Modern problems in trustworthy medical imaging

Mid-Atlantic Research Day - 2026

Jeremias Sulam

50 years ago ... 

first CT scan
ELECTRIC & MUSICAL INDUSTRIES

50 years ago ... 

imaging
diagnostics

complete hardware & software description

human expert diagnosis and recommendations

imaging was "simple"

... 50 years forward 

Data

Compute & Hardware

Sensors & Connectivity

Research & Engineering

... 50 years forward 

data-driven  imaging
automatic analysis and rec.
societal implications

Data

Compute & Hardware

Sensors & Connectivity

Research & Engineering

data-driven  imaging
automatic analysis and rec.
societal implications

Problems in trustworthy biomedical imaging

inverse problems

uncertainty quantification

robustness

generalization

demographic fairness

hardware & protocol optimization

model-agnostic interpretability

policy & regulation

monitoring & auditing

uncertainty quantification

model-agnostic interpretability

robustness

generalization

policy & regulation

demographic fairness

hardware & protocol optimization

data-driven  imaging
automatic analysis and rec.
societal implications

Problems in trustworthy biomedical imaging

monitoring & auditing

inverse problems

Inverse Problems

y = A x^* + v
measurements
\hat x = \arg\min_x \frac 12 \| y - A x \|^2_2 + R(x)
reconstruction
\bar{M} = \chi \bar{H}

degree to which a material is magnetized when placed in a magnetic field

[from talk by S. Bollmann]

  • Heme Iron (in RBC)
    paramagnetic

     
  • Myelin
    diamagnetic
  • Very important implications for neurodegenerative disorders

[Li et al, 2012]

Inverse Problems

in Magnetic Susceptibility Imaging

Inverse Problems

in Magnetic Susceptibility Imaging

Calculation of susceptibility through multiple orientation sampling (COSMOS)
[Liu et al, 2009]

As close as possible to "ground truth" in vivo

Impractical in the clinic

A{x} + v = y :
A'x + v' = y' :
A'x + v'' = y'' :

Inverse Problems

in Magnetic Susceptibility Imaging

Calculation of susceptibility through multiple orientation sampling (COSMOS)
[Liu et al, 2009]

As close as possible to "ground truth" in vivo

Impractical in the clinic

A'x + v' = y' :
A'x + v'' = y'' :
A{x} + v = y :

Can we estimate susceptibility from a single orientation?

Signal and Image Models

Signal and Image Models

Signal and Image Models

Signal and Image Models

Signal and Image Models

How can we combine powerful data-driven models with mathematical analysis and guarantees?

Signal and Image Models

f_\theta
f_\theta
f_\theta
f_\theta

[Lai, Aggarwal, van Zijl, Li, Sulam, Learned Proximal Networks for Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping, MICCAI 2020]

Single Phase Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping 

Single Phase Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping 

uncertainty quantification

model-agnostic interpretability

robustness

generalization

policy & regulation

demographic fairness

hardware & protocol optimization

data-driven  imaging
automatic analysis and rec.
societal implications

Problems in trustworthy biomedical imaging

monitoring & auditing

inverse problems

Demographic Fairness

Multiaccuracy:

Similar accuracy across different groups

Example: Predicting abnormal findings in chest X-rays

Demographic Fairness

Multiaccuracy:

Similar accuracy across different groups

Example: Predicting abnormal findings in chest X-rays

Demographic Fairness

Problem: This is not always possible...

Problem: This is not always possible...

sex and race attributes missing

Problem: This is not always possible...

Demographic Fairness through Proxy Attributes

not computable
computable gaurantee

Demographic Fairness through Proxy Attributes

not computable
computable gaurantee
correcting multi-group accuracy

Problems in trustworthy biomedical imaging

Problems in trustworthy biomedical imaging

inverse problems

uncertainty quantification

robustness

generalization

demographic fairness

hardware & protocol optimization

model-agnostic interpretability

policy & regulation

monitoring & auditing

uncertainty quantification

hardware & protocol optimization

Problems in trustworthy biomedical imaging

inverse problems

uncertainty quantification

robustness

generalization

demographic fairness

hardware & protocol optimization

model-agnostic interpretability

policy & regulation

monitoring & auditing

uncertainty quantification

policy & regulation

hardware & protocol optimization

robustness

generalization

data-driven  imaging
automatic analysis and rec.
societal implications

Interpretability

Formal frameworks for interpretability for decision making
Understanding social implications of algorithms in the wild
Efficient and robust generative AI

uncertainty quantification

Generative Modeling

ML for Science

Biomarker discovery through AI

Societal Constraints

many open questions...

policy & regulation

robustness

generalization

uncertainty quantification

Thank you for hosting me