Hertfordshire: Partners and funding sought for 3D cancer detection system

Collaboration opportunity

Scientists at Hertfordshire University in the UK are developing technology that will make it possible to semi-automate the process for detecting cancerous tumours more precisely.

Soodamani Ramalingam and her team at the university are developing 3D object recognition and image processing so that it will be possible to get a more accurate picture of human tumours, enabling them be identified and treated accordingly.

They are seeking collaborators and further funding to commercialise the system.

The team is using a combination of fuzzy logic and image processing to identify a tumour and establish accurately how far it has spread.

“This new method of image analysis imaging will be more accurate in defining tumour edges, and will potentially allow more effective treatments,” said Ramalingam.

According to the researchers, the technology, which will also have applications in other medical fields, will compliment traditional positron emission tomography and computer tomography scans because the fusion of fuzzy logic and image processing will produce better defined tumour images, giving greater certainty in diagnosis and treatment.

“The classical mathematical approaches to looking at clinical scans do not always produce high resolution images,” said Ramalingam. “In some cases this means that specialists cannot interpret the PET/CT scan very easily, so there is always a certain degree of uncertainty that our advanced analysis techniques will address.”