PhD AI-based analysis of fetal ultrasound

Medical imaging plays an essential role in disease detection, diagnosis, and aftercare. The accessibility to medical imaging is however challenged by the high costs of imaging devices, availability and required expertise of personnel to operate these devices and to analyze and interpret the resulting images. Our NWO-funded project, "AI4AI: Artificial Intelligence for Accessible Medical Imaging", aims to address these by developing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to enable the use of more affordable devices, to allow operation by nonspecialized personnel, and to allow automated interpretation.

As a PhD student you will develop novel deep learning methods for identification of fetal growth abnormality from ultrasound. The cornerstone of prenatal care is monitoring of fetal growth primarily to detect fetal growth restriction, a major cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Growth-restricted fetuses benefit from delivery before the onset of fetal hypoxia and its ensuing adverse outcomes. Thus, timely identification of fetuses affected by growth restriction has the potential to reduce morbidity and mortality, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Obtaining accurate and complex measurement for reliable detection of fetal growth restriction requires a high level of expertise, limiting the analysis to specialized centers. Therefore, to allow high quality care, closer to patients’ home as well as in the areas where very specialized expertise is scarce, you will develop autonomous AI-based systems that support ultrasound acquisition and interpretation.

Would you like to know more about the different phases within the PhD trajectory? You can read more about this on this page.

As a PhD candidate you will:

• Complete and defend a PhD thesis within the official appointment duration of four years;
• Publish and present your work in journals and international conferences;
• Be an active part of the qurAI group and its activities;
• Actively participate in the AI4AI consortium;
• Assist in educational activities and supervision of bachelor and master students.

• You have a MSc degree in biomedical engineering, artificial intelligence, computer science, or a comparable training, with a strong interest in medical image processing and analysis.
• You have a good scientific background, are highly motivated and independent, and able to work in an interdisciplinary team of medical doctors and engineers.
• You have experience with the development of deep learning models, image analysis as well as programming experience, preferably in Python.