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Research Areas
The Oxford BioMedIA research cluster has a strong focus on machine-learning in medical imaging algorithms research.
Technical themes of interest are described below:
The Oxford BioMedIA research cluster collaborates closely with clinical partners on multi-disciplinary clinical application research. Some of the clinical application areas are described below.
The Oxford BioMedIA research cluster collaborates with clinicians and other stakeholders (including patients and industry partners) on early evaluation of imaging and imaging AI technologies in a clinical setting and to understand challenges in new technology adoption.
3DMed aims to improve the affordability and large-scale accessibility of medical treatment using 3D printed devices. The objectives are to streamline the various steps of the 3D manufacturing process and integrate the data flows with pre-planning and post-operatory evaluation; to advance the technology readiness level of metallic, composite and polymeric 3D printed medical devices; and to demonstrate the superior performance and ascertain the clinical benefits of the 3D printed medical devices developed in 3DMed.
High-amplitude ultrasound waves, generated outside the body, can be focused deep within tissue onto a region about the size of a grain of rice. In that region, conversion of the mechanical energy carried by the ultrasound wave into heat can lead to cell death by thermal necrosis, whilst leaving tissue outside the HIFU focal region unaffected. The potential of this technique to destroy deep-seated tumours non-invasively is currently being explored in the Clinical HIFU Unit at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford. The research being carried out in the IBME is aimed at further improving the speed, resolution, targeting and real-time monitoring of HIFU treatments, as applied to cancer therapy and to a range of novel HIFU applications.
Our on-going projects in acute care, in collaboration with world-leading intensive care clinicians at Oxford University Hospitals, aim to produce predictive AI-based systems using the huge quantities of data now routinely collected for each patient.
The 2019 World Health Organization (WHO) report on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) identifies it as: “one of the greatest threats we face as a global community.” The evolution of drug-resistant bacteria, our over-use of antibiotics and failure to develop new methods for tackling infection could leave us without viable treatments for even the most trivial infections within the next 3 decades.
The microelectronic basis and digital programmability of bioelectronic systems means that there is huge potential for flexibility in both research and future medical device design. Emerging technology offers the possibility of building restorative neural systems, which are adaptable and programmable for various diseases, as well as specifically for individuals.
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) continues to represent one of the most significant challenges for successful drug delivery in the treatment of neurological disease. Modulation of structure-activity relationship profiles in drug design have provided only limited clinical success and alternative therapeutic systems are therefore required. In recent years, locally permeabilizing the blood-brain barrier by focused ultrasound has shown considerable promise, with several first-in-human clinical trials reporting successful outcomes for patients with glioblastoma.
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) continues to represent one of the most significant challenges for successful drug delivery in the treatment of neurological disease.
1) Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: The combination of chemo and radiotherapy has been shown to be highly effective in the treatment of muscle invasive bladder cancer. However, the side-effects associated with this treatment can be debilitating and, in many cases, prevent treatment from being successful. A collaborative project has sought to address this challenge by loading chemotherapy drugs into microbubbles.
2) Pancreatic Cancer: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains one of the most lethal forms of cancer. Treatment options are severely limited by the fact that patients are often only diagnosed when tumours have progressed to an advanced stage and aggressive chemo or radiotherapy cannot be tolerated.
1) Thrombolysis: Stroke remains a leading cause of disability and mortality worldwide. The main treatment options are (i) mechanical removal of blood clots using a specially designed catheter or (ii) the clot-busting drug, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA).
2) Pseudoaneurysms: The use of minimally invasive procedures to treat heart and artery problems has increased over the years. These procedures require the insertion of needle(s) in the groin artery to create a so-called “keyhole,” which then provides access for instruments to other locations in the body (such as the heart and the arteries). At the end of these procedures, the keyhole is closed to stop bleeding.
Our case studies showcase academic research from across the Institute that has had an impact on the world or local community, and feature some of our current academics, research staff, Alumni and students.
Located at the heart of the world’s leading medical campus, on the same site as the Churchill Hospital of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Institute of Biomedical Engineering is currently leading or contributing to over 30 clinical trials aimed at translating novel biomedical technologies into clinical practice.
Major CHI Lab projects focus on the development of AI-based systems to exploit rich clinical datasets, with the goal of improving the understand and treatment of complex diseases. The Oxford University Hospitals and wider collaborations provide very great opportunities to develop new AI methods for diseases that often include both genomic and clinical data.
