Resume of Andreas Wahle

Associate Research Engineer
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The University of Iowa

 Portrait

born 1965 in Essen, Germany

Education:

August 1971 to
July 1975

Peter-Petersen-Schule (elementary school)
Frankfurt am Main, Germany

July 1975 to
June 1984

Ziehenschule (secondary and high school)
Frankfurt am Main, Germany

October 1984 to
March 1992

Technical University of Berlin, Student of Computer Science
Berlin, Germany

October 3, 1986

Vordiplom (comparable to Bachelor of Science)

September 9, 1991

Dipl.-Inform. (Master of Computer Science)
Department of Computer Science, Technical University of Berlin
Thesis in Computer Graphics and Computer Vision
performed at the German Heart Institute of Berlin

June 26, 1996

Application for Dr.-Ing. (Ph.D. in Engineering)
Department of Computer Science, Technical University of Berlin
Committee: B. Mahr, H. U. Lemke, and J. H. C. Reiber
performed at the German Heart Institute of Berlin

November 22, 1996

Wissenschaftliche Aussprache (Ph.D. defense)

March 13, 1997

Certification of Ph.D. degree
Ph.D. thesis published at VDI Verlag
Düsseldorf, Germany

Employments:

July 1985 to
September 1988

Siemens AG, electrical devices
Berlin, Germany (Student Worker, part time)

April 1990 to
December 1991

German Heart Institute of Berlin
Internal Medicine/Cardiology
Image Processing Group
Berlin, Germany (Student Worker)

January 1992 to
December 1996

German Heart Institute of Berlin
Internal Medicine/Cardiology
Image Processing Group
Berlin, Germany (Computer Scientist)

January 1997 to
July 1997

Corporation for Integrated Processing
of Medical Data (IPMD GmbH)
Berlin, Germany (Computer Scientist)

August 1997 to
July 1999

The University of Iowa, Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering
by grant of the German Research Society (DFG)
Iowa City, Iowa (Postdoctoral Associate)

August 1999 to
February 2000

The University of Iowa, Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering
by grant of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Iowa City, Iowa (Postdoctoral Associate)

March 2000 to
January 2004

The University of Iowa, Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering
by grant of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Iowa City, Iowa (Visiting Research Assistant Professor)

February 2004 to
present

The University of Iowa, Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Iowa City, Iowa (Associate Research Engineer)

February 2004 to
present

The University of Iowa, Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Iowa City, Iowa (Adjunct Associate Professor)

Research Topics and Projects:

Current projects with federal funding:

3-D reconstruction of vascular structures from biplane angiography

This work was supported by a research grant of the German Research Society (DFG) and performed at the German Heart Institute of Berlin, in collaboration with the Virchow Clinics of Berlin; furthermore, it was the basis for both M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees.

Graduate

Developed a program for 3-D reconstruction from biplane angiograms; extension of existing vessel detection methods used for single-plane QCA; reconstruction of single points and branching vessel hierarchies in 3-D; utilizing special graphics hardware for visualization of the reconstruction results.

Doctoral

Establishing a system for refinement of the imaging geometry; assessment and correction of tolerances introduced by the imaging devices; developed biplane calibration techniques and accurate morphometric measurements on coronary arteries; medical application in pediatric cardiology and for the quantification of diffuse coronary artery disease; also used for validation of laser treatment in obstructed vessels.

Recent

Interactive registration of 3-D reconstructed vascular systems with corresponding nuclear image data in collaboration with the Free University of Amsterdam Medical Center, the Netherlands; development of a VRML/JavaScript application as graphical user interface.

Telemedicine, standardized image exchange and storage, PACS/HIS

This work was performed within in the scope of a multicenter project of the European Community (TELEMED/RACE), and at the German Heart Institute of Berlin in several projects sponsored by subsidiaries of the German Telecom.

Graduate

Developed a complex library to access and to create ACR/NEMA image files; support of the full standard except networking.

