fNIRS neuroimaging data analysis of surgical neuroergonomics

Evaluating surgical expertise and fitness is of critical importance for patient safety. Surgical neuroergonomics intends to decode how surgeons acquire, enhance and maintain their surgical skills going beyond mere behavioural measurements and taking into consideration the neurological underpinnings of the process of learning. The optical neuroimaging modality of fNIRS is emerging as the most promising candidate to pursue this endeavour. However, the difficulty in establishing the relation between cortical activity and behavioural outcome is proving a hinder to the interpretation of the surgical neuroergonomics studies, and hence of the adoption of neuroimaging based quantitative assessment of surgical skills in replacement of the still dominating qualitative approaches.

This project intends to develop computational and statistical solutions to the problem of processing and analysis pipelining of fNIRS neuroimaging data in the context of surgical neuroergonomics with the goal of taking the field of surgical neuroergonomics to a state where it is acceptable for the surgical community to adopt the quantitative outcome. To realize these goals, contributions in computational neuroimaging, algorithmic processing, and data analysis are needed in a truly multidisciplinary project requiring knowledge from fields as diverse as mathematicsinc. statistics, optics, neurosciences, and of course, computer sciences.

Applicants should have a strong background in mathematics, statistics and data science, and being enthusiastic about computer sciences. You should have a commitment to research in analyzing fNIRS neuroimaging data with applications in neuroscience. You must have exceptional programming (preferably MATLAB) and communication skills.

This project is in collaboration with Dr Daniel Leff at Imperial College London.

Expected starting date: September 2025

About the Computational Neuroimaging Lab

Part of the School of Computer Science, the Computational neuroimaging lab develops models and analysis tools to understand the neural system. This involves multidisciplinary research from computing, mathematics and statistics, and a bit of physics and neuroscience. We have a key research area on optical neuroimaging modalities such as fNIRS and DCS.