Image guided surgery

Contact: Prof. dr. B.H.W. Hendriks (benno.hendriks@philips.com)

About the Project

Intraoperative use of hyperspectral imaging in discriminating tumor from healthy tissue

In oncologic surgery, the aim is to remove the tumor with an adequate margin of normal tissue. Long-term tumor survival is compromised when tumor positive resection margins are found after surgery. Patients in which positive resection margins are found, need to undergo a second surgery. Therefore, there is a need for real-time margin assessment, intraoperatively.

In previous projects at the NKI-AvL, we obtained extensive data on optical properties of tissues using point measurements with diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. This enabled an accurate differentiation between tumor and normal tissue. For applications within the surgical workflow, large tissue surfaces have to be analyzed within seconds. Therefore, point measurements will not suffice and the technology has to be translated to imaging devices. We are working on using hyperspectral imaging (HSI) for tissue analysis during surgery. HSI measures a complete optical reflection spectrum for every pixel in the image, thereby creating a 3D image with spatial and spectral information. HSI is based on the reflection of light in a broad wavelength range and uses a hyperspectral camera system operating in the 900-1700 nm range. We are focusing on 3 challenges: spectral decomposition, imaging resolution and classification algorithms.    

Your Responsibilities

You will participate in the forefront of research developing optical techniques to characterize tissues intra-operatively and to determine the usability of tissue sensing based on HSI during surgical procedures. To this end, you will contribute to novel approaches for real-time tissue feedback during surgical procedures, which has the potential to significantly improve patient’s lives.

Topics addressed are hyperspectral imaging, spectral decomposition, imaging resolution, classification algorithms, and performing experiments in a (pre-)clinical setting. Your responsibilities cover but are not limited to review of state of the art literature and performing experiments on ex-vivo tissues, data analysis from the HSI system, evaluation and documentation of results in internal reports and report in detail on your scientific and experimental work.

Your Profile

We are looking for a motivated student in Biomedical Engineering for a Master thesis. 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 optical techniques and experience working in a clinical setting.