Liver Therapy Treatment Planning: Image visualization is used in oncology MDT (multi-disciplinary team) meetings where patients are discussed prior to treatment but medics really need measurements not only visualizations to aid treatment selection/assessment. We aim to provide them with such tools. In particular, we have been looking at liver CT segmentation. This is challenging to do because the liver has a varied shape and touches a number of other objects. We have also developed a novel vessel segmentation method based on the the graph-cuts methodology. Both are aimed at providing a computational model of the liver to be used for therapy selection.

HIFU therapy  monitoring: In a joint collaboration with Dr Penny Smith we have looked at model-based temperature measurement during high-intensity focussed ultrasound (HIFU). Follow-on work is linked to the Centre of Excellence in Medical Engineering Theme 2 Targetted drug delivery project (see separate entry)

Neuro-intervention treatment planning: We have been working on different aspects of image-guided neuro-interventions for over a decade. Most recently we have been looking at how to extract 3D flow from a rotational angiography device, and assessment of arterio-venous malformations (AVMs). In the latter case, a super-glue is squirted into the vessel abnormality to seal it off. We are looking at ways to quantify the flow through such abnormalities, to simulate treatments (to determine the best treatment protocol) and to assess change pre/post treatment. Part of this research programme has been looking at new ways to extract vessels based on particle filters and pre/post treatment alignment of vessel trees. The other part is focusing on combined modelling/image analysis in a joint collaboration with The Biocomplexity Group headed by Dr Yiannis Ventikos.

Image Guidance for Ultrasound-based Targetted Drug Delivery: Image-based analysis to guide patient selection, guide therapy, provide feedback on therapy efficacy (in real-time to adapt delivery as well as between therapies) are important considerations if targetted drug therapy is to become a reality in clinical practice. On a new project which is part of the Centre of Excellence in  Medical Engneering funded by the Wellcome Trust and EPSRC, we are looking at ultrasound-based characterization of liver lesions and how they change during a therapy, and multi-modality imaging (ultrasound to MR and/or CT) planning and assessment to support delivery of targetted nanoparticle drugs.

• IGT Team: Alison Noble, Julia Schnabel, Piotr Orlowski, Kath Allen, Grace Vesom, Aymeric Larrue, Amalia Cifor
• Collaborators: James Byrne, Paul Summers, Yiannis Ventikos, Penny Smith
• Funding: EPSRC, Centre of Excellence in Medical Engineering funded by Wellcome Triust and EPSRC

Representative Publications:

H Homann, G Vesom, JA Noble
Vasculature analysis of CT liver images using Graph Cuts
IEEE ISBI 2008, pp54-56.

Characterization of Anatomical Shape Based on Random Walk Hitting Times.
MICCAI Workshop on Mathematical Foundations of Computational Anatomy, 2008

G Ye, P Probert Smith, JA Noble
Model-based ultrasound temperature visualization during and following HIFU exposure
Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology 36(2):234-249, 2010.

P Orlowski, JA Noble, Y Ventikos, JV Byrne, P Summer
Image-based simulation of AVM Hemodynamics
IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging 2008.

JV Byrne, C Colominas, J Hipwell, T Cox, JA Noble, GP Penney, DJ Hawkes
An assessment of a technique for 2D-3D registration of cerebral intra-arterial angiography
British Journal of Radiology, 77:123-128, 2004.

ACS Chung, P. Summers, and JA Noble
Vascular Segmentation in Phase Contrast Magnetic Resonance Angiograms based on Statistical Mixture Modelling and Local Phase Coherence
IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2004

J.H. Hipwell, G.P. Penney, R.A. McLaughlin, K. Rhode, P. Summers, T.C. Cox, J.V. Byrne, J.A. Noble, and D.J. Hawkes
Intensity based 2D-3D registration of cerebral angiograms
IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 22(11):1417-1426, 2003.

D.L. Wilson and J. A. Noble.
An adaptive segmentation algorithm for extracting arteries and aneurysms from time-of-flight MRA data.
IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, vol 18(10), October 1999, p. 938-945.

D.L. Wilson, D.D. Royston, J. A. Noble and J.V. Byrne
Automatic determination of optimal X-ray projections for use during endovascular treatments of intracranial aneurysms.
IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, vol 18(10), October 1999, p. 973-980.