Weihua Zhou, Assistant Professor of Health Informatics, Applied Computing department, has been awarded a six-month contract for the project, “Development and validation of a deep-learning-based method for automated reorientation of PET myocardial perfusion images.”
The $18,392 project is sponsored by SynterMed Inc., Atlanta, Georgia, a company dedicated to developing medical imaging software solutions.
The objective of the project is to expand a deep-learning-based method to automatically generate short-axis PET myocardial perfusion images (MPI). PET MPI is commonly used for the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases.
The research idea was explored in Zhou’s recent paper, “Automatic reorientation by deep learning to generate short-axis SPECT myocardial perfusion images,” which was published in the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology, 2023. The paper was co-authored by Zhu F, Wang G, Zhao C, Malhotra S, Zhao M, He Z, Shi J, Jiang Z, and Zhou W. (doi: 10.1007/s12350-023-03226-2)
When SynterMed read this paper, the company was intrigued by Zhou’s research. The company reached out to Zhou, and through a series of online discussions, they reached an agreement on their collaboration, resulting in the project’s funding. Both collaborators believe that AI will continue to significantly promote SynterMed’s software solutions in medical image analysis, and this is expected to become a long-term collaboration.
For the project, Zhou and his Ph.D. students will develop a trained AI model and provide necessary technical support to SynterMed. It as a module will be integrated with the software product.
Dr. Zhou directs the Laboratory of Medical Imaging and Information at Michigan Tech. His research aims to improve the diagnosis and treatment of complicated chronic diseases using the latest deep-learning technology. More than 20 hospitals are using and testing Zhou’s software for research purposes. His publications and research have successfully attracted both industrial and clinical collaborators.
Dr. Zhou is looking for undergraduate and graduate students to join his lab. Learn more about his research projects on his lab webpage.
Zhou is particularly interested in self-motivated undergraduate students. All three undergraduate students in his lab have received multiple URIP and SURF awards and published high-impact journal papers. For example, one of his undergraduate students published a paper in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging as a co-first author.
Since 1999, Syntermed, Inc., a privately-held nuclear medicine imaging and informatics software company based in Atlanta, GA, has served cardiology, nuclear medicine, and radiology labs worldwide through all major OEM imaging providers and leading value-added resellers, as well as, direct. The Founders have over 75 years of combined experience in the development and commercialization of medical imaging software.