PhD student position in Medical Image Analysis

Information about the research group
In close collaboration with MedTech West, a new research group in medical image analysis is in the process of being established. This position is in effect one out of several recruitments to back this strategic effort. The focus of the group is on the development of new and more effective medical imaging methods and systems for visualization, support and diagnostics. The main research problems include mathematical theory and algorithms for inverse problems such as reconstruction, segmentation and registration. Construction of complete prototype systems for clinical usage is also one important research output.

Information about the research project
Locating and segmenting anatomical structures such as the heart, vertebrae, or different regions of the brain in a three-dimensional image is an important step for many clinical applications, including visualization, surgical planning, and radiation therapy dose prediction. It is also an important tool for obtaining measures that can be used to determine the risk of  future disease. 

Our research is focused on mathematical tools appropriate for the challenges of these problems. Two examples from our current research are tractable optimization methods for Markov Random Fields (MRFs) and robust model estimation. MRFs have proven to be a very useful modeling tool for medical image segmentation. However, for complex MRF models, the inference problem is very demanding. We address this problem by building a framework based on submodular relaxations. By using guaranteed approximation algorithms we hope to achieve a golden mean between the quality of the computed solution and tractability. MRFs are high-dimensional models that are good at capturing local appearance. At the other end of the scale we find low-dimensional geometric models that are well suited to model global biological shape variations and transformations. To apply such models successfully, it is necessary to cope with abnormalities and outliers in the data. A goal for this project is to develop exact algorithms for robust model estimation, but also approximation algorithms suitable for higher dimensions and large-scale problems.


The details of the departmental research activities may be found at: http://www.chalmers.se/en/departments/s2/research/Pages/default.aspx

Major responsibilities
Summary of tasks and methodology:
• Development of new computational methods for large-scale imagery 
• Development of new mathematical models for automated image interpretation
• In collaboration with clinical experts, evaluate and use the developed methods for medically-motivated research questions

Your major responsibility as a PhD student is to pursue your own doctoral studies. You are expected to develop your own scientific concepts and communicate the results of your research verbally and in writing. The position also includes outreach activities to the general audience, for example, at Science Festivals.

The position generally also includes teaching on Chalmers' undergraduate level or performing other duties corresponding to 20 per cent of working hours.

Position summary
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.


Qualifications
To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science or Biomedical Engineering, completed no longer than 2 years ago.

Fluent/excellent ability in written and spoken English is a strict requirement. Strong background in mathematics or computer science is meriting. Knowledge of computer vision and image analysis, particularly medical imaging is also meriting, but not a requirement.

If Swedish is not your naive language, you are encouraged to learn it during your employment as a PhD student. Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Application deadline: 2014-01-06

For questions, please contact:
Professor Fredrik Kahl
Department of Signals and Systems
E-mail: fredrik.kahl@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 31-772 5057

Assistant Professor Olof Enqvist
Department of Signals and Systems
E-mail: olof.enqvist@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 70-3783925 




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