Dr. Oliver Kutter

Dr. rer. nat. Oliver Kutter Principal Engineer Stryker Navigation c/o Stryker Leibinger GmbH & Co KG Freiburg, Germany e-mail:

Brief Profile

I currently work as Principal Engineer at Stryker Navigation, Freiburg. From Dec. 2009 to Dec. 2012 I was a Staff Scientist at Siemens Corporation, Corporate Research, Princeton, USA. My focus is on medical image processing and visualization with emphasis on real-time performance and large data handling.

At CAMP I was working on GPU accelerated visualization and image processing, US/CT Registration and medical augmented reality for computer assisted interventions.

Dissertation

Title: Visual Computing for Computer Assisted Interventions Abstract: Continuous improvement in medical imaging technology provides an ever increasing amount of high resolution, peri-operative and multi-modal image data. Fusion and visualization of multiple datasets of the same patient has been shown to improve diagnosis as well as therapy guidance for many medical interventions. However, the sheer amount of image data acquired by today’s imaging modalities, and their objective fusion and real-time visualization for diagnosis and therapy postulates the request for efficient image processing, visualization and data presentation techniques. This thesis focuses on developing visual computing solutions for improving and accelerating computer assisted medical interventions. Advanced simulation, registration and visualization algorithms have been developed and implemented on Graphic Processing Units (GPU) for optimal efficiency, merging computation of the result and real-time visualization of the data. The methods are investigated in detail for three, closely related, medical applications. In the first application GPU-accelerated medical Augmented Reality (AR) visualization on a stereo video see-through Head Mounted Display is investigated. A key challenge for any medical AR system supporting medical navigation tasks is direct, pre-processing free, integration of image data and natural embedding into the AR scene. In this thesis I present a series of techniques for optimizing perception, performance and quality of medical AR visualization. Furthermore, occlusion problems of virtual and real objects are addressed. The methods are evaluated in a series of phantom and in-vivo experiments in close collaboration with our clinical partners. The second application is simulation of medical ultrasound (US) image data from Computed Tomography (CT) data for patient-based ultrasound acquisition training and patient-specific registration with CT. Here, I present a framework for ray-based ultrasound simulation on GPUs, supporting different simulation models of varying complexity. The third application is multi-modal registration of US with CT. GPU-accelerated US simulation is an essential part of the registration algorithm. In this thesis we present two novel, efficient, multi-modal registration applications. (1) Simultaneous registration of multiple 3D ultrasound scans with one CT scan. (2) Purely intensity based, dense deformable registration of 3D US and CT scans using a variational approach. The methods are validated for a series of real patient US and CT scans.

Dissertation Download as PDF

Research Interests

• 3D/4D/Freehand Ultrasound Imaging
• Real-Time Ultrasound Simulation
• Visualization, Tracking and Navigation for Computer Aided Surgery
• Real Time Volume Graphics
• Augmented Reality
• GPU-accelerated algorithms for medical image processing
• Large data handling, remote rendering

Publications:

