The PhD defence will be partially digital, in Rikshospitalet A: Seminarrom A3.3067, and streamed directly using Zoom. The host of the session will moderate the technicalities while the chair of the defence will moderate the disputation.
Ex auditorio questions: the chair of the defence will invite the attending audience at Gamle Festsal to ask ex auditorio questions.
Trial lecture
“A comparison of ablation versus surgery for treatment of liver cancer”
Time and place: October 27, 2025 11:15 AM. Rikshospitalet A: Seminarrom A3.3067 / Zoom
Main research findings
Laparoscopic liver surgery is preferred over open surgery because it is less invasive and usually leads to faster recovery. However, once the abdomen is inflated with gas, the liver changes shape, making it hard to match preoperative scans to what surgeons see during the operation. Surgeons often have to “think in 3D” using images from the laparoscopic camera and ultrasound, which is subjective and depends on experience. This PhD project aims to develop a surgical navigation system able to generate a 3D map of the liver intraoperatively using the laparoscope and an ultrasound probe - standard tools for laparoscopic liver surgery. An optical tracker tracks the laparoscope, while computer vision estimates the ultrasound probe’s pose from the laparoscopic video. Using advanced image processing and artificial intelligence techniques, the liver’s surface, its vessels and tumors are reconstructed in 3D from laparoscopic images and tracking information. The system can render photorealistic views of the liver and its internal structures from new angles. Accuracy tests and clinical proof of concept show this workflow can deliver patient-specific, intraoperative navigation that may improve anatomical understanding and reduce complications.
Adjudication committee
- Professor Matthew Clarkson, University College London, UK
- Senior Physician Pascale Tinguely, University Hospital Zürich, Switzerland
- Professor Sven Peter Näsholm, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
Supervisors
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Professor Ole Jakob Elle, University of Oslo, Norway
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Associate Professor Bjørn vond Gohren Edwin, University of Oslo, Norway
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Researcher Rafael Palomar, Oslo Universitetssykehus, Norway
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Special adviser Egidijus Pelanis, Oslo Universitetssykehus, Norway
Chair of defence
- Professor Margunn Aanestad, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo
Contact information at Department: Mozhdeh Sheibani Harat