ASIS FRPS, Hon.Treasurer of the Medical Group and an employee of the Science Photo Library for 23 years.The 66th Annual General Meeting of the

Medical Group of the Royal Photographic Society was held on 16th January 2014 at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London.

The minutes of the 65th Annual General Meeting were accepted. The reports of the officers of the committee, the Acting Chair, the Hon. Secretary and the Hon. Treasurer, had been circulated ahead of the meeting and were approved.

The committee was confirmed as:

Dr Afzal Ansary ASIS FRPS (Chairman)Mr Bob Tapper ASIS FRPS (Hon. Secretary)Mr Gary Evans ASIS FRPS (Hon. Treasurer)Ms Becky Smith (committee member)

In between the Annual General Meeting and the following Group event, Medical Group Chairman Dr Afzal Ansary ASIS FRPS presented the Chairman’s Award to the Hon.Secretary, Bob Tapper ASIS FRPS.

The presentation was richly illustrated with images selected from SPL’s vast collection.

Gary first outlined the role of stock agencies in the media before showing the kinds of scientific and medical images that are purchased by picture buyers and publishers. The talk was followed by a lively Q&A session.

The thanks of the committee go to Mr Kulwant Sehmi FRPS for hosting the meeting at Moorfields Eye Hospital, to Becky Smith for arranging the event and to the Science Photo Library for their generous support of the evening.

In the last Newsletter, it was stated that Dr Peter Hansell, who first endowed the Scholarship that bears his name, was an eminent ophthalmologist.

In fact Dr Hansell was a qualified physician and an eminent medical photographer. He was the recipient of several RPS honours, including a Fellowship (1946), the Hood Medal (1951), the Lancet trophy (1958) and an Honorary Fellowship (1971).

We are pleased to be able to make this correction, and apologise for our error.

Correction

Laurence Lane, Moorfields Eye H

ospital

Laurence Lane, Moorfields Eye H

ospital