Research Articles

Unveiling the vision: exploring the potential of image analysis in Africa

Rahmoon, Mai Atef; Simegn, Gizeaddis Lamesgin; William, Wasswa; . Reiche, Michael A (Nature Methods, 2023)

Here we discuss the prospects of bioimage analysis in the context of the African research landscape as well as challenges faced in the development of bioimage analysis in countries on the continent. We also speculate about ...

Automated innovation and impact

Wasswa, William (Science, 2024)

In 2015, my grandmother succumbed to cervical cancer, which was linked to a late-stage diagnosis. This incident puzzled me because she had previously undergone cervical cancer screening, and the results had turned out to ...

Ethical and regulatory challenges of large language models in medicine

Ong, Jasmine Chiat Ling; Chang, Shelley Yin-Hsi; William, Wasswa; Butte, Atul J; Shah, Nigam H; Chew, Lita Sui Tjien; Liu, Nan; Doshi-Velez, Finale; Lu, Wei; Savulescu, Julian; Ting, Daniel Shu Wei (The Lancet Digital Health, 2024)

With the rapid growth of interest in and use of large language models (LLMs) across various industries, we are facing some crucial and profound ethical concerns, especially in the medical field. The unique technical ...

Optimization of Interleukin-10 incorporation for dendritic cells embedded in Poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels

Bulondo, Fredrick; Babensee, Julia E. (Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 2024)

Translational research in biomaterials and immune engineering is leading to the development of novel advanced therapeutics to treat diseases such as cancer, autoimmunity, and viral infections. Dendritic cells (DCs) are at ...

Looking towards the future of MRI in Africa

Anazodo, Udunna; Kwikima, Ugumba; Obungoloch, Johnes (nature communications, 2024)

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a crucial diagnostic tool within modern healthcare, yet its availability remains largely conﬁned to high income nations. The imperative to extend MRI accessibility to lower income countries ...

Low-field MRI: A report on the 2022 ISMRM workshop

Campbell-Washburn, Adrienne E.; Keenan, Kathryn E.; Hu, Peng; Mugler III, John P.; Nayak, Krishna S.; Webb, Andrew G.; Obungoloch, Johnes; Sheth, Kevin N.; Hennig, Jürgen; Rosen, Matthew S.; Salameh, Najat; Sodickson, Daniel K.; Stein, Joel M.; Marques, José P.; Simonetti, Orlando P. (Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2023)

In March 2022, the first ISMRM Workshop on Low-Field MRI was held virtually. The goals of this workshop were to discuss recent low field MRI technology including hardware and software developments, novel methodology, new ...

Reflecting on a community of practice for engineering education research capacity in Africa: who are we and where are we going?

Matemba, Esther; Smith, Lelanie; Wolff, Karin; Inglis, Helen; Mogashana, Disaapele; Jansen, Lauren; Gwynne-Evans, Alison; Campbell, Anita L.; Kwuimye, Cedrick; Nassar, Shamim; Magara, Irene; Kloot, Bruce; Hattingh, Teresa; Raji, Atanda; Musa, Tagwa; Nyamapfene, Abel (Australasian Journal of Engineering Education, 2023)

The Engineering Education Research Network in Africa (EERN-Africa) was created to enable connections between practitioners and researchers with a shared interest in African engineering education contexts. Recognising the ...

A framework for advancing sustainable magnetic resonance imaging access in Africa

Anazodo, Udunna C.; Ng, Jinggang J.; Ehiogu, Boaz; Obungoloch, Johnes; Fatade, Abiodun; Mutsaerts, Henk J. M. M.; Secca, Mario Forjaz; Diop, Mamadou; Opadele, Abayomi; Alexander, Daniel C.; Dada, Michael O.; on behalf ofthe Consortium for Advancement of MRI Education and Research in Africa (CAMERA) (NMR in Biomedicine, 2023)

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology has profoundly transformed current healthcare systems globally, owing to advances in hardware and software research innovations. Despite these advances, MRI remains largely ...