Accurate screening and early diagnosis have long been crucial components of the battle to reduce the burden of cancer morbidity and mortality. For example, 9 out of 10 cases of colorectal cancer can be treated successfully when found early (Cancer Research UK). The current non-invasive multi-target DNA test for cancer screening relies on expensive equipment and specially trained staff to perform the tests in medical laboratories. Thus, demand for a rapid and easy POCT (point of care test) for cancer screening for the wider population is high.
We have developed technologies to ensure liposomal and virus-based therapeutics can achieve good circulation following injection into the bloodstream, decreasing uptake into non-target tissue and allowing a level of accumulation in tumour deposits. However, at present, release of the tumor-cell-killing cargo and penetration of that cargo deep into the tumour is still sub-optimal.
The IBME has a strong record of engagement with industry. Links with industry include with major OEMs (including Philips, Siemens, GE Healthcare, Vodafone, China Mobile, Celsion corporation, Chongquin Haifu, China Regeneration Medicine International), and SMEs in the Oxfordshire region. The Oxfordshire biotech cluster is one of the largest and fastest growing in the UK, and the IBME is both an academic partner in its development in its own right, but also as a provider of technologies that are licensed to companies, and highly skilled biomedical engineers for its workforce.
We use machine learning to greatly improve our ability to identify and fight outbreaks of infectious disease - including the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 - using AI-based systems. This theme of research collaborates closely with Public Health England (the UK's Centre for Disease Control or CDC), experts in microbiology from Oxford University Hospitals, and a global network of CDCs from some of the world's largest countries.
There has been a growing demand for a point of care test (POCT) and home test for various diseases and conditions, during and beyond COVID-19. A feasibility study will design ‘OxLAMP powered by a mobile phone’. This could take the form of a USB stick with a single-use paper strip supplied for a LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) test. All reagents will be embedded onto the paper strip, and heating will be provided by a mobile phone or a laptop. This work will be undertaken in collaboration with the team at OSCAR (Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research).
This theme includes a number of initiatives that seek to improve access to healthcare in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Using AI-based algorithms within smartphones and wearables, we are able to use inexpensive sensors that are appropriate for use at scale in LMICs. The delivery of healthcare in such settings is often performed by healthcare workers without high levels of clinical training, and so there is therefore a need for the decision-support capabilities of such algorithms.
Mechanobiology is the new and emerging science based on the insight that mechanics is fundamental and essential alongside breakthrough biology for the discovery and translation of novel therapies and interventions for 21 st Century medicine. Oxford Mechanobiology is an interdisciplinary group of engineers, biologists and surgeons designing and building the in vitro discovery technologies that will underpin next generation therapies.
The development of human neural tissue models has been a strong focus within the Oxford Centre for Tissue Engineering and Bioprocessing (OCTEB). The group specialises in developing suitable biomaterials as scaffolds and culture techniques to support 3D neuronal cell culture.
Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation (TUS) is emerging as an exciting new tool for non-invasive neuromodulation due to its high spatial resolution and the potential to target deep brain structures.
Neurovascular dysfunction is commonly associated with a number of neurological conditions from dementia and stroke to cancer. In order to develop interventions to address the impact of this it is essential to be able to localise and quantify the deficits, and to assess the efficacy of novel treatments.
The BSP-ML group is a world leader for non-contact physiological monitoring in healthcare settings using video cameras, both in the visible and infra-red. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented real-time versions of our algorithms for estimation of pulse rate and breathing rate using the webcams in smartphones, for both iPhones and Android phones.
The Oxford Centre for Tissue Engineering and Bioprocessing (OCTEB), directed by Prof Cathy Ye, provides engineering solutions to cell/tissue culture in vitro, especially in a three-dimensional (3D) space, as more and more evidence has shown that cells are closer to their natural physiological state when cultured in 3D.
1) Non-Union Bone Fractures: Between 5 and 10% of bone fractures fail to heal completely, resulting in debilitating conditions that have a significant impact upon patients’ quality of life and represent a major financial burden for healthcare services. Existing treatments are highly invasive and rely on the immobilisation of the fracture site. Drugs to promote fracture healing do exist, but are not yet in clinical use due to the risk of off-target effects.
