Denmark: PhD Scholarships in Advanced Synthetic Aperture Ultrasound Imaging, Technical University of Denmark

PhD Scholarships in Advanced Synthetic Aperture Ultrasound Imaging

Three 3-year PhD scholarships are available at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark from May 2009.

The projects are sponsored by the Advanced Technology Foundation project: “Implementation of synthetic aperture ultrasound methods” made in collaboration between the Center for Fast Ultrasound Imaging at DTU, the ultrasound manufacturer BK Medical and Rigshospitalet. The project seeks to develop methods for synthetic aperture (SA) ultrasound imaging and its commercial implementation. SA imaging is a radical departure from conventional ultrasound and can give many advantages in terms of better contrast, resolution, and frame rate. CFU has been a pioneer in developing SA imaging and has been the first to demonstrate blood velocity imaging using the SA concept. This has been done using the experimental scanner RASMUS. A new scanner SARUS has now been developed and forms the basis for this project. The new scanner can acquire data in 1024 channels and is the first scanner which makes it possible to acquire real time three-dimensional SA data.

The three projects are:

Two stage beamforming for flow estimation
An efficient method for implementing SA anatomic imaging is to use a two stage beamformer consisting of a simple first stage beamformer and a more complicated second stage dynamic beamformer. This approach should be expanded to be useful for SA blood velocity estimation. Existing techniques for vector velocity estimation should be further refined and implemented on the SARUS scanner for flow rig and in-vivo studies.

SA compound imaging
The project seeks to suppress the speckle artifacts in ultrasound images by combining images acquired from different directions. This is possible using SA images and the project includes developing methods for data acquisition, processing, combination, and presentation. The techniques will be implemented on the SARUS scanner for phantom studies and pre-clinical trials in collaboration with Rigshospitalet. The final result should be a real time implementation.

3D vector velocity imaging
The project seeks to develop methods for estimating the velocity of flowing blood in all directions using two-dimensional ultrasound transducers and the experimental ultrasound scanner SARUS. One or more of the four two-dimensional vector velocity methods developed at CFU should be extended to three dimensions and implemented on the SARUS scanner for validation and pre-clinical trials. Presentation of the seven-dimensional data sets is also part of the project.

All three projects can start either in May or June 2009. You should indicate which projects you are interested in. You should have a background in signal and image processing. Knowledge of medical imaging and acoustics will also be beneficial.

Qualifications
Candidates should have a master’s degree in engineering or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to the master’s degree in engineering.

Approval and Enrolment
The scholarships for the PhD degree are subject to academic approval, and the candidates will be enrolled in one of the general degree programs of DTU For information about the general requirements for enrolment and the general planning of the scholarship studies, please see the DTU PhD Guide.

Salary and appointment terms
The salary and appointment terms are consistent with the current rules for PhD degree students.

Further information
Further information is available at www.elektro.dtu.dk and www.elektro.dtu.dk/Centre/cfu/English.aspx/ or from Professor Jørgen Arendt Jensen, e-mail: jaj[ at ]elektro.dtu.dk

Application
We should have your online application by 6 May 2009. Apply online at www.dtu.dk/vacancy. Please open the link “apply for this job online” and fill in the application form and attach your application and CV. The application must include curriculum vitae and documentation of a completed master’s diploma including grades

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.