Jonas Getzmann, MD., recently received the Early Career Grant from the prestigious International Skeletal Society because of his research about ultrasound tomography. Find out more on the full interview transcript below on what his research is all about and what is the problem that it is trying to solve.
Question 1: Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Jonas Getzmann and I am a medical doctor specializing in radiology at the University Hospital Zürich in Switzerland. In addition to my clinical work, I am also involved in research that focuses on musculoskeletal imaging.
Question 2: You’ve just been awarded that Early Career Grant of the prestigious International Skeletal Society. Could you tell us a bit about your research?
I received that grant from the International Skeletal Society for my research project with Aison Technologies. In this study, we are testing the technical functioning of their newly developed 3D ultrasound tomography for the visualization of joint structures and degenerations of the hands. Other current projects of mine focus on new sequences in magnetic resonance bone imaging or on body composition profiling by means of tomographic imaging.
Question 3: What motivated you to choose this topic?
I am passionate about new medical technologies and their implementation in clinical practice. The new device developed by Aison Technologies combines robotics and artificial intelligence to create 3D ultrasound images. It is something that has never been done before, that is why being part of such a pilot study is very exciting.
“The new device developed by Aison Technologies combines robotics and artificial intelligence to create 3D ultrasound images. It is something that has never been done before, that is why being part of such a pilot study is very exciting.”
Question 4: What problem are you looking for or aiming to solve with your research?
Ultrasound is a very versatile medical technology with a broad range of applications. With the current state-of-the-art handheld ultrasound devices, it is however difficult to perform quantitative measurements with standardized pressure, angle, and patient position. Unlike magnetic resonance imaging where image acquisition is standardized by defined imaging protocols that are fully run by a machine, ultrasound is operated by hand and therefore dependent on the skills of the operator. While this is an important feature for many applications, it may be a disadvantage when it comes to the comparability of data in the content of specific pathology or disease. That is why we try to find out new ways of standardizing ultrasound image acquisition.
Question 5: Based on your research, how does the 3D Automated Ultrasound Tomography help solve this problem or can it be a viable solution?
The 3D ultrasound tomography developed by Aison Technologies automates the process of image acquisition by removing the “human” factor. This could potentially facilitate image analysis of recurring patients by different doctors since the 3D images can be viewed retrospectively once the examination has been acquired.
Question 6: After winning the ISS Early Career Grant, what’s next?
My goal is to keep up the good work and not rest on my laurels. There is still a lot to do until we can publish the results of this pilot study. From a technical point of view, the future of 3D ultrasound tomography will be about shortening scan times and developing further the process of automated scanning of certain joints as well as image post-processing. I hope to be part of this journey and continue my collaboration with Aison Technologies.
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