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The 2009 Russian Federation National Award in Science and Technology is conferred to Vladislav PANCHENKO, Alexander POTAPOV, and Valery CHISSOV for their studies in developing laser information technology for use in medicine

Vladislav Panchenko was born on September 15, 1947, in the city of Baranovichi, former Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (now Belarus). He is the Director of the Institute on Laser and Information Technologies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ILIT RAS) and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Alexander Potapov was born on July 5, 1948, in the city of Altyaryk, former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (now Uzbekistan). He is Deputy Director of the Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Second Vice-President of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS), and a member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

Valery Chissov was born on August 28, 1939, in Orenburg. He is the Director of the Herzen Moscow Research Institute of Oncology, chief oncologist of the Russian Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development, and a member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

Vladislav Panchenko, Alexander Potapov and Valery Chissov are world-renowned scientists and major organisers in fundamental and applied research. Their creative and practical cooperation is a bright example of successfully implementing high-tech designs into healthcare practice.

Vladislav Panchenko is an outstanding expert in the field of laser physics, information technology, and medical physics. He has pioneered work in physics studying the effect of laser-matter interaction and created new laser information and technology systems, including ones that can be used in medicine.

His pre-surgical bio-modelling technology is widely used in neurosurgery, oncology, and reconstructive surgery (in 25 different clinics in various regions of Russia). Preliminary planning of operations using plastic bio-models makes it possible to significantly reduce the duration of a surgical intervention and improve the effectiveness of treatment in oncology, neurosurgery, maxillofacial surgery, reconstructive surgery, and other areas; it has also opened up new possibilities in children’s surgery. For his bio-models, Mr Panchenko has created unique systems for remote production of individual implants and bio-models based on tomographic data of pre-surgical patient examination, as well as stereolithography complexes.

Mr Panchenko created a new generation of intelligent laser surgery systems that are able to identify in real time the type of biological tissue and the borders of the area being operated upon. These systems open up brand new possibilities for minimally invasive and conservative surgery.

Alexander Potapov is a major neurosurgeon and a specialist in the field of neurotraumatology. He was the first to develop the concept and methodology for plastic and reconstructive neurosurgery restoring not only the entirety of the scull, but the individual configuration of hard and soft head tissue through the use of modern laser information technology. He has accumulated the world’s largest volume of clinical information in this area and incorporated the laser information technology into the work of the nation’s neurosurgical departments. The main results of his studies can be found in 250 articles, monographs, manuals, and textbooks.

Valery Chissov is an exceptional cancer surgeon. He has developed diagnostics methods, as well as surgical and combination therapy for anatomically difficult tumour locations by using advanced laser information technology and radiodiagnosis technology. He has proven the fundamental possibility of successful surgical treatment of tumours affecting the base of the skull, the skull and maxillofacial area, and the spine (while maintaining vitally important structures and increasing surgical radicality in tumour removal) by way of pre-surgery planning using a real prototype created with laser stereolithography. Laser information technology has been successfully put into practice at Russia’s oncology clinics.

The laser technology developed by these authors allows for maximum accuracy in making a diagnosis and in pre-surgical planning for the removal and reconstruction of organs and tissue in patients with tumours in anatomically difficult locations, as well as patients with severe injuries. The technology allows doctors to treat patients previously deemed incurable. These inventions, which have a global priority, have laid the foundation for modern high-tech individual medicine and have allowed for significant changes in the effectiveness of surgical treatment of patients with birth and post-injury defects, reducing the duration of surgery by an average of two- to three-fold, which is particularly important in children’s surgery.