Dissertation

Functional Real-Time MRI of the Upper Airway. PDF

University of Southern California.

Defended in August 2019

My research at USC included real-time MRI pulse sequence design, computational imaging techniques, optimization algorithms, and their translation to scientific and clinical applications. I worked in a cross functional team composed by linguists, biomedical engineers and clinicians.

Tagged Real-Time Speech MRI
How does the tongue move when we speak?

Real-time speech MRI has been extensively used to imaging speech production. However, existing techniques only focus on tracking tissue surfaces. This research aims to visualizing the internal tongue motion during speech production.

Keywords:
Tagged MRI,
Pulse Sequence Design,
Computational Imaging,
Image Processing,
Motion Tracking

Real-Time Sleep MRI
How does the upper airway behave in sleep apnea patients?

MRI has been used to help diagnose obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA is a heterogeneous sleep disorder characterized by both structural and physiological risk factors. Existing technique only focused on structural factors. This research eyes on the later: to evaluate the function of the upper airay by modeling the physiological traits using quantitative MRI measurements.

Keywords:
Computational Imaging,
Physiological Signal Processing,
Time Series