Quantum Technologies for Imaging

Computational imaging and in particular deep learning applied to imaging problems is currently a very active research area. The combination oof novel sensors with novel algorithms is allowing to tackle imaging problems that were previously thought to be impossible. Examples are imaging behind walls, imaging through fog and smoke an imaging inside the human body using light.

This PhD project will aim to harness the latest developments in machine learning and camera sensor development to enable new imaging modalities for healthcare. The project will start by examining in detail recent advances within the research group aimed at remotely measuring and tracking heart sounds with sufficient detail to enable efficient diagnosis of heart health and also biometric identification of people. Several important upgrades to the existing system are required that we believe will significantly enhance performance such as, e.g. applying narrowband filters on the camera for use in daylight and then investigation of the impact of different wavelength lasers so as to increase light penetration depth into the body, polarisation control so as to study independently direct reflections and deeply scattered light etc. This will also allow to further optimise processing algorithms and improve overall sensitivity. These results will then allow to move on to the more ambitious goal of remote brain activity sensing using the same system and now searching for signatures of blood flow rates as a proxy for brain activity.

This research project has potential applications for healthcare and in particular for solutions that involve for example remote monitoring for heart hand brain health. The student will therefore also work within the context of a 5 year programme grant funded through the UKRI Healthcare Technologies 2050 program. This will bring the project into a much larger context involving GPs, medics, computer scientists and potential end users that can inform the direction that the research takes as we develop and showcase the technologies.