PhD Student - 4D Optical Transmission Tomography (4D-OTT)

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The PhD student will be hosted at Institut Langevin (UMR7587, CNRS / ESPCI Paris-PSL / Sorbonne Université / Université Paris Cité), an internationally recognised laboratory in wave physics and biomedical imaging, located in central Paris (1 rue Jussieu, 75005).

The thesis is part of the 4D-OTT research project, at the interface between instrumental optics, data processing and clinical research. The student will have access to a fully equipped optics laboratory, a mechanical workshop and computing resources, and will work within a multidisciplinary team. The project builds on established collaborations with the Quinze-Vingts National Ophthalmology Hospital and the Institut de la Vision (Paris), where the prototype will be evaluated on human subjects and, in parallel, adapted to murine models.

The thesis offers an environment favourable to technology transfer (patent filings, industrial transfer) and to participation in international conferences.

The project aims to develop a new ophthalmic imaging technology, 4D optical transmission tomography (4D-OTT), able to visualise the immune cells and nerves of the human cornea in vivo, in 3D and over time. The goal is to characterise quantitatively the inflammatory state of the ocular surface, which is involved in many common pathologies (dry eye disease, keratitis, post-surgical inflammation, corneal graft rejection).

The PhD student will start from the transmission interference microscopy (TIM) developed in the laboratory and recently published in Nature Communications, and extend it along three lines: improved contrast and tomographic sectioning through phase control (a phase-contrast type approach); volumetric and dynamic imaging of the moving eye; data processing with neural networks (denoising, segmentation) and extraction of quantitative static and dynamic biomarkers.

The device will then be transferred to a clinical setting for a study on healthy subjects and patients, in collaboration with the Quinze-Vingts National Ophthalmology Hospital and the Institut de la Vision.

Candidate profile: Master's degree or engineering degree in optics, physics, photonics or biomedical engineering. Skills in experimental optics, ideally with hands-on experience of interferometry. Programming: practical command of Python or C/C++, management of development environments and version control (Git/GitLab). Instrumentation: practical experience in the control and synchronisation of devices (Arduino, LabVIEW/National Instruments). Knowledge of neural networks (U-Net type architectures) is welcome. Interest in instrumentation, image processing and interdisciplinary work with clinicians and biologists. Good command of scientific English.

Requirements

• Research Field: Pharmacological sciences — Education Level: PhD or equivalent
• Research Field: Engineering — Education Level: PhD or equivalent
• Research Field: Technology — Education Level: PhD or equivalent
• Languages: FRENCH — Level: Basic
• Research Field: Pharmacological sciences — Years of Research Experience: None
• Research Field: Engineering — Years of Research Experience: None
• Research Field: Technology — Years of Research Experience: None

Work Location(s)

• Number of offers available: 1
• Company/Institute: Institut Langevin
• Country: France
• City: PARIS 05

Contact

• City: PARIS 05
• Website: http://www.institut-langevin.espci.fr/