Contact: Benno Hendriks (benno.hendriks@philips.com)

About the Project

Combined visualization of laparoscopic and X-ray images: Combining laparoscopic images with volumetric X-ray images provide options for live updates during interventional surgeries improving precision and thereby clinical outcome of the procedure. Identifying small tumour lesions and other important structures such as nerves or blood vessels behind the surface and superimposing them precisely on the X-ray image is critical. Using augmented reality, images obtained from laparoscopic cameras can be overlaid on the X-ray volume. However, correcting for depth perception in the overlaid image is often challenging. In this research, techniques for isualizing combined laparoscopic and volumetric X-ray (Philips XperCT) images will be explored. Co-registration of laparoscope and X-ray images, improving calibration accuracy, and augmented reality based image enhancement will be implemented. Saliency mapping, 3D segmentation of critical structures, accuracy in navigation, and depth perception as required by physicians in an abdominal interventional procedure will be examined.

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 techniques to display medically relevant information to clinicians in an innovative way in combination with latest medical imaging technology, in particular interventional X-Ray Imaging. To this end, you will contribute to novel approaches of medical image processing for minimally invasive surgical applications, which has the potential to significantly improve patient's lives.

The work will be conducted ad Philips Research Eindhoven (High Tech Campus) and at Philips Medical Systems in Best with frequent interaction with physicians from Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI-AvL) in Amsterdam to understand clinical needs for visualization.

Topics may address image processing, pattern recognition, saliency mapping, augmented reality, and perturbation analysis of depth perception. Your responsibilities cover but are not limited to review of state of the art literature, implementing image processing algorithms, performing phantom experiments in an interventional X-ray lab and development of overlay visualization technique for surgical applications, and documentation of results in internal reports and report in detail on your scientific and algorithmic work.

Your Profile

Philips research is 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 processing. To be successful in your internship, you 

• Have a biomedical background
• Have a solid signal or image processing 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 augmented reality techniques.