[visionlist] Postdoc position: Visual servoing for tumor tracking in minimally invasive robotic surgery

[Erol Ozgur]

*#Postdoc position:* Visual servoing for tumor tracking in minimally
invasive robotic surgery
*#Location:* Clermont-Ferrand, France.
*#Host institutions:* Institut Pascal.
*#Duration:* 2 years.
*#Supervisors:* Dr. Mohammad Alkhatib, Dr. Erol Ozgur, Prof. Youcef Mezouar.
*#Application Deadline:* Open until filled.

*#Context:*  Liver cancer is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide. An
estimated 830,000 people around the world died from the disease in 2020.
Liver resection is considered as one of the most effective treatments. In
this respect, laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) comes up by reducing
substantially patient trauma compared to open liver resection. The patient
recovers faster which in return reduces healthcare costs.

However, the use of LLR remains limited. This is because of three
challenges. First, controlling intraoperative bleeding using laparoscopic
instruments requires advanced technical skills. Second, the surgeon cannot
manually palpate the liver and thus cannot locate the tumors and their
resection margins easily. Consequently, this raises a risk of inadequate
resection on the patient’s liver such as the removal of too much healthy
tissue and the leaving of some cancerogenic tissue behind. Third,
laparoscopic ultrasonography (LUS), the only tool for intraoperative
subsurface imaging which allows real-time tumor localization, has a long
learning curve. This is because its design consists of a small transducer
with a small field of view attached to the end of a long shaft with a
pivoting mechanism.

In order to ease LLR, robotic solutions would provide great assistance by
controlling the LUS. The goal of this postdoc position is to develop and
implement a solution for tumor localization and tracking using
robotically-controlled LUS probe on the deformable liver surface. Visual
servoing will be based on the images of the laparoscope and the LUS probe.
The setup includes a robotic arm mounted with a LUS probe, a camera and a
phantom liver organ.

*#Research:* We are looking for a highly motivated postdoc to study
multimodal servoing on a deformable liver.  The post-doc will focus on the
following open problems:

1. Tumor searching via contact servoing on the liver surface.

2. Tumor tracking via multimodal visual servoing while the liver deforms.

The post-doc will be in close collaboration with the scientists and
surgeons and the successful outcome of this position will simplify
mini-invasive liver surgery. It will shorten hospital stays, improve
surgical safety and accuracy, and contribute to an overall better quality
of patient life and reduction of healthcare costs.


*#Requirements: *Applicant must have:
1/ PhD degree in Computer Science or Robotics;
2/ Excellent programming skills in C++ and python;
3/ Strong background in computer vision and robotics;

4/ Proficiency in written and spoken English language.


*#Application:*  Applicant must submit:
(1) a one-page cover letter; (2) curriculum vitae with publications list;
(3) Two reference letters;  (4) The earliest possible starting date. All
should be sent, *in a **SINGLE** PDF document*, with the email subject
*[Postdoc
application - VS for MIS] *to: *youcef.mezouar at sigma-clermont.*
<youcef.mezouar at sigma-clermont.fr>*fr* *erol.ozgur at sigma-clermont.fr*
<erol.ozgur at sigma-clermont.fr> *mohammad.alkhatib at sigma-
<mohammad.alkhatib at sigma-clermont.fr>clermont.fr
<erol.ozgur at sigma-clermont.fr>*

Once we receive your application and if it fits well for the position, then
you will be contacted within two weeks.
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