Doctoral

Extension of the ACR/NEMA library towards DICOM; access to off-line storage media; compression schemes; extension of the DICOM library by networking features; developed a prototypic DICOM image database; communication with HL7 components; developed firewall gateways for inter-institutional DICOM transfer; participated in the installation of high-volume image archives at the German Heart Institute and the Virchow Clinics.

3-D fusion of biplane angiography and intravascular ultrasound

This work is performed at the University of Iowa, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, initially on the basis of a postdoctoral scholarship of the German Research Society (DFG), since 1999 continued within an R01 grant of the National Institutes of Health, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Post-Doctoral

Development of a comprehensive system for geometrically correct spatial reconstruction of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) images by fusion with biplane angiograms; continuation and incorporation of previously developed methods for 3-D reconstruction from biplane angiograms, segmentation of IVUS images, and preliminary methods for calculation of the catheter twist; developed a new automated non-iterative method to establish the absolute orientation of IVUS frames; participated in the encapsulation of the system into a graphical user interface; developed new methods for visualization and automated modeling in VRML; participated in the medical application of the system under routine conditions.

Current

Continuation of the fusion system developments within the scope of an inter-disciplinary project between the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Internal Medicine, and Preventive Medicine; extension of the system towards 4-D application (3-D plus time); refinement of the methods for estimation of the catheter location and absolute orientation during IVUS pullback; hemodynamic analysis; development of 4-D animation and virtual angioscopy applications in VRML and JavaScript; geometrically correct calculation of the 3-D dose distribution in intravascular brachytherapy in collaboration with the Department of Radiation Oncology; participated in design and implementation of a biplane DICOM viewer and an XML-based front end for the fusion system; medical application at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics as well as several national and international partners.

Highly automated analysis of 4-D cardiovascular MR data

This inter-disciplinary project started in 2003, its methodology is developed at the University of Iowa, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with funding provided by an R01 grant of the National Institutes of Health, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Current

In this project, Active-Appearance Models are developed and utilized to analyze MR data from two groups of subjects, postoperative tetralogy of Fallot patients and patients with connective tissue disorders; in collaboration with the University of Iowa Departments of Pediatric Cardiology, Radiology, Internal Medicine, and Biostatistics. Data is acquired over several (up to four) years and statistical shape and appearance models created, representing an average shape and variations found in the training set. Beyond the aim of automated segmentation of ventricular and aortic MR images, this data is used to determine modal indices that potentially distinguish normals from patients in order to predict future development of the disease.

Teaching:

Doctoral

Informal co-supervision of three M.D. students at Virchow Clinics; several guest lectures in seminars within Europe.

Post-Doctoral

Occasional lectures and presentations at the University of Iowa; teaching assignments for full semester courses in Computer Architecture and Organization, and in Digital Design.

Current

Occasional lectures and presentations at the University of Iowa; co-supervision of several graduate students in Electrical and Computer Engineering as well as Biomedical Engineering; member of several Ph.D. committees.

Awards and Honors:

December 13, 1996

Invited lecture entitled "3-D Reconstruction of Vascular Structures" at a nationwide course on Medical Imaging, "Corso su: Le Immagini in Medicina; Visualizzazione, Elaborazione ed Applicazioni Cliniche" addressing Ph.D. students and faculty at the Scuola Normale Superiore de Pisa, Italy.

February 24, 1999

Presentation "Automated Calculation of the Axial Orientation of Intravascular Ultrasound Images by Fusion with Biplane Angiography" received a Honorable Mention Poster Award of the SPIE Medical Imaging 1999 Image Processing Conference in San Diego, U.S.A.

May 3, 2003

Elevation to Senior Member level by the IEEE - The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

May 23, 2003

Invited keynote lecture "Coronary Angiography and Intravascular Ultrasound -- Spatio-Temporal Modeling and Quantification by Data Fusion" at the 8th European Congress on Medical Physics (EFOMP), held in conjunction with the 30th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Dutch Society for Medical Physics (NVKF), in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

June 24, 2004

Invited introductory lecture "Quantification of Coronary Hemodynamics and Plaque Morphology using X-Ray Angiography and Intravascular Ultrasound" in the Invasive Vascular Imaging session of the 2004 International Symposium on Cardiovascular Imaging, part of the 18th International Congress and Exhibition on Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery (CARS), in Chicago, U.S.A.