2013
	S. Demirci, M. Baust, O. Kutter, F. Manstad-Hulaas, H-H. Eckstein, N. Navab Disocclusion-based 2D-3D Registration for Aortic Interventions Computers in Biology and Medicine, Volume 43, Issue 4, 1 May 2013, Pages 312-322 (bib)
2011
	M. Wieczorek, A. Aichert, P. Fallavollita, O. Kutter, A. Ahmadi, L. Wang, N. Navab Interactive 3D visualization of a single-view X-Ray image Proceedings of Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention (MICCAI 2011), Toronto, Canada, September 2011. (bib)
	L. Grady, S. Datta, O. Kutter, C. Duong, W. Wein, S. Little, X. Liu, M. Vannan Regurgitation Quantification using 3D PISA in Volume Echocardiography Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention (MICCAI 2011), Toronto, Canada, September 2011 (bib)
2010
	D. Zikic, B. Glocker, O. Kutter, M. Groher, N. Komodakis, A. Kamen, N. Paragios, N. Navab Linear Intensity-based Image Registration by Markov Random Fields and Discrete Optimization Medical Image Analysis, 22 April, 2010. (bib)
	A. Ehlerding, A. Schnelzer, T. Wendler, K. Herrmann, T. Lasser, K. Scheidhauer, O. Kutter, T. Schuster, M. Schwaiger, A. K. Buck, S. I. Ziegler, N. Navab, S. Paepke, M. Kiechle Vorstellung der Pilotstudie zur 3D-Darstellung des Wächterlymphknotens bei Brustkrebspatientinnen mittels Freehand-SPECT Proceedings of Annual Meeting of the German Society of Senology (DGS), Hamburg, Germany, Jul. 2010 (bib)
	T. Wendler, K. Herrmann, A. Schnelzer, T. Lasser, J. Traub, O. Kutter, A. Ehlerding, K. Scheidhauer, T. Schuster, M. Kiechle, M. Schwaiger, N. Navab, S. I. Ziegler, A. K. Buck First Demonstration of 3D Lymphatic Mapping using freehand SPECT Proceedings of the International Conference on Sentinel Node Biopsy and Radioguided Head & Neck Surgery (SNB), Copenhagen, Denmark, May 2010 (bib)
	A. K. Buck, A. Schnelzer, T. Wendler, K. Herrmann, T. Lasser, J. Traub, O. Kutter, T. Schuster, A. Ehlerding, K. Scheidhauer, M. Kiechle, N. Navab, S. I. Ziegler, M. Schwaiger First demonstration of 3D lymphatic mapping in breast cancer using freehand SPECT Proceedings of DGN Nuklearmedizin 2010, Leipzig, Germany, April 2010 (bib)
	W. Wein, O. Kutter, A. Aichert, D. Zikic, A. Kamen, N. Navab Automatic non-linear mapping of pre-procedure CT volumes to 3D ultrasound IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI), Rotterdam, The Netherlands, April 14 - 17 2010. (bib)
	T. Wendler, K. Herrmann, A. Schnelzer, T. Lasser, J. Traub, O. Kutter, A. Ehlerding, K. Scheidhauer, T. Schuster, M. Kiechle, M. Schwaiger, N. Navab, S. I. Ziegler, A. K. Buck First demonstration of 3-D lymphatic mapping in breast cancer using freehand SPECT European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Springer Berlin/Heidelberg, 2010 Aug;37(8):1452-61. Epub 2010 Mar 31. (bib)
	T. Reichl, O. Kutter, Benedikt Schultis, MI. Menzel, H. Hautmann, N. Navab Video-basiertes Tracking eines Bronchoskops Proceedings of Bildverarbeitung fuer die Medizin (BVM 2010), Aachen, Germany, March 2009 (bib)
	M. Wieczorek, A. Aichert, O. Kutter, C. Bichlmeier, J. Landes, S.M. Heining, E. Euler, N. Navab GPU-accelerated Rendering for Medical Augmented Reality in Minimally-Invasive Procedures Proceedings of Bildverarbeitung fuer die Medizin (BVM 2010), Aachen, Germany, March 14-16 2010 (bib)
	D. Zikic, B. Glocker, O. Kutter, M. Groher, N. Komodakis, A. Kamen, N. Paragios, N. Navab Markov Random Field Optimization for Intensity-based 2D-3D Registration SPIE Medical Imaging, San Diego, California, USA, 13-18 February 2010 (bib)
	P. Dressel, L. Wang, O. Kutter, J. Traub, S.M. Heining, N. Navab Intraoperative positioning of mobile C-arms using artificial fluoroscopy SPIE Medical Imaging, San Diego, California, USA, February 2010 (bib)
2009
	S. Hinterstoisser, O. Kutter, N. Navab, P. Fua, V. Lepetit Real-Time Learning of Accurate Patch Rectification (Oral Presentation) IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), Miami, Florida (USA), June 2009. (bib)
	T. Blum, S.M. Heining, O. Kutter, N. Navab Advanced Training Methods using an Augmented Reality Ultrasound Simulator 8th IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR 2009), Orlando, USA, October 2009, pp. 177-178. The original publication is available online at ieee.org. (bib)
	C. Bichlmeier, S. Holdstock, S.M. Heining, S. Weidert, E. Euler, O. Kutter, N. Navab Contextual In-Situ Visualization for Port Placement in Keyhole Surgery: Evaluation of Three Target Applications by Two Surgeons and Eighteen Medical Trainees The 8th IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, Orlando, US, Oct. 19 - 22, 2009. (bib)
	T. Wendler, K. Herrmann, A. Schnelzer, T. Lasser, J. Traub, O. Kutter, T. Schuster, M. Kiechle, M. Schwaiger, N. Navab, S. I. Ziegler, A. K. Buck Clinical introduction of freehand SPECT for image-guided sentinel lymph node biopsy Proceedings of Annual Congress of the European Association of of Nuclear Medicine (EANM 2009), Barcelona, Spain, October 2009 (bib)
	O. Kutter, W. Wein, N. Navab Multi-modal registration based Ultrasound Mosaicing Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention (MICCAI), London, UK, September 20-24 2009 (bib)
	B. Ockert, C. Bichlmeier, S.M. Heining, O. Kutter, N. Navab, E. Euler Development of an Augmented Reality (AR) training environment for orthopedic surgery procedures Proceedings of The 9th Computer Assisted Orthopaedic Surgery (CAOS 2009), Boston, USA, June, 2009 (bib)
	O. Kutter, A. Karamalis, W. Wein, N. Navab A GPU-Based Framework for Simulation of Medical Ultrasound SPIE Medical Imaging, Orlando, Florida, USA, February 2009 (bib)
	A. Karamalis, W. Wein, O. Kutter, N. Navab Fast Hybrid Freehand Ultrasound Volume Reconstruction In Proc. SPIE Medical Imaging, Orlando, Florida, USA, February 2009 (bib)
	O. Kutter, R. Shams, N. Navab Visualization and GPU-accelerated simulation of medical ultrasound from CT images Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, Volume 94, Issue 3, June, 2009 (bib)
2008
	O. Kutter, A. Aichert, C. Bichlmeier, J. Traub, S.M. Heining, B. Ockert, E. Euler, N. Navab Real-time Volume Rendering for High Quality Visualization in Augmented Reality International Workshop on Augmented environments for Medical Imaging including Augmented Reality in Computer-aided Surgery (AMI-ARCS 2008), USA, New York, September 2008 (bib)
	C. Bichlmeier, B. Ockert, O. Kutter, M. Rustaee, S.M. Heining, N. Navab The Visible Korean Human Phantom: Realistic Test & Development Environments for Medical Augmented Reality International Workshop on Augmented environments for Medical Imaging including Augmented Reality in Computer-aided Surgery (AMI-ARCS 2008), USA, New York, September 2008 (bib)
	Razvan Ioan Ionasec, B. Georgescu, E. Gassner, S. Vogt, O. Kutter, M. Scheuering, N. Navab, D. Comaniciu Dynamic model-driven quantification and visual evaluation of the aortic valve from 4D CT Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention, MICCAI, 2008, New York, USA, September 6-10 2008 (bib)
	O. Kutter, S. Kirchhoff, M. Berkovic, M. Reiser, N. Navab Spatio-temporal registration in multiplane MRI acquisitions for 3D Colon Motiliy analysis SPIE Medical Imaging, San Diego, California, USA, 16-21 February 2008 (bib)
	S. Demirci, O. Kutter, F. Manstad-Hulaas, R. Bauernschmitt, N. Navab Advanced 2D-3D Registration for Endovascular Aortic Interventions: Addressing Dissimilarity in Images Proc. SPIE 6918, Medical Imaging 2008: Visualization, Image-guided Procedures, and Modeling, 69182S, February 2008 (bib)
2007
	W. Wein, A. Khamene, D.-A. Clevert, O. Kutter, N. Navab Simulation and Fully Automatic Multimodal Registration of Medical Ultrasound Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention (MICCAI 2007), Brisbane, Australia, October 2007. Received the MICCAI 2007 Young Scientist Award. (bib)
	O. Kutter, S. Kettner, E.U. Braun, N. Navab, R. Lange, R. Bauernschmitt Towards an Integrated Planning and Navigation System for Aortic Stent-Graft Placement Proc. of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery (CARS), Berlin, Germany, June 2007. (bib)
2006
	M. Feuerstein, K. Filippatos, O. Kutter, E.U. Schirmbeck, R. Bauernschmitt, N. Navab A Novel Segmentation and Navigation Tool for Endovascular Stenting of Aortic Aneurysms International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 2006; Vol. 1 Suppl. 1, page 280 - 282. The original publication is available online at www.springerlink.com (bib)
	T. Sielhorst, M. Feuerstein, J. Traub, O. Kutter, N. Navab CAMPAR: A software framework guaranteeing quality for medical augmented reality International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 2006; Vol. 1 Suppl. 1, page 29 - 30. The original publication is available online at www.springerlink.com (bib)

