IEEE Young Investigator Medical
Imaging Science Award
W. Paul Segars

Paul Segars received his B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from the University of South Carolina in 1996 and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001. In 2002, Paul joined the Division of Medical Imaging Physics in the Department of Radiology at Johns Hopkins University as an Assistant Professor with adjunct appointments in Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Health Sciences. In 2006, Paul moved back to the state of North Carolina accepting a position at Duke University as an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering. There he is a member of the Duke Advanced Imaging Laboratories and is a faculty member in the Medical Physics graduate program.

Paul is among the leaders in the development of simulation tools for medical imaging research. In his research, he has applied state-of-the-art computer graphics techniques, as used in current computer games and movies, to develop realistic anatomical and physiological models. Foremost among these are the 4D NURBS-based Cardiac-Torso (NCAT) phantom, a computational model for the human body and cardiac and respiratory motions, and the 4D Mouse Whole-Body (MOBY) phantom, a similar model for the laboratory mouse. Used in combination with accurate models of the imaging process, these phantoms can generate imaging data close to that of actual subjects. The anatomy and physiology of the phantoms are known, thus providing a gold standard from which to quantitatively evaluate and improve imaging devices and techniques. With such ability, both phantoms have gained a wide use in imaging research, having been distributed to over 300 academic users in the US and around the world as well as to several commercial medical imaging companies. Through the application of these phantoms in his own research as well as in the work of hundreds of others, Paul has made a significant contribution to the field of medical imaging. The nominator was Benjamin Tsui, PhD.

Citation: For contributions to the field of medical imaging through the development of innovative computerized simulation tools widely utilized by the research community.

Paul Segars can be reached at paul.segars@duke.edu .