General Instructions for Abstract Submission

● Abstract should be in English language 

● Avoid the inclusion of tables and pictures in the abstract. We will accept online submission in our online submission template or you may upload files in either PDFs or Word Doc format. 
PLEASE NOTE: all abstracts must follow the abstract formatting instructions below irrespective of submission file format. 

● All funding and sponsors must be explicitly disclosed. Authors are expected to disclose the nature of any financial interests they have with companies that manufacture or sell products that are used in the submitted abstract, or with companies that manufacture or sell competing products. (This includes ownership, employment, consultancy arrangements, or service as an officer or board member.)

● The WALT scientific program committee will select abstracts based on scientific merit and its appropriateness to the conference forum/theme. Single clinical case reports are acceptable but given low priority.

● All accepted abstracts will be encouraged to present their work as posters in the concurrent exhibition sessions to encourage discussion and feedback. This will include all abstracts invited for talks (ie; selected abstract submitters can present in both formats). Instruction on poster presentation will be sent with acceptance of abstracts on Aug 1st 2018.

● ABSTRACT COMPETITION: The top seven (7) meritorious abstracts will be invited to present in a special session where they will be judged for scientific content, effectiveness of presentation and ability to address audience-judges queries. Three winners will be announced at the dinner banquet and awarded a plaque and cash award. Trainees/students are specifically encouraged to submit their abstracts for the competition.

● All selected abstracts are to be printed in the WALT conference proceedings. We will also try to arrange for them to be printed in a peer-reviewed journal . 

● All accepted abstract presenters will receive 10% discounted conference registration rate, but must register by Aug 1st 2018. 

Abstract Formatting Instructions

● Limit abstract to a maximum of 500 words and use single spacing throughout abstract. 

● All abstracts must have the following sections: 1.Title, 2.Authors, 3.Affiliation(s), 4.Introduction, 5.Methods, 6.Results, 7.Conclusions and 8. Statements (stating any conflicts of interest & the ethical conduct of research study.)

1. Title: The abstract title should be short and succinct; the body of the abstract should follow logically from the title. Title should not exceed 150 characters (including spaces)

2. Authors: Author's name(s) must be in format - Last name, followed by Initials and the presenters name should be underlined.

3. Affiliations: practice / institute, city and country.

4. Introduction: briefly introduce the background and motivation for the study.  

5. Methods: Due to the great discrepancies noted in various laser-light studies, we are instituting a strict disclosure of all relevant parameters used in studies presented henceforth at all WALT conferences. Failure to do so will result in automatic rejection without review.

Device specifications – Manufacturer, location and model number
                                   – Probe Design - cluster / single probe 
                                   – Wavelength/s: in nm 
                                   – Power: in mW or W 
                                   – Power Density: W/cm2 
                                   – Spot size or area of irradiation: cm2
                                   – Pulsing or duty cycle if used
                                   – Energy Density: J/cm2 
                                   – Energy per point / area (no. of areas) or total energy - Joules

 

Treatment specifications – Treatment Time (sec)
                                        – Frequency of treatments 
                                        – Total number of treatments 
                                        – Technique used: Direct in-contact probe OR scanning technique
                                        – Area(s) treated: local or distal or both. 
                                        – Location and number of points. 
                                        – Grid pattern/sequential treatment
                                        – Animals – shaved or not

* Please state if these parameters were measured or manufacturer reported.  

6. Results: state the results of the study and note statistical tests when relevant.

7. Conclusion: summarize the conclusions drawn from the study. State the implications of the study and any recommendations for future applications.

8. Statements: IMPORTANT: Clinical and animal studies must explicitly state if ethical disclosures have been clearly obtained (informed patient consent, IRB approvals in place). Any conflicts of interests must be explicitly declared here.

● References (not obligatory, limit to 10 most relevant). (Note: included in total word count)

Any abstracts that do not meet these formatting requirements will be rejected without further review. If you are having trouble using the online submission system or have a different file format, please contact Dr. Praveen Chandra with your queries.