Advances in minimally invasive procedures and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly impacting medical care. Future developments depend on a close interplay between hardware and its integration with big data and AI. We are interested in developing tools that collect large amounts of data and to learn from the data to understand the underlying principles. With close collaborations with medics, the Cyber Valley research group at the University of Stuttgart focuses on the two following aspects:
Research Focuses
Cyber-physical Organ Phantom for Surgical Simulation
Rapid prototyping and augmented reality (AR) technologies
The physical part provides high-fidelity anatomy made from biomimetic soft materials that allow surgery to be performed, bleeding and realistic multi-modality medical imaging. The cyber part presents an interface to visual and sensory data. The AR phantom project will thereby produce the first soft dynamic organ model, which will open up new possibilities in medical training and the testing of medical algorithms and devices.
Selected publications in this area
F. Adams, T. Qiu, A. Mark, B. Fritz, L. Kramer, D. Schlager, U. Wetterauer, A. Miernik, P. Fischer, Soft 3D-printed phantom of the human kidney with collecting system, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 45: 4, 963–972 (2016).
D. Li, R. Suarez-Ibarrola, E. Choi, M. Jeong, C. Gratzke, A. Miernik, P. Fischer, T. Qiu*, Soft phantom for the training of renal calculi diagnostics and lithotripsy, 41st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC), Talk, Berlin, Germany, 24-28 Jul., 2019.
Cyber-physical Organ Phantom for Biomedical Data Sensing and AI
Lots of important medical and physiological data cannot be recorded on a real human body due to safety, ethical, legal or technical reasons. The sensing and modeling of big data on a realistic cyber-physical model system is the key to many design problems.
Selected publications in this area
X. Tan, D. Li, M. Jeong, T. Yu, Z. Ma, S. Afat, K.-E. Grung, T. Qiu*, Soft Liver Phantom with a Hollow Biliary System, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, DOI: 10.1007/s10439-021-02726-x (2021).
E. Choi, F. Adams, S. Palagi, A. Gengenbacher, D. Schlager, P.-F. Müller, U. Wetterauer, A. Miernik, P. Fischer, T. Qiu*, A high-fidelity prostate phantom for surgical simulation and quantitative evaluation, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 48, 437 (2020).
T. Qiu, F. Adams, B. Fritz, L. Kramer, U. Wetterauer, A. Miernik, P. Fischer, High-fidelity kidney phantom for multi-purpose surgical training, Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics, Talk, London, UK, Jun. 25-28, 2016.
Third-party fundings
Tian Qiu
Dr.Independent Cyber Valley Group Leader