07/08/2018

Theory by award-winning researcher enables advancement in medicine.

For those interested in mathematics who wonder about the objective application of so many calculations and equations incomprehensible to laypeople, the American researcher David Donoho, winner of this year's Gauss Prize, is an inspiration. In a lecture this Tuesday, the mathematician showed how the compressive sensing (CS) theory, developed by him, has provided a leap in quality in medicine, with the development of new technologies that are beginning to make magnetic resonance imaging faster and more precise.

"Mathematics is inspiring, but the real work is done by engineers, doctors, and other professionals," Donoho said as he began his lecture " Compressive Sensing : From the Blackboard to the Bedside."

According to the researcher, a key stimulus to the development of new magnetic resonance imaging scanners was articles on compressive sensing published in mathematics journals in 2006. In just over ten years, professionals from large multinational companies developed a new generation of devices. With the approval of the American government for them to enter the market, the equipment, developed by General Electric, Siemens, and Philips, is beginning to become commercially viable.

In addition to providing more detailed and accurate images, the technology accelerates data acquisition by up to ten times, preventing the patient from being immobilized for too long. Donoho cited cases such as the equipment that located a tumor not detected in several traditional biopsies performed on the same patient. He also spoke about the three-dimensional resonance imaging device that increases the chance of prostate cancer being discovered fivefold. A third piece of equipment, still under testing, allows for highly precise monitoring of the heart muscle's movements.

All of this was made possible by the theoretical framework provided by CS, which created a new paradigm for data capture, much faster, based on a stable and robust algorithm. "It's important for a mathematician to know how a 2006 paper transformed into new magnetic resonance imaging technologies in 2017," said Donoho, a mathematician at Stanford University, where he dedicates himself to statistics and applied mathematics.

The researcher highlighted the benefits of medical advances for patients and doctors, but also the significance for taxpayers, since much of the mathematical research in the United States is funded with public funds. "Mathematics is persuasive because it brings clarity, convinces, inspires. It has precision, rigor, clear limits on what is possible," the researcher summarized.