Doppler ultrasound for micro-embolic detection and 3D imaging

Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship - 24 months - starting September 2014 Context The Atys Medical company and The CREATIS laboratory opens a Postdoctoral Research fellowship of 24 months to work on the project ATYSCREA “Doppler ultrasound for micro-embolic detection and 3D imaging” funded by the French ANR (National Research agency). The company: Atys is strongly involved in R&D. On a staff of 10 persons, six are in R&D. This activity produces new equipments (in 2012: first transcranial Holter). Very present on the international market, Atys makes more than 80 % of its sales abroad through sole agents and 20 % in France with its own sales network. The research unit: CREATIS is one of the main European research unit in biological and medical imaging with 200 people working on single and combined modalities (X-rays, Ultrasounds, MRI, PET and optics) and on new image processing techniques for various medical applications. The unit is strongly involved in transfer / valuation (3 start' up, distribution of more than 10 software and 20 patents) supported by the structures of valuation of the INSA, UCB, CNRS, Inserm and Pres of Lyon. Project Transcranial Micro-embolic signals (MES) are the result of corpuscular or gaseous emboli in the blood stream. MES detection is a major challenge in medicine. It is recognized as an important factor associated with increased stroke risk. MES do not appear regularly within the flow of the cerebral artery. A new ambulatory Doppler ultrasound device (Holter TCD-X) recently developed by Atys Medical allows acquisition of longer reliable recordings, thanks to its comfortable robotized probe. The challenge is to differentiate and classify MES from voice, motion or electric artefacts which may appear during long time acquisition (up to 5 hours). First, we propose a new approach based on a 2D recognition of the ultrasound signature of MES in the objective to improve the reliability of the MES detection and the rejection of artefacts. The pattern recognition task will be performed from color images: Doppler and M-mode. A second task is concerned with the Representation of the vascular volume in 3D scanned with the motorized probe and the development of the 3D method to automatically align the motorized probe with the Middle cerebral artery. The third task will be an extension of the material and processing to investigate the origin of the MES. Two others ultrasound probes should be added around the carotid artery to get information on the MES origin. The fourth task will be dedicated to the recognition between solid and gaseous MES. The candidate will join the Atys company and the team “Ultrasound imaging” of CREATIS. Profile: Education: The candidate must hold a PhD in medical imaging or image processing Knowledge in ultrasound imaging would be appreciated Programming skills: Matlab, C, C++, QT, VTK,ITK Experience (keywords): Biomedical Image Analysis, 3D Visualization, Image Processing, Computer vision, Pattern Recognition, Embedded System Languages: French, English required Location: CREATIS, INSA Lyon Salary: ~2000€ month Period: 24 months starting September 2014 Contacts : Send a CV, a motivation letter to Philippe Delachartre : philippe.delachartre@creatis.insa-lyon.fr CREATIS UMR CNRS 5220, Inserm U1044 Bâtiment Blaise Pascal INSA de Lyon, 69621 Villeurbanne www.creatis.insa-lyon.fr