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Pierre Boulanger Ph.D., P.Eng Professor and CISCO Chair in Healthcare
Director of the Advanced Man-Machine Interface Laboratory
University of Alberta
Athabasca Hall, Room 411 Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E8, Canada
Email: pierreb@ualberta.ca |
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Who am I?
Date of Birth:
April 24, 1957
Hometown: Beautiful Quebec City
I am a man who loves life, music, fine food and most importantly, ideas
A Short CV
Dr.
Boulanger cumulates more than 35 years of experience in 3D computer vision,
rapid product development, and the applications of virtual reality systems to
medicine and industrial manufacturing. Dr. Boulanger worked for 18 years at the
National Research Council of Canada as a senior research officer where his
primary research interest was in 3D computer vision, rapid product development,
and virtualized reality systems. He now has a double appointment as a professor
at the University of Alberta Department of Computing Science and at the
Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging. He is currently the Director of
the Advanced Man Machine Interface Laboratory (AMMI) as well as the scientific
Director of the SERVIER Virtual Cardiac Centre. In 2013, Dr. Boulanger was
awarded the CISCO chair in healthcare solutions, a 10 years investment by CISCO
systems in the development of new IT technologies for healthcare in Canada.
His main research topics are on the development of new techniques for tele-medicine, patient specific modeling using sensor fusion, and the application of tele-presence technologies to medical training, simulation, and collaborative diagnostics. His work has contributed to gain an international recognition in this field, publishing more than 330 scientific papers and collaborating with more than 20 universities, research labs, and industrial companies across the world. He is on the editorial board of two major academic journals. Dr. Boulanger is also on many international committees and frequently gives lectures on computational medicine and augmented reality systems. Dr. Boulanger is also the president of PROTEUS Consulting Inc. a Canadian-based consulting firm specialized in visual simulation applications. He is also the CTO of MedROAD Inc. dedicated to use advanced technology solutions to enhance the health and quality of life of our clientele worldwide.
University Education
PhD in Electrical
Engineering (1994), University of Montreal (Ecole Polytechnique), Department of
Electrical Engineering, Montreal, Canada.
Advising
Professor: Dr. P. Cohen
Dissertation: Multi-Scale Extraction of Geometric Elements
MSc in Physics
(1982), Laval University, Department of Physics Quebec City, Canada.
Advising
Professor: Dr. M. Baril
Dissertation: Multi-Passage Mass Spectrometer
BSc in
Engineering Physics (1980), Laval University, Department of Engineering
Physics, Quebec City, Canada.
Dissertation: Design and Construction of a Multi-Channel Analyzer for an
Electron Spectrometer
Research
Interests
3D Computer Vision
Virtualized Reality Systems
Collaborative Virtual Environments
Tele-Immersion
Medical Imaging
Physical Modeling
Sensor-Based Geometric Modeling
Tele-Medicine
Sensor Fusion
Current and Past Projects
Publication List
The most recent publication list can be found at: Publications
Recent Committee Work
Director of the Advanced Man-Machine Interface Laboratory
Scientific
Director of the SERVIER Virtual Heart Center
Member
of the Scientific Advisory Board of CRIM
General
Conference Chair of AI/GI/CRV 2017
Member
of the editorial board of the Journal of Computer Science and Informatics
Member
of the editorial board of the Journal of Radiology
Review Editor of Frontier in ICT Computer Image Analysis
Member of the CIHR Reviewers
Member of the FQRNT Selection Committee
Chair of Smart Graphics 2010
Program Committee of MVA and ICPR 2013-2016
Program Committee of 3DIMPVT 2013-2016
Current Grants
CISCO
Chair in Healthcare Solution
SERVIER University Collaboration Grants
NSERC
Discovery Grant
NSERC Equipment Grant
CIHR
eHealth Innovations Partnership Program Grant
CIHR
Collaborative Health Research Projects Grant
CAMIS Grant
Teaching
I will be teaching Introduction to Virtual/Augmented Reality and Telepresence
as well as Fundamentals of Medical
Imaging in the fall term and Introduction to GPU
Programming during the winter term.
I will be also teaching a special introductory course on Quantum Computing in Winter 2019.
Introduction to Computer Graphics
This course is an introduction to computer graphics concentrating on two- and three-dimensional graphics and interactive techniques. Course topics include fundamental concepts of raster graphics, simple output primitives, windowing, clipping and 2D transformations, 3D transformations, modeling and viewing, hidden-line and hidden-surface removal, illumination and shading models, morphing and warping, texture mapping, ray-tracing, radiosity, and introduction to animation.
