We write software which recognises early signs of osteoarthritis from MRI images. Osteoarthritis is a painful and debilitating disease of the joints. It is not only damaging to an individual’s quality of life but it also affects ~8.5 million people in the UK, costing the UK approximately 1% of its GNP.
The algorithms rely on large datasets with thousands of examples of knee MRI. The software uses machine learning principles to identify important patterns which reveal the current disease status. When given an knee MRI for a new patient, the software predicts the severity of osteoarthritis. Through earlier diagnosis, we hope to recommend more suitable treatments to medical staff at an earlier stage in the disease process.
I write my own software, and use pre-written libraries to speed up my development time. Open source libraries enable me to use code which has been tested before I use it. My code is purposefully very modular, this is important for testing new ideas.
Prior to working in academia I was a software engineer at an investment bank. Software sustainability principles were very important in this dynamic environment due to very large teams of engineers and a fast route to production ready code. |
