Medical Imaging

Astronomical techniques can also be applied to complex problems close to home. Astronomers at the IoA work with medical researchers to develop imaging techniques and AI tools to improve everything from cancer diagnoses to medical data handling techniques.

IMAXT Laboratory

To fully understand cancer, scientists need to know everything about a tumour – what types of cells are in it, how many there are, what they are doing and where they are located in the tumour. Having such a detailed picture of a tumour would allow scientists and doctors to develop new ways to diagnose and treat the disease, and new ways to stop it spreading and coming back.

But getting such an accurate, precise picture of tumours is extremely difficult to do. So difficult that it’s not been done before. In this Cancer Research UK Grand Challenge project, scientists aim to build a 3D tumour that can be studied using virtual reality and which shows every single different type of cell in the tumour.

(Text taken from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute)

AI Assisted Diagnosis and Prognostications in Covid-19

IoA researchers are helping to develop an AI tools that use medical imaging to help diagnose, triage, and plan treatment for COVID-19 in the UK.