Four iHEALTH students obtained the 2024 ANID National Doctoral Scholarship
The National Doctoral Scholarship awarded by the Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID) aims to financially support doctoral studies, and will benefit a group of our students from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the Universidad de Valparaíso, belonging to the team from the iHEALTH Millennium Institute.
In total, there are four doctoral students who will benefit from the fund obtained: Pamela González, Aaron Ponce, Nicolás Garrido and Javier Silva, who are guided by Principal and Associate Investigators of the institute.
Pamela González is a PhD student in Medical Sciences at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where she is developing her thesis work entitled “Neurobiological Signatures of Magnetic Resonance-Guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Subthalamotomy in Parkinson's Disease: A Comprehensive Study Integrating Advanced Magnetic Resonance Neuroimaging, Serological Markers, and Clinical Features”.
Guided by the alternate director of iHEALTH, Marcelo Andia, the work focuses on obtaining information through MRI, serological markers and clinical data of Parkinson's patients who are being treated using a novel technique to reduce tremors, subthalamotomy with guided focused ultrasound by magnetic resonance imaging (MRgFUS).
On the other hand, Aaron Ponce, a PhD student in Applied Computer Engineering at the University of Valparaíso, is working on his thesis titled “Improvement of temporal segmentation in 4D flow images through deep learning techniques”.
Under the supervision of associate researcher Julio Sotelo, his research is framed in the study of blood flow using 4D Flow MRI, a method that provides valuable information about the heart and vessels, but has difficulties due to noise and movement when taking the images. . Given this problem, a post-processing method is proposed that uses image registration algorithms and neural networks to improve the segmentation of blood vessels, allowing a more precise evaluation of their structure and function, even in multiple cardiac phases.
Student of the Doctorate program in Biological and Medical Engineering, joint degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and King's College London, Nicolás Garrido obtained funding for his thesis “Highly efficient dual-echo Free running 3D joint T1 and T2 mapping, PDFF and anatomical imaging at 0.55T MRI”. The academics guiding his thesis work are René Botnar, principal investigator, and Claudia Prieto, director of iHEALTH.
The thesis consists of studying the feasibility of 3D joint mapping, with fat quantification, to evaluate articular cartilage in a 0.55T magnetic resonator in order to improve accessibility in the observation of knee injuries. It is also expected that the results of the work will allow us to explore its performance in cardiac images.
Finally, the PhD student in Engineering Sciences, mention in Electrical Engineering, from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Javier Silva, will continue developing his thesis work "Development of robust methods for Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping in the abdominothoracic region" with the guide from iHEALTH associate researcher, Cristián Tejos.
The thesis work uses Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM), a magnetic resonance imaging method that has allowed us to propose novel applications for the evaluation of pathologies, such as hereditary hemochromatosis or renal fibrosis. However, problems have not yet been completely resolved, such as the distortions generated by respiratory movement and fat during the examination, or the absence of a reference method for its evaluation, so the objective is to improve these aspects. focused on breast and abdomen.