2) Alleviating Hypoxia in Rheumatoid Arthritis: As part of our work on microbubble optimisation, we have developed a technique for stably encapsulating oxygen within microbubbles. The oxygen-loaded formulations have been shown to promote the action of sonodynamic therapy drugs for cancer treatment by temporarily raising oxygen levels within tumours.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our research teams at the Department of Engineering Science and Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR) began work on a diagnostic test in January 2020. We have developed a novel and rapid test which detects the presence of viral RNA in a nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab sample within 30 minutes.
The Screening for Hypertension in the INpatient Environment (SHINE) system has been developed to detect those individuals at risk of undiagnosed hypertension whilst they are in hospital (around 14% of patients), with the aim of enabling its management to be undertaken in the patient’s home after discharge from the hospital.
A series of short videos exploring the key research areas undertaken at the IBME and their impacts.
In collaboration with the Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health (Dr Lucy Mackillop), we have developed a gestational diabetes self-management smartphone app (GDm-Health™) linked to a Bluetooth-enabled blood glucose meter. The patient tags the blood glucose readings (fasting, pre-prandial and post-prandial) and enters her insulin dose (if appropriate). Feedback is provided in the form of summaries of blood glucose data, as well as prompts and reminders as appropriate.
Acoustic shock waves use high amplitude acoustic pulses (normally in the range of 10 to 100 MPa) with durations on the order of 1 microsecond. They can induce therapeutic effects in tissue by mechanical means: either through direct stress/strain or by acoustic cavitation. The main use of shock waves in medicine has been lithotripsy in which shock waves are used to fragment kidney stones so that they can be passed naturally. However, shock waves have also been considered for other applications such as treatment of soft-tissue pain (e.g. tendonitis and heel spurs), promoting repair or growth of bone, neo-vascularisation and wound healing. The efficacy of these other applications is not always clear and the mechanisms are poorly understood.
Within the IBME there is a strong culture of commercial exploitation through patents, licence agreements and the formation of spin-out companies.
We also work on business-led projects where the latest academic ideas are adopted into new products for developed and developing world healthcare markets.
We urgently need better therapeutic solutions to manage conditions such as cancer, stroke, Alzheimer's and drug resistant infections. We aim to bring together scientists from disparate fields in order to provide those solutions. Our approach is based upon stimulating microbubbles with low intensity ultrasound to produce light, offering a unique method for delivery targeted therapy. Since ultrasound can be precisely focused almost anywhere in the body from an external probe, light generation can be triggered remotely and non-invasively to deliver highly localised treatment with minimal off-target toxicity. This has the potential to transform the delivery of cancer chemotherapy, stroke treatment, antimicrobial agents and other treatments.
In many ultrasound-based therapies, cavitation (the collapse of bubbles) can play a major role in treatment: inertial cavitation greatly enhances heating during HIFU cavitation acts in various ways to aid localised drug delivery inertial cavitation is a key factor in tissue fractionation (or histotripsy) and also important in shock wave lithotripsy Mapping the spatial and temporal extent of cavitation is therefore an important concern when monitoring ultrasound treatments.
We are co-developing with industry partners and colleagues in Engineering Science (Electrical Panel) a new method for delivering non-invasive brain stimulation using transcranial magnetic stimulation. We are developing megawatt peak power amplifiers that allow synthesis of novel pulseshapes and patterns to modulate brain activity.
Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation (TUS) is emerging as an exciting new tool for non-invasive neuromodulation due to its high spatial resolution and the potential to target deep brain structures.
The BSP-ML research group receives substantial funding from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) through the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) for projects translating research from its lab in the IBME to the clinic or the home. Our vision is to deliver patient care agnostic to patient location, through state-of-the art monitoring technology and algorithms, together with alerting systems appropriate to the patient environment.
.Conventional methods of drug administration such as tablets or intravenous injection typically distribute a drug throughout the body. This may be undesirable, however, in the case of drugs which show poor uptake in certain types of tissue and/or produce unwanted side effects. The aim of the research being carried out in BUBBL is to develop systems which enable drugs to be encapsulated, targeted to a specific region and released “on demand” in response to an external stimulus, for example exposure to ultrasound. Such systems provide not only a means of controlling the drug concentration and reducing the risk of harmful side-effects, but also control over treatment location and timing
The overwhelming majority of ambulatory patients in modern healthcare systems are monitored only manually, by members of the clinical staff. There is an urgent need for mobile ("m-health") systems, comprising unobstrusive patient-worn sensors and lightweight processing (such as via smartphones) that are sufficiently robust for use in clinical practice.
