The Laboratory for Laser-Assisted Medical Physics and Engineering (LLAMPE)
https://lampe.physics.carleton.ca/ team aims to develop non-invasive optical imaging techniques for rapid diagnostics, and to enable fundamental biophysics discovery.
Fluorescence-guided surgery is a powerful intraoperative tool used in brain cancer surgery to achieve maximal resection of cancer tissue while preserving essential brain functions and patient performance. However, the surgeons currently rely on visual inspection of fluorescence microscopy images that involves qualitative and subjective analyses. This project aims to develop quantitative analysis of cancer margins in fluorescence microscopy images of patient tissue. The student will analyze fluorescence microscopy images taken during surgery before and after the tumor resection with white and blue light. The image analysis will involve multiple approaches including machine learning to discriminate between cancer and background normal tissue based on the fluorescence intensity. There is also an opportunity to collaborate on developing a design for a prototype hand-held fluorescence microscopy probe to complement the existing fluorescence microscope in the clinic.
Supervisor: Prof. Sangeeta Murugkar, smurugkar
physics [dot] carleton [dot] ca