What is Machine Learning? It is a subfield of computer science wherein computers learn to complete tasks for which they have not been explicitly programmed.
One of our applications, funded buy the NIH (R01 CA196687), is the creation of CT images from MR data. The CT images are then used for attenuation correction for PET/MR systems that cannot collect CT data.
In one approach we show a computer examples of MR data acquired using different pulse sequences (inputs) and corresponding CT images (outputs) collected from the same patients. After this training is completed, the computer can then synthesize CT images from MR data for which CT scans were not collected.
Machine learning is a hot area of research and the QIL is contributing. In fact, much of the work is done in collaboration with Prof. Pengjiang (William) Qian, from Jiangnan University, China. Here are a few of our recent publications
- Qian P, Jiang Y, Wang S, Su KH, Wang J, Hu L, Muzic RF. Affinity and PenaltyJointly Constrained Spectral Clustering With All-Compatibility, Flexibility, and Robustness. IEEE Trans Neural Netw Learn Syst. 2016 Feb 18.PubMed PMID: 26915134; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4990515.
- Qian P, Sun S, Jiang Y, Su KH, Ni T, Wang S, Muzic RF Jr. Cross-domain, soft-partition clustering with diversity measure and knowledge reference. PatternRecognit. 2016 Feb;50:155-177. PubMed PMID: 27275022; PubMed Central PMCID:PMC4892128.
- Qian P, Jiang Y, Deng Z, Hu L, Sun S, Wang S, Muzic RF Jr. Cluster Prototypes and Fuzzy Memberships Jointly Leveraged Cross-Domain Maximum Entropy Clustering. IEEE Trans Cybern. 2016 Jan;46(1):181-93. doi: 10.1109/TCYB.2015.2399351. PubMed PMID: 26684257; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4882931.
- Su KH, Hu L, Stehning C, Helle M, Qian P, Thompson CL, Pereira GC, Jordan DW, Herrmann KA, Traughber M, Muzic RF Jr, Traughber BJ. Generation of brain pseudo-CTs using an undersampled, single-acquisition UTE-mDixon pulse sequence and unsupervised clustering. Med Phys. 2015 Aug;42(8):4974-86. doi: 10.1118/1.4926756. PubMed PMID: 26233223.
We also have a patent
Systems and methods for translation of medical imaging using machine learning