Platform for ultrasound guided oncological surgery 

Contact: Prof.dr. J. Dankelman (j.dankelman@tudelft.nl, Prof.dr. B.H.W. Hendriks (benno.hendriks@philips.com)

About the Project. The emergence of minimally invasive diagnostic and interventional procedures has increased the demand for real time guidance for a variety of oncological applications that rely on accurate instrument positioning and procedural feedback. Ultrasound imaging is a useful modality for guiding certain types of minimally invasive interventions due to its portability and safety. Given the larger field of view now provided by real-time 3D imaging over the traditional 2D imaging, guiding minimally invasive surgical interventions when direct vision is not possible may be possible. However, applying handheld ultrasound guidance during surgery is challenging due to the high deformability of human tissue and the limited visibility of the tumor boundary.

To improve the balance between radical surgery and preventing morbidity in cancer surgery, we aim to visualize a tumor marker with respect to the surgical instruments during oncological surgery. Our approach is to use an ultrasound imaging system to locate a marker that has been placed in the tumor, whereas the ultrasound imaging system is being tracked by a vision system. Based on the position of the marker visible in the ultrasound image, the position of the marker relative to the vision system is calculated from the position of the ultrasound system relative to the vision system. The combined tracking information should ultimately be registered to and combined with perioperative x-ray imaging and presented to the physician in an intuitive way. All the hardware components (vision system, ultrasound system, work station, etc) needed for this project are available in faciliteis at the High Tech (Eindhoven). Also various software components (tracking of instruments using vision system; tracking of echo marker) will be available.

Your Responsibilities.  At an inspiring interface of medical and technical world, we are developing technologies aimed at providing relevant clinical information for physicians and thereby, improving clinical outcomes. You will participate in the forefront of research developing a system for marker-based instrument tracking that can be used for improved image-based instrument navigation. To this end, you will work on integration of 3D ultrasound and optical tracking data, real time instrument tracking, intuitive visualization, and overlay on anatomical imaging. Other topics include implementation and testing of the integrated system.

Your Profile. We are looking for a motivated individual for an internship or Master thesis. You are a Master level student in Engineering (Biomedical, Electrical), Technical Medicine, Physics, Mathematics or comparable with specialization in image-based navigation, medical image processing, 3D matrix transformations, and triangulation. To be successful in your internship, you

• Have a biomedical background

• Have a solid and proven background in programming (Matlab, C++, or comparable)

• Mathematical understanding of complex applications is a prerequisite

• Have a systematic and thorough way of working

• Take responsibilities and act on these

• Are enthusiastic, focused and have a result-driven mind-set

• Possess good communication skills and strong research skills

• It is advantageous if you additionally have a certain level of experience in (medical) image-based navigation.