Introduction to Multimedia Technology
This course is an introductory to basic principles and algorithms used in current technologies of multimedia systems. One of the goals of this course is to give the student hands-on experience in issues relating to multimedia data representation, compression, processing, and retrieval. In addition, the course address issues relating to sound transmission, music streaming, 2-D and 3-D graphics, image and video. It also explores human perceptual issues associated to multimedia technologies.
Introduction to
Scientific Visualization
Among the greatest scientific challenges of the 21st century, will be to effectively understand and make use of the vast amount of information being produced. By its very nature, visualization addresses the challenges created by such excess: too many data points, too many variables, too many time steps, and too many potential explanations. Thus, as we work to tame the accelerating information explosion and employ it to advance scientific, biomedical, and engineering research, visualization will be among our most important tools. This course aims at introducing scientists, engineers, as well as practitioners in medicine the basic fundamentals of data visualization.
This graduate-level course is an introduction to the field of haptics focusing on tele-operated and virtual environments that are displayed through the sense of touch. Topics covered include human haptic sensing and control, design of haptic interfaces (tactile and force), haptics for teleoperation, haptic rendering and modeling of virtual environments, control and stability issues, and medical applications such as tele-surgery and surgical simulation. This course is addressed to students with interests in robotics, virtual reality, or computer-integrated surgical systems.
This course presents the latest research results in point-based computer graphics. After an overview of the key research issues, 3D scanning devices are discussed, and novel concepts for mathematical representation of point-sampled shapes are presented. The course describes methods for high-performance and high-quality rendering of point models, including advanced shading, anti-aliasing, and transparency. It also presents efficient data structures for hierarchical rendering on modern graphics processors and summarizes methods for geometric processing, filtering, re-sampling of point models, and physical modeling.
In recent years, sensors and algorithms for three-dimensional (3D) imaging and modeling of real objects have received significant attention, not only in the computer vision and graphics research communities, but are also increasingly being used as tools for a variety of applications in medicine, manufacturing, archeology, and any field requiring 3D modeling of real environments. The main goal of this course is to present a general overview of digital 3D imaging technology from photogrammetry to tomographic systems and the various modeling techniques necessary to create 3D models of large and small structures that are compatible with various manufacturing and medical applications.
Advanced Signal
Processing for Computer Scientists
This class addresses the representation,
analysis, and design of discrete time signals and systems. The major concepts covered
include: discrete-time processing of continuous-time signals; decimation,
interpolation, and sampling rate conversion; flow-graph structures for DT
systems; time-and frequency-domain design techniques for recursive (IIR) and
non-recursive (FIR) filters; linear prediction; discrete Fourier transform, FFT
algorithm; short-time Fourier analysis and filter banks; Wavelet Transform;
Wiener and Kalman Filters, and various applications. This course qualifies as a
breadth requirement in theory.
Real-time Digital
Signal Processing Using GPU
This class addresses the representation, analysis, and design of discrete time signals and systems. The major concepts covered include: discrete-time processing of continuous-time signals; decimation, interpolation, and sampling rate conversion; flow-graph structures for DT systems; time-and frequency-domain design techniques for recursive (IIR) and non-recursive (FIR) filters; linear prediction; discrete Fourier transform, FFT algorithm; short-time Fourier analysis and filter banks; multivariate techniques; Wavelet Transform; Cepstral analysis, Wiener and Kalman Filters, and various applications. We also discuss and analyze the GPU implementations of many of these algorithms.
Fundamentals
of Medical Imaging
The course will first review two dimensional signal processing theory after reviewing one dimensional signal processing and sampling. We will then study four general medical imaging modalities: projection radiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound. The goal will be to understand these modalities in terms familiar to engineers and physicists. Flexibility exists for the instructor to vary the depth and penetration of each topic area after determining the general background and experience of the students.
The course deals with moral, legal and social
issues of computer technology. Many ethical issues that did not exist before
are now omnipresent. For example, one can get our news from many free, online
sources but their existence is threatening the existence of the newspapers that
employ the reporters who gather the news. Social media are a great way to
interact but they can threaten personal privacy. This course explores these
issues and more.
