Simo Saarakkala

Simo Jaakko Saarakkala, Ph.D.
Professor, ERC Starting Grantee
University of Oulu, Finland

Presentation topic "Using Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostic Imaging"

AI based methods are becoming more and more popular in the field of medical imaging. In research, the primary target of AI in medical imaging has been to automatically detect and classify abnormalities from the images. Recently, AI has been also applied in generation and enhancement of medical images. In this lecture, some of the most recent applications of AI in medical imaging will be reviewed. Specifically, we will focus on the following cases: 1) automatic interpretation of chest X-rays, 2) automatic detection of intracranial hemorrhage from computed tomography of the head, 3) automatic detection of fractures from X-rays, 4) automatic diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis from X-rays, 5) prediction of knee osteoarthritis progression from X-rays, 6) removal of noise from low-dose computed tomography, 7) super-resolution for enhancing image resolution in chest computed tomography, and 8) generative adversarial networks (GANs) for generation of medical images and semi-supervised learning. Finally, the general discussion about the future role of AI in medical imaging will be discussed.
 

Brief CV

Present positions
Professor (Biomedical Engineering), Research Unit of Medical Imaging, Physics and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Finland.
Scientific Director, Infotech Oulu Focus Institute, University of Oulu, Finland
ERC Starting Grantee 2014-2018, University of Oulu, Finland

Current research interests
Development of novel quantitative methods for early diagnostics, follow-up and prediction of osteoarthritis and other musculoskeletal diseases.
Investigation of structure, composition and biomechanics of skeletal tissues – especially articular cartilage, subchondral bone and meniscus, as well as trabecular and cortical bone – at the tissue and cellular level.
   

Education
Academic
Adjunct Professor (Title of Docent) in Biomedical Physics (2010). Department of Medical Technology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Adjunct Professor (Title of Docent) in Medical Physics (2009). Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
Ph.D. in Medical Physics (2007), University of Kuopio, Finland
 M.Sc. in Medical Physics (2005), University of Kuopio, Finland

Professional
The qualification to serve as a Radiation Safety Officer in the field of General Use of Radiation in the Medical Sector (2012). Approved by the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Finland.
The qualification to practice Clinical Audits for Exposure to Radiation in Medical Practices in Finland as an assistant evaluator (2004).