HTAD 2015: The 2nd International Workshop on Healthcare Technologies for Alzheimer's Disease Care

September 27 - 30, 2015, Berlin, Germany (Co-located with ICTH 2015)

Important Dates:
Submission Deadline: May 6th, 2015
Author Notification: June 26th, 2015
Camera Ready Due: July 26th, 2015

Conference website: http://htad2015.unbsj.ca/

Call for Papers
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders of the aging human brain, clinically presenting with early memory deficit and progressive cognitive and functional disorientation. In the early stages memory loss is mild, but with late-stage AD individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment. Therefore, the healthcare needs for individuals affected with the disease vary as they progress from mild cognitive decline to severe cognitive impairment.
The brain has 100 billion nerve cells (neurons) and each nerve cell connects with many others to form communication networks. Two abnormal structures called plaques and tangles are prime suspects in damaging and killing nerve cells.
• Plaques are deposits of a protein fragment called beta-amyloid that build up in the spaces between nerve cells.
• Tangles are twisted fibers of another protein called tau that build up inside cells.
Though most people develop some plaques and tangles as they age, those with AD tend to develop far more. They also tend to develop them in a predictable pattern, beginning in areas important for memory before spreading to other regions. Scientists have not yet determined the specific role of plaques and tangles in AD. Most experts believe they play a critical role in blocking communication between nerve cells and hence, disrupt processes that cells need to survive.
Currently, there is no cure for AD. Many biomarkers have been developed in order to diagnose and predict progression of the disease. So far, most of them do not provide consistent results. The research is still at an early stage and hence cannot provide objective and reliable measures of disease progression in order to begin early available therapies and prepare the families and social environment for their care process.
Since people with AD cannot carry out normal activities, they require 24/7 care. The financial burden of this care-process is a threat to the economy of any country.
Papers describing original research on both theoretical and practical aspects in the use of healthcare technologies in the care of the disease are solicited for this workshop. Success stories are also welcome to be shared in this platform.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following:
•Tools for early diagnosis
•Advances in the diagnostic process
•Nonintrusive behaviour monitoring with wireless sensor network
•Use of neurosensors in brain health and neurodegeneration study
•EEG and related physiological signals analysis for disease progression
•Multimedia analysis with MRI and PET images
•Knowledge discovery from experimental data
•Metabolomics analysis
•Grids and cloud computing support for AD
•ANN tools to support clinical decision making and disease classification and prediction of MCI and AD
•Monitoring brain health for proactive measures
•Predictive models for MCI and AD
•Technology support for the caregiver
•Safety and security technologies for AD patient’s care at home
•Current research for AD biomarkers
•Care management technologies
•Affordable Care Act and its effects on the dementia population
•Future of health care technology
•Clinical care models
Papers should contain original work not published or currently under review elsewhere. Manuscripts are limited to 8 pages. EasyChair will be used for paper submission. All papers accepted for this workshop will be included in the ICTH 2015 proceedings, which will be published by Elsevier Science in the open-access Procedia Computer Science series on-line. Check the Paper Kit section on the ICTH 2015 conference website for more details. The authors must follow Elsevier guidelines as given in ICTH-2015 Website. At least one author of each accepted paper is required to register and attend the conference to present the work. Selected outstanding papers presented at the workshop may be considered for publication in journal special issues.

Submission
Submissions are received using Easychair. Simply create an account (or login if you already have one) using the following link and upload your manuscript. Please submit the PDF file of your paper. Authors will be asked to format their paper according to the final template after acceptance.
Submit Articles via Easychair
Any questions? Feel free to contact htad2015@easychair.org