Introduction to Human
Computer Interaction
This course introduces students to topics in
human computer interaction, focusing on human capabilities and limitations,
interaction design, current and future interaction systems and devices, and
methods for evaluating interaction systems.
Introduction to GPU
Programming
This course introduces how to program
heterogeneous parallel computing systems such as GPUs. The course covers: CUDA
language, functionality and maintainability of GPU, how to deal with
scalability, portability issues, technical subjects, parallel programming API,
tools and techniques, principles and patterns of parallel algorithms, processor
architecture features and constraints.
Introduction
to Virtual/Augmented Reality and Telepresence
Virtual reality and augmented reality can
provide an immersive environment where many scenarios can be simulated. For
example, manufacturing and engineering tasks, medical planning and training,
art and design, rehabilitation, Physics, Biology and Chemistry concept
exploration and many others can benefit from a virtual reality environment.
This course focuses on the challenges of setting up a user friendly virtual
reality scene where users can interact in an intuitive and natural way. The use
of interactive techniques and sensor-based devices, such as haptic and
head-mount display, in creating a virtual environment for scientific analysis,
visualization exploration and Tele-presence, as well as how mobile users can
participate in these applications, will be discussed.
Quantum Computing for
Computer Scientist
This course is an introduction to theory and
applications of quantum information and quantum computation, from the
perspective of computer science. The course will cover classical information
theory, compression of quantum information, quantum entanglement, efficient
quantum algorithms, quantum error-correcting codes, fault-tolerant quantum
computation, and quantum machine learning. The course will also cover physical
implementations of quantum computation into real quantum computers and their
programming languages using real-world examples utilizing a state-of-the-art
quantum technology through the IBM Q Experience, Microsoft Quantum Development
Kit, and D-Wave .
Current Graduate Students
Post-docs and Visiting Professors
Fateme Esfandiarpour,
Visiting professor in medicine from Iran, Analysis of Patellofemoral Condition
Using Advanced Imaging
Nathaniel Rossol, Mitacs
postdoc, Improved Human Movement Tracking and Prediction in High-Occlusion
Multiuser
Virtual Reality
Environments
PhD Students
Rositsa Bogdanova, PhD Medicine,
Three-Dimensional Eye Tracking in a Surgical Scenario, in collaboration with
Dr. White, Dept. Surgery, UofA.
Ray
Yang, PhD Medical Physics, CUDA-based Dose
Calculations for Radiation Therapy Dosimetry, in collaboration with Dr.
Fallone, Dept. Medical Physics, Cross Cancer Institute
Hong
Zu Li, PhD CS, Automated Interpretation of 12 leads
ECG Using Deep Learning, Dept. Computing Science, UofA.
Thea
Wang, PhD CS, Application of Proxy Haptics to
Medical Training
Shimanti Ghosh,
PhD CS, Segmentation of Bones and Muscles Motion in MRI
Images Sequences Using CNN
Deepa
Krishnaswamy, PhD Medicine, A Novel 4D
Semi-Automated Algorithm for Volumetric Segmentation in Echocardiography
Master Students
Mike Feist, MSc, Multiview 3D
Sensing
Ian Watts,
MSc, Augmented Reality Using Direct Patient Projection
Mina Abdi Oskouie,
MSc, Proxy Haptic to Solve the Problem Touch in VR
Sadegh Charmchi, MSc,
Cardiac MRI Segmentation Using Deep Learning
Mahdi Rahmani Hanzaki,
MSc, Virtualized Reality Guidance for Surgical Training
Pouneh Gorji, MSc,
Anomaly Detection in 12 Leads ECG Using Deep LSTM
Melissa Woghiren,
MSc, Stroke Detection Using Eye Tracking
Emilie Robertson,
MSc, Virtual surgical planning in cranial vault reconstruction for infants with
unilateral coronal synostosis
Current Collaborations
National University of Columbia, Colombia
UofA Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
UofA Mechanical Engineering Department
CNRS/LIMSI
Laboratory, Orsay, France
INSA, Ampere Laboratory, Lyon, France
UofA Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging
Centre for the Advancement of Minimally Invasive Surgery (CAMIS), an Alberta Health Services (AHS)
Institute
for Reconstructive Sciences in Medicine (iRSM)
Faculty of Rehabilitation
Medicine
Surgical Simulation Research Lab
Medical Physics Division, Dept.
Oncology, Cross Cancer Institute
Last Update August 2018