Research Associate in Sensing and Machine Learning

Applicants are invited to apply for a new vacancy at Postdoctoral Research Associate level in Sensing and Machine Learning for the next generation of Smart Operating Theatres. You will be based within the Hamlyn Centre at Imperial College London and will carry out research at the South Kensington laboratories and at St. Mary’s Hospital Surgical Innovation Centre.

The Hamlyn Centre is dedicated to developing safe, effective and accessible imaging, sensing and robotics technologies that can reshape the future of healthcare for both developing and developed countries. The Hamlyn Centre is part of the Institute of Global Health Innovation and is supported by two stake-holding departments, Mechanical Engineering, and Surgery & Cancer.

The Research Associate in Sensing and Machine Learning role is part of an EPSRC Transformative Healthcare Technologies program, led by Dr Mylonas. The program focusses on the use of a very diverse selection of sensing modalities and AI inside the operating theatre, with a goal to improve surgical practice and patient outcomes. The successful applicant will be a key member of a large team of engineers, scientists and clinicians, from multiple departments, universities and organisation (Imperial College, Oxford Brooks, NHS, EAES and others). The project also enjoys the support of global commercial organisations.

You will play a pivotal role in developing an AI-driven framework that aims to hardwire operating theatres for optimised safety, efficacy, and improved patient outcomes. To this effect, the project focuses on the integration of the following elements:

• Holistic sensing of patient, surgical team, operating theatre space and equipment, with an emphasis on endoscopic, wearable and distributed sensing;
• AI for perception and cognition through data fusion from multiple sensors;
• Robotics and allied technologies leveraged by perceptual user interfaces for augmenting task performance;
• An open multipoint-to-multipoint communication and device interoperability platform, to allow full integration of all above key elements.

Key responsibilities include the development of a platform that integrates signals from multiple and diverse sensing modalities, including video, depth cameras, wearable sensors, brain interfaces, and the use of advanced ML methodologies for analysis of said signals. In addition, you will be expected to contribute to other aspects of the research and in different roles that may be outside of your core expertise and at the boundaries between clinical and engineering teams, for example by helping with annotation and analysis of large multi-format datasets.

You should hold a PhD (or equivalent) in Electronic Engineering, Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering or closely related discipline, and are expected to have expertise in at least a few from the following areas:

• Programming (C++, Python, etc)
• Machine learning / AI
• Signal Processing
• Computer vision
• Robotics
• Mechatronics
• Sensors (wearable and others)

Prior experience in clinical engineering projects and environments, surgical technologies and their in vivo deployment will be an advantage.

This is a full time, fixed term post for 12 months initially, with scope to be extended. The salary range is £41,593 – £49,210 per annum, depending on level of experience and expertise.

Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as a Research Assistant within the salary range £36,694 - £39,888 per annum.

Research is carried out in two sites: the Hamlyn Centre laboratories in South Kensington and the Surgical Innovation Centre at St. Mary’s Hospital, London.

Should you require any further details on the role please contact: Dr George Mylonas – [email protected]

The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA),which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/

The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes where their use is shown to be necessary for developing new treatments and making medical advances. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level. http://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-integrity/animal-research /