Publications:

3-D reconstruction of vascular structures from biplane angiography

  • Wahle A: "Präzise dreidimensionale Rekonstruktion von Gefäßsystemen aus biplanen angiographischen Projektionen und deren klinische Anwendung." Fortschritt-Berichte, Reihe Biotechnik, VDI Verlag, Düsseldorf, Volume 17, Number 152, 1997 (196 pages, in German; published Ph.D. thesis, ISBN 3-18-315217-7)
  • Wahle A, Oswald H, Fleck E: "3-D Heart-Vessel Reconstruction from Biplane Angiograms." Special Topic Section on Applications in Surgery and Therapy, in: IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, Volume 16, Number 1, Page 65-73, January 1996
  • Wahle A, Wellnhofer E, Mugaragu I, Sauer HU, Oswald H, Fleck E: "Assessment of Diffuse Coronary Artery Disease by Quantitative Analysis of Coronary Morphology based upon 3-D Reconstruction from Biplane Angiograms." IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Volume 14, Number 2, Page 230-241, June 1995

3-D fusion of biplane angiography and intravascular ultrasound

  • Wahle A, Sonka M: "Coronary Plaque Analysis by Multimodality Fusion." Suri JS et al. (eds): Plaque Imaging: Pixel to Molecular Level. Studies in Health, Technology and Informatics, IOS Press, Amsterdam, Volume 113, Page 321-359, 2005
  • Wahle A, Olszewski ME, Sonka M: "Interactive Virtual Endoscopy in Coronary Arteries based on Multi-Modality Fusion." Special Topic Section on Virtual Endoscopy, in: IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Volume 23, Number 11, Page 1391-1403, November 2004
  • Wahle A, Lopez JJ, Pennington EC, Meeks SL, Braddy KC, Fox JM, Brennan TMH, Buatti JM, Rossen JD, Sonka M: "Effects of Vessel Geometry and Catheter Position on Dose Delivery in Intracoronary Brachytherapy." IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Volume 50, Number 11, Page 1286-1295, November 2003
  • Wahle A, Prause GPM, DeJong SC, Sonka M: "Geometrically Correct 3-D Reconstruction of Intravascular Ultrasound Images by Fusion with Biplane Angiography - Methods and Validation." IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Volume 18, Number 8, Page 686-699, August 1999
  • Wahle A, Prause GPM, von Birgelen C, Erbel R, Sonka M: "Fusion of Angiography and Intravascular Ultrasound In-Vivo: Establishing the Absolute 3-D Frame Orientation." Special Topic Section on Biomedical Data Fusion, in: IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Volume 46, Number 10, Page 1176-1180, October 1999

and more

Scientific Memberships:

  • IEEE - The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (joined October 1997)
  • SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering (joined December 1999)

Journal Reviewing Activities:

  • AAPM Medical Physics (associate editor)
  • Academic Radiology
  • IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
  • IEEE Transactions on Image Processing
  • IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging
  • IFMBE Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing (member, editorial board)
  • International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
  • International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery (member, editorial board)
  • International Journal of Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence

Conference Reviewing and Program Committees:

  • EBiOS - European Biomedical Optics Week (2000)
  • CARS - Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery (2002-2006)
  • ISBI - IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (2004-2006)
  • CVAMIA - Computer Vision Approaches to Medical Image Analysis (2004-2006)
  • MMBIA - Mathematical Methods in Biomedical Analysis (2006)
  • SPIE Medical Imaging - Image Processing Conference (2006)

Languages:

  • German: native
  • English: good
  • Russian: fair (passive)

Updated: November 2005