Skin Imaging to detect health conditions

The University of Liverpool and Nova are seeking to appoint a suitably experienced and qualified individual to undertake a three year doctoral research programme. The PhD will be focused on skin imaging to detect health conditions.

Skin colour, skin reflectance and skin texture are important indicators of health and disease. Melanin, hemoglobin, bilirubin, and carotene constitute the pigments in human skin. Melanin and hemoglobin are primarily responsible for skin colour, that is, the light reflected from the skin which ultimately determines the skin colour. The distribution of these chromophores determines skin texture. We can use optical methods to measure both the spectral properties of the skin and its texture. Changes in the distribution, concentration and oxygen saturation of these chromophores are informative about the health of an individual.

The aim of this project is to extract from skin images information relevant for the correct identification of a particular health state. This will deliver environmental and efficiency benefits in reducing attendances and hazardous and non-hazardous waste. It is realising the environmental benefits of telemedicine.

With the advent of cheap sensors in every household, e.g. mobile phones with CCD cameras, and the emergence of remote medical diagnostics (telemedicine), the development of efficient, reliable and user-friendly methods to extract health-related skin information is timely and important. Several recent examples of an efficient method to extract subtle skin tone changes have gone viral (e.g. http://www.wired.co.uk/article/mit-algorithm). The availability of inexpensive sensors coupled with almost unlimited computing power provides a great opportunity to extract health-related parameters from changes in skin tone and texture. Some of the relevant information may not be directly estimated from the camera RGB output but requires more sophisticated reconstruction algorithms or machine learning techniques.

You will be involved in developing novel machine learning techniques to improve diagnostic techniques for healthcare applications.

This PhD is one of 20 industry-led collaborative R&D projects from the Low Carbon Eco-Innovatory. The aim of the project is for you to work toward a PhD at the University of Liverpool through delivering ‘real – life’ solutions to industry. The Centre brings together the expertise, resources and global contacts of University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moore’s University and Lancaster University to create innovative low carbon goods, processes and services developed through collaborative R&D partnerships between local companies in the Liverpool City Region and local universities.
All LCEI PhD projects have been developed by SMEs contacting the University for assistance in R&D where the company does not have internal expertise, resource or facilities to carry out the research. This will give you a strong advantage in entering a competitive jobs market in both the academic and commercial sectors.
By joining the centre you will receive a £15,000 tax free stipend per year, with your post-graduate tuition fees paid (at UK/EU rate). The Centre is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Please visit www.liverpool.ac.uk/environmental-sciences/working-with-business for more information on the centre.