“What I love about mathematics is its certainty. Once we’ve proven something, it is absolute. Mathematics shapes almost everything around us, and forms the foundation of artificial intelligence. For my PhD, I wanted to apply my background in mathematics and AI to something meaningful. That led me to a project using AI to improve imaging quality.
Through AI techniques, we can recude the time patients spend in an MRI scanner. I had to have an MRI as a teenager, and it was far from comfortable. Shortening scan time comes at a cost, since cutting the time in half also reduces image quality, making the images blurry and less useful for physicians and radiation oncologists. AI offers a way to address this challenge by reconstructing missing data and enhancing image quality. The first results are promising, and I expect that patients will be spending just half as long in the scanner in a few years.
Once I’ve completed my PhD I would like to stay in Amsterdam. I really enjoy living here. I have taken up fitness, running, and even skiing; things I never did back home in Cyprus. It has been a great experience.” George Yiasemis will defend his thesis on April 1.
Research at the Netherlands Cancer Institute is financially supported by KWF Dutch Cancer Society and the AVL Foundation.
Jan-Jakob Sonke & Clara Sánchez Gutiérrez
Jonas Teuwen