LI Songlin

PhD graduated
Team : SYEL
Departure date : 11/30/2022
https://lip6.fr/Songlin.Li

Supervision : Sylvain FERUGLIO

Co-supervision : DENOULET Julien

Modelling of an intelligent medical implant in its environment for functional monitoring of the spinal cord

The spinal cord (SC) is part of the central nervous system. It originates in the brain and is responsible for important functions, such as the transmission of nerve information between the brain and the periphery, as well as reflexes in the trunk and extremities. Trauma to the SC can result in loss of sensation and control of a body part in minor cases, or total paralysis in severe cases.
Real-time monitoring of the functional status of the ME during spinal surgery, such as scoliosis surgery, is essential to avoid the serious consequences of unintentional damage to the SC during the surgical procedure. However, there is currently no method to obtain sufficient information about the changes in the function of the SC, before it is affected.
The use of multi-wavelength Diffuse Optical Imaging (DOI) seems to be a promising alternative to meet this need. Indeed, it allows real-time monitoring of the hemodynamic characteristics of the SC, which are important indicators for assessing its functional status.
In this thesis, we propose to implement this technique through the modeling, realization and testing of a specific device. First of all, the modeling of the monitoring system in interaction with the biological environment of the SC is carried out in SystemC and SystemC-AMS. This allows us to estimate the performances of the system and to optimize them, but also to study the main physiological characteristics of the SC. This multi-domain modeling approach (e.g., optics, biology, electronics) has the advantages of being flexible, easy to modify, and adaptable to any other type of application. Secondly, the prototyping of the monitoring system is realized. Based on the results of the simulation and the experimental data, a wireless transmission module of the last generation is implemented to gain in ergonomics compared to the targeted application. Finally, data from the experiments on the porcine model are processed to extract relevant physiological information, which provides a reference for a signal processing process of the SC.
These three parts complement each other to lead to a proposal for a medical device that could be used in the future on human patients to help doctors determine the functional status of the SC in real-time and avoid some irreversible trauma during surgery of the spine and its periphery.

Defence : 11/30/2022 - 10h - Campus Pierre et Marie Curie, salle Jacques Pitrat (25-26/105)

Jury members :

Gaëlle Lissorgues, ESIEE UPE [rapporteur]
Wilfried Uhring, Université de Strasbourg [rapporteur]
Julien Denoulet, Sorbonne Université
Patricia Desgreys, Telecom Paris
Sylvain Feruglio, Sorbonne Université
Hamid Kokabi, Sorbonne Université
Marie-Minerve Louërat, CNRS - Sorbonne Université

2021-2023 Publications