The 8th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention (MICCAI 2005) was held in Palm Springs, California, on October 26–29, 2005, under the chairmanship of Dr. James Duncan of Yale University and Dr. Guido Gerig of the University of North Carolina.
In response to the call for papers, the conference organizers received a record 632 full-length submissions, from researchers in 36 different countries. Following a rigorous review process, 236 of these submissions were accepted for presentation at the meeting, with 46 of them being chosen for oral presentation.
As has become customary, the editors of Computer Aided Surgery proposed to publish a selection of manuscripts based on the most outstanding presentations at the MICCAI conference, enabling the presenters to describe their research in more depth and incorporate additional data and analysis obtained subsequent to the original conference submission deadline. Accordingly, following the meeting, the organizers prepared a shortlist of presentations that had been particularly highly rated, and the respective presenters were each invited to submit an expanded manuscript for possible publication in the journal. After completion of the review and revision processes, a total of nine manuscripts were accepted for publication. Due to space limitations, six of these papers are presented in the current issue of the journal, with the remaining three scheduled to appear in the next issue. All nine papers derive from podium presentations, with one being based on the award-winning presentation by Lin and colleagues. Together, they reflect the diversity and quality of research promoted by MICCAI in the field of computer-assisted surgical intervention.
In closing, the editors would like to thank the chairmen and program committee of MICCAI 2005, along with the MICCAI society management board, for their invaluable assistance and cooperation in this undertaking.