Research Overview

Dr. Yangming Ou's research focuses on improving healthcare by medical image analysis, machine learning and imaging informatics.

One pillar of Dr. Ou's lab is in developing MRI analysis and MRI machine learning algorithms. This includes algorithms for spatiotemporal MRI analysis, multi-modal MRI integration, quantification of normal brain development, detection of abnormalities, prediction of outcomes, treatment evaluation, and disease subtyping.

Another pillar of Dr. Ou's lab is in applying advanced imaging informatics for clinical studies. The topics span mild, moderate and severe brain abnormalities. Mild conditions studied in the lab includes nutrition insufficiency and kids with in-utero exposure to opioid. Moderate conditions include hypoxic ischemic injury, rare diseases such as Sturge-Weber Syndrom, early screening of psychosis, dyslexia, etc. Severe diesease include pediatric brain tumor and how to improve neurocognitive outcomes in survivors.

Research Background

Dr. Ou holds a PhD degree in Medical Image Analysis and an MS degree in Applied Mathematics, both from the University of Pennsylvania. His BS degree was in Electrical Engineering (Biomedical Engineering Division) from Tsinghua University. His research interest lies in the intersection of big data, machine learning, data science, imaging informatics, and healthcare.

 

Media

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Can we prevent seizures in Sturge-Weber syndrome?

Publications

  1. BOston Neonatal Brain Injury Data for Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (BONBID-HIE): I. MRI and Lesion Labeling. Sci Data. 2025 Jan 11; 12(1):53. View Abstract
  2. Left-Right Brain-Wide Asymmetry of Neuroanatomy in the Mouse Brain. Neuroimage. 2025 Jan 10; 307:121017. View Abstract
  3. Inferring neurocognition using artificial intelligence on brain MRIs. Front Neuroimaging. 2024; 3:1455436. View Abstract
  4. Deep learning of structural MRI predicts fluid, crystallized, and general intelligence. Sci Rep. 2024 11 14; 14(1):27935. View Abstract
  5. Analysis of risk factors and establishment of early warning model for recent postoperative complications of colorectal cancer. Front Oncol. 2024; 14:1411817. View Abstract
  6. Tackling heterogeneity in medical federated learning via aligning vision transformers. Artif Intell Med. 2024 09; 155:102936. View Abstract
  7. Autism-associated brain differences can be observed in utero using MRI. Cereb Cortex. 2024 04 01; 34(4). View Abstract
  8. Retrospective Analysis of Presymptomatic Treatment In Sturge-Weber Syndrome. Ann Child Neurol Soc. 2024 Mar; 2(1):60-72. View Abstract
  9. Noninvasive Gamma Sensory Stimulation May Reduce White Matter and Myelin Loss in Alzheimer's Disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2024; 97(1):359-372. View Abstract
  10. Human-to-monkey transfer learning identifies the frontal white matter as a key determinant for predicting monkey brain age. Front Aging Neurosci. 2023; 15:1249415. View Abstract
  11. Linking maternal disrupted interaction and infant limbic volumes: The role of infant cortisol output. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2023 12; 158:106379. View Abstract
  12. Challenges of implementing computer-aided diagnostic models for neuroimages in a clinical setting. NPJ Digit Med. 2023 Jul 13; 6(1):129. View Abstract
  13. Negative versus withdrawn maternal behavior: Differential associations with infant gray and white matter during the first 2?years of life. Hum Brain Mapp. 2023