Pascal Fua from EPFL gave a talk at MBZUAI on physics-based deep learning for medical imaging. The talk covered how self-supervision and knowledge of human anatomy and physics can improve deep learning algorithms when training data is limited. Applications discussed included endoscopic heart surgery, colonoscopy, and intubation. Why it matters: This highlights the growing importance of domain knowledge and self-supervision in overcoming data scarcity challenges for AI in healthcare applications within the region.
KAUST Professor Wolfgang Heidrich is researching computational imaging systems that jointly design optics and image reconstruction algorithms. He focuses on hardware-software co-design for imaging systems with applications in HDR, compact cameras, and hyperspectral imaging. Heidrich's work on HDR displays was the basis for Brightside Technologies, acquired by Dolby in 2007. Why it matters: This research aims to advance imaging technology through AI-driven design, potentially impacting various fields from consumer electronics to scientific research within the region and globally.
Pascal Fua from EPFL presented an approach to implementing convolutional neural nets that output complex 3D surface meshes. The method overcomes limitations in converting implicit representations to explicit surface representations. Applications include single view reconstruction, physically-driven shape optimization, and bio-medical image segmentation. Why it matters: This research advances geometric deep learning by enabling end-to-end trainable models for 3D surface mesh generation, with potential impact on various applications in computer vision and biomedical imaging in the region.
Technology Innovation Institute's (TII) Directed Energy Research Center (DERC) is integrating machine learning (ML) techniques into signal processing to accelerate research. One project used convolutional neural networks to predict COVID-19 pneumonia from chest x-rays with 97.5% accuracy. DERC researchers also demonstrated that ML-based signal and image processing can retrieve up to 68% of text information from electromagnetic emanations. Why it matters: This adoption of ML for signal processing at TII highlights the potential for advanced AI techniques to enhance research and security applications in the UAE.
This survey paper reviews recent literature on continual learning in medical imaging, addressing challenges like catastrophic forgetting and distribution shifts. It covers classification, segmentation, detection, and other tasks, while providing a taxonomy of studies and identifying challenges. The authors also maintain a GitHub repository to keep the survey up-to-date with the latest research.