Image reconstruction for combined SPECT and Compton imaging
Qihui Lyu, Professor
UC San Francisco
Applications for Fall 2025 are closed for this project.
Targeted alpha therapy is a promising treatment technique for late stage cancer patients with metastasis, but its clinical application is limited by the current imaging capabilities. Simultaneous broad-energy imaging is critical, but the current Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) can only image low energy photons with limited energy band width. At higher energy (>300keV), SPECT results in severe artifacts due to photon penetration or low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) due to thick collimation. Compton imaging using electronic collimation is desirable for high energy applications, but its angular resolution is inadequate for low-energy applications. To overcome this challenge, we propose a dual-modality imaging system combining SPECT-collimators with Compton imaging for simultaneous multi-energy imaging.
Role: The student will work with a graduate student on the algorithm development, image reconstruction, and image analysis. The student will be trained on literature search, research problem formulation, coding, computational algorithms, and scientific writing. In particular, relevant to this project, the student will learn deep learning methods, image reconstruction algorithms, and image processing algorithms.
Qualifications: Applicants should have strong background in mathematical modeling, physics, and/or Computer Vision. Prior experience in mathematical modeling and coding is desirable but not essential. The student is expected to meet with the faculty mentor weekly.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Jingjie Yu, Graduate Student
Hours: 12 or more hours
Off-Campus Research Site: The student can choose to work remotely or work at the UCSF mission bay campus.
Engineering, Design & Technologies Mathematical and Physical Sciences