Caveat Emptor: AI, Big Data, and the future in medical imaging--How interdisciplinary

Dr. Michael Morris, Internal Medicine at Mercy Medical Center
Host: Avi Rubin

As digital imaging techniques have matured over the past three decades alongside computing technology, there is a growing interest in the ability to study and quantify medical images as the data they really are. Many researchers and industry partners hope to usher in a new era of medical imaging with the help of artificial intelligence. This period of development in medical imaging will challenge the classic rationalist approach to radiology with a modern empiricist approach. However, it is important to understand the relevant concepts in imaging technology and in medicine in order for solutions to be effective and reproducible in the clinical setting. The purpose of this talk is to introduce the computer science audience to medical imaging data alongside real-world clinical challenges with the goal to stimulate ideas for collaborative translational research opportunities between computer scientists and clinician scientists. The talk will also cover some of the current challenges faced in this space with the goal of stimulating discussion. Current datasets that are publically available and upcoming datasets currently being assembled will be discussed. Opportunities for quantitative imaging to impact oncoradiology (cancer imaging) will be highlighted. At the conclusion, the audience will understand basic concepts regarding types of medical imaging data, they will be introduced to the concept of diagnostic imaging vectors, and they will have a basic appreciation for the utility of hybrid imaging approaches and explainable AI (XAI) in clinical care.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Michael Morris graduated from Johns Hopkins University with his BS and MS in Molecular and Cellular Biology where he was first exposed to ‘multi-omics’ in biological systems. He then served as a team member on the initial FDA clinical trial for an intraoperative diagnostic tool, where he gained an interest in quantitative approaches to medical diagnostics. As the FDA study concluded, he matriculated to the University of Maryland School of Medicine where he earned his MD and became inspired about medical imaging and clinical informatics. Dr. Morris went on to complete his internship in the joint Mercy Medical Center/University of Maryland Medical Center program in internal medicine and his residency in diagnostic radiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center in the department of diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine where he also completed his nuclear medicine training. Over the course of training, his academic interests have focused toward oncoradiology, molecular and hybrid imaging with PET/CT/MRI, and imaging informatics with various projects at his host institution, and in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health, Baltimore VA Medical Center, UMBC, Johns Hopkins University, among other academic, research, and industry organizations. He currently serves on the medical staff for Diagnostic Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, and Internal Medicine at Mercy Medical Center, a private academic affiliated hospital and large cancer referral center for the state of Maryland and surrounding regions. In his spare time, Michael enjoys thinking about tumor heterogeneity, image-guided treatment planning, cooking, snowboarding, traveling, and photography.