Evaluating 3D human face reconstruction from a frontal 2D image, focusing on facial regions associated with foetal alcohol syndrome

Atuhaire, Felix; Egger, Bernhard; Mutsvangwa, Tinashe (South African Journal of Science, 2023)

Foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a preventable condition caused by maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The FAS facial phenotype is an important factor for diagnosis, alongside central nervous system impairments ...

Five steps to make MRI scanners more affordable to the world

Webb, Andrew; Obungoloch, Johnes (Nature, 2023)

Fifty years since the basis of magnetic resonance imaging was published, MRI scanners remain expensive — and impractical in many countries. Here’s how we are making them smaller and less costly.

Moving towards vertically integrated artificial intelligence development

Zhang, Joe; Budhdeo, Sanjay; William, Wasswa; Cerrato, Paul; Shuaib, Haris; Sood, Harpreet; Ashrafian, Hutan; Halamka, John; Teo, James T. (NPJ digital medicine, 2022)

Substantial interest and investment in clinical artificial intelligence (AI) research has not resulted in widespread translation to deployed AI solutions. Current attention has focused on bias and explainability in AI ...

An Unmatched Radio Frequency Chain for Low-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Harper, Joshua R.; Zárate, Cristhian; Krauch, Federico; Muhumuza, Ivan; Molina, Jorge; Obungoloch, Johnes; Schiff, Steven J. (Frontiers in Physics, 2022-02-09)

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a safe and versatile diagnostic tool for intracranial imaging, however it is also one of the most expensive and specialized making it scarce in low- to middle-income countries (LMIC). ...

Sustainable low-field cardiovascular magnetic resonance in changing healthcare systems

Qin, Cathy; Murali, Sanjana; Lee, Elsa; Supramaniam, Vaishnavi; Hausenloy, Derek J.; Obungoloch, Johnes; Brecher, Joanna; Lin, Rongyu; Ding, Hao; Akudjedu, Theophilus N.; Anazodo, Udunna C.; Jagannathan, Naranamangalam R.; Ntusi, Ntobeko A. B.; Simonetti, Orlando P.; Campbell-Washburn, Adrienne E.; Niendorf, Thoralf; Mammen, Regina; Adeleke, Sola (European Heart Journal-Cardiovascular Imaging, 2022)

Cardiovascular disease continues to be a major burden facing healthcare systems worldwide. In the developed world, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is a well-established non-invasive imaging modality in the diagnosis ...

Automated Diagnosis and Classification of Cervical Cancer from pap-smear Images

WILLIAM, Wasswa; WARE, Andrew; BASAZA-EJIRI, Annabella Habinka; OBUNGOLOCH, Johnes (2019)

Globally, cervical cancer ranks as the fourth most prevalent cancer affecting women. However, cervical cancer can be treated if detected at an early stage. Pap-smear is a good tool for screening of cervical cancer but the ...

Approaches for Image Reconstruction in Low-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Obungoloch, Johnes (2021)

Background: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and spectroscopic techniques are frequently employed for clinical diagnostics as well as basic research in areas like cognitive neuroimaging. MRI is a widely used imaging modality ...

A Dictionary Learning Approach for Noise-Robust Image Reconstruction in Low-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging

AHISHAKIYE, Emmanuel; GIJZEN, Martin Bastiaan VAN; TUMWIINE, Julius; OBUNGOLOCH, Johnes (2020)

Objective: Image denoising has been considered as a separate procedure from image reconstruction which could otherwise be combined with acquisition and reconstruction. This paper discusses a joint image reconstruction and ...

Automated Segmentation of Nucleus and Cytoplasm of Cervical Cells from Pap-smear Images using A Quadtree Decomposition Approach.

William, Wasswa; Ware, Andrew; Basaza-Ejiri, Annabella Habinka; Obungoloch, Johnes (Research square, 2021)

Background: Digital pathology and microscopy image analysis is widely used for comprehensive studies of cell morphology especially for cervical cancer screening from pap-smears. Manual assessment of pap-smears is labour ...