Efficient Inversion Methods for the Estimation of in-vivo tissue mechanics using Elastography data

Description:
The estimation of hidden properties in living tissues is an intense research topic relating not only radiologist and other medical specialists, but also increasingly require engineered solutions to provide better methods and a better understanding of the mechanical properties therein. Elastography is a medical imaging technique used to investigate many disease conditions which measure the displacement field along a field-of-view using Ultrasound or Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Hence, Elastography recovers non-invasively insightful information about the tissues in-vivo. Although several advances have been produced in recent years, the algorithms for the reconstruction of viscoelastic and poroelastic parameters still suffer from noise pollution and instabilities, sometimes leading to inaccurate solutions.
The main goal in this PhD project is the development of efficient inversion algorithms by combining direct and iterative techniques applied to real data, to improve the stability of elastic complex moduli maps for different frequency ranges. This project is a joint effort between the Universidad Técnica Federico de Santa María (USM-Chile) and the MRE group at Charité University Hospital in Berlin, Germany.

Qualifications:
Candidates should have a graduate degree in a relevant mechanical engineering or affine fields, mathematics or physics. In addition, the candidate should be highly motivated to undertake research in the field mentioned above. Candidates with a background in computational mechanics are strongly encouraged to apply for this PhD position. The student must be accepted and/or enrolled in the USM Doctoral Program and have an average of grade equal to or greater than 75 (on scale 0-100). In the case of students from other institutions where another grading scale is used, the conversion will be done using the USM criteria.

Language requirements:
The candidate must have an intermediate level of Spanish (official language in Chile), English, or French. The USM will provide Spanish course for international students.

Scholarship information:
The scholarship for the PhD degree is subject to academic approval. If approved, the student will have a total or partial payment of the Doctoral program fee. Monthly maintenance of CLP 500,000 (USD 700) for 12 months. It is of annual allocation, renewable up to a maximum of 4 years, according to the academic performance. Additionally, students can apply to the Chilean Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (Conicyt), which offers national scholarships for a maximal annual revenue of CLP 7,800,000 (USD 10,800) and may include several additional benefits. Students can also apply for free meal scholarship at USM.

(http://postgrado.usm.cl/postulacion/becas/#!)

About USM:
Universidad Técnica Federico Santa Maria was the first Latin American university to offer a doctoral program in Engineering (since 1962) and has a strong emphasis on research and scientific as well as technological higher education. It is currently ranked top in Latin America in terms of citations at the Latin American Times Higher Education (THE) ranking. In fact, according to THE, USM has consistently ranked among the top three engineering schools of the country, achieving first place nationally in years 2014, 2015, 2016, second place in Latin America in 2014, 3rd in Latin America in 2015 and
2016. Also, USM has been number 1 in Latin America in research impact factor by SIR Iberoamerica, Scimago ranking in several opportunities.