Purdue PhD student wins Best Student Paper at IMBioC 2023
A Ph.D. student in Purdue University’s Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering won the Best Student Paper competition at the 2023 IEEE International Microwave Biomedical Conference (IMBioC). Folk W. Narongrit’s paper, entitled “Closely Fitted 16-Channel Breast Array for MRI,” aims to increase the accuracy of early onset breast cancer diagnosis through a closer fitting design, and aims to help increase access to MRI hardware through open-sourcing the design. It was written as part of a project sponsored by the Catherine Peachey Fund Breast Cancer Research Grant through the Purdue Women’s Global Health Institute (WHGI).
Narongrit says receiving this award out of dozens of excellent papers has been a great honor.
“It not only reflects our dedication and effort as researchers but also highlights Purdue's commitment to supporting biomedical research and fostering innovation,” he says. “I hope that our research and design will be translated into clinical practice, which could potentially impact the lives of millions of patients around the world.”
Breast cancer is a widespread and serious health concern, affecting millions of women each year. Breast MRI plays a crucial role in the preoperative staging of breast cancers and assists in treatment planning and monitoring, but it faces challenges related to spatial and temporal resolution. Narongrit’s paper proposes a closely fitted 16-channel bilateral breast coil array prototype for high-resolution MR imaging. This innovative design aims to address the limitations of existing breast MRI coils. By using a closed design with a higher filling factor, this prototype has the potential to provide higher-quality images for improved breast cancer detection and better outcomes for patients.
The IMBioC Best Student Paper is awarded to one student paper that is assessed by the quality of the paper, of the student’s presentation, and the responses given to questions from attendees. The full paper is expected to be published in IEEE Xplore later this year or early next year.
Co-authors of the paper are Thejas Vishnu Ramesh, a Ph.D. student in Purdue’s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering (BME), and Joseph V. Rispoli, Narongrit’s co-advisor and Adjunct Associate Professor of BME and ECE. Edward J. Delp, Charles William Harrison Distinguished Professor of ECE, is Narongrit’s co-advisor.