PhD Studentship in Sensitive Optical Tomography of Mesoscopic Systems

This PhD will provide an exciting opportunity to develop advanced theoretical and computational tools for Optical Tomography.

Optical Tomography is an emerging biomedical imaging technique characterised by high sensitivity and specificity to tissue pathology not accessible with other imaging techniques. It detects changes in tissue function and metabolism that take place prior to structural changes. This distinguishes Optical Tomography as an early diagnosis and treatment assessment tool, from the more established imaging techniques that only detect structural changes, and has unique clinical potential. The goal of this PhD is to create tools to explore and exploit this potential.

The PhD student will undertake:

One area of recent interest is optical imaging of mesoscopic systems such as epithelial tissue, engineered tissues and model organisms, whose size is of the order of the transport mean free path of light. Over 80% of cancers occur in the epithelial issue. For these cancers, and there is an urgent need for new approaches to three-dimensional tissue characterisation for early diagnosis and monitoring. This need is also shared by basic and preclinical cancer studies. Most of the current imaging techniques are based on measurements of light intensity. However, there are tissue morphological, biochemical and functional characteristics of important clinical value that are not accessible with light-intensity measurements. In particular, cancer is associated with changes in cell symmetry, composition and organisation of tissue that can only be probed with measurements of light polarisation.

This project aims to reach beyond the current state-of-the-art in tomographic imaging of mesoscopic systems and devise a novel polarisation-sensitive optical tomographic technique. This PhD will develop: forward models for polarised light propagation in the biological tissue; inverse models and image reconstruction algorithms; software codes for image reconstruction.

CVSSP is a leading UK research and one of the largest in Europe with over 125 researchers and a grant portfolio in excess of £20.5million and a robust track-record of innovative research leading to technology transfer and exploitation. CVSSP is part of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and has been ranked third in the UK in the Guardian newspaper league table 2017. The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering achieved a 92.9% overall satisfaction for NSS 2017 and is rated seventh in the UK for Electronic Engineering in the The Complete University Guide 2018

The CVSSP Medical Imaging Group is part of the Medical Physics and Medical Imaging Group at the University of Surrey, bringing together scientists from various disciplines. It has strong collaborations with physicists, biologists and clinicians at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, The National Physical Laboratory and The Institute of Cancer Research, and a strong research record in Medical Imaging. In addition, the studentship will benefit from collaborations on Optical Tomography with leading UK and US groups.

How to Apply: For enquiries contact Dr Lucia Florescu ([Email Address Removed]) indicating your area of interest and including your CV with qualification details, copies of transcripts and certificates, and the names and contact details of two referees. Non-native speakers of English will normally be required to have IELTS 6.5 or above (or equivalent). Shortlisted applicants will be contacted directly to arrange a suitable time for an interview.