Professional Activities

• Reviewer for
  • IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging
  • IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in BioMedicine
  • IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control
  • Computerized Medical Imaging and Graphics
  • Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine
  • Computer Science - Research and Development
  • International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention
  • Symposium on Biomedical Imaging from Nano to Macro
  • Physics in Medicine and Biology

Student Projects

Running

Finished

• Video-based bronchoscope tracking for navigated bronchoscopy, Bachelor Thesis by Benedikt Schultis (2009/09/14)
• GPU Accelerated Deformable Registration, DA/MA/BA by Philipp Stefan (2009/08/15)
• Evaluation of Advanced real-time Visualization Techniques for Medical Augmented Reality, Bachelor Thesis by Matthias Wieczorek (2009/06/15)
• Advanced Intra-operative Visualization In Neurosurgery, DA/MA/BA by André Aichert (2008/10/15)
• GPU Ultrasound Simulation and Volume Reconstruction, Master Thesis by Athanasios Karamalis (2008/02/15)
• Marker Tracking in MRI for Colon Transit Measurements, Project by Christian Harrer (2007/11/01)

Teaching

• Tutorübung Diskrete Strukturen

• Tutorübung Einführung in die Informatik III

• Tutorübung Einführung in die Informatik II
• Studentischer Tutor für Praktikum Spezifikation und Verifikation

• Studentischer Tutor für Praktikum Spezifikation und Verifikation

Prior Projects as a Student:

• Diploma Thesis: Automatic Calibration of Tracked Catheter Ultrasound in Cooperation with Siemens Corporate Research, Princeton, NJ
• IDP: Development of an Automatic Segmentation, Measuring, and Planning Tool for the Aorta and Aneurysms
• HIWI @ CAMP: Major Contributions to the Design and Implementation of the CAMPAR Framework
• SEP: Design and Implementation of an efficient reasoning specialist for linear and partial orders in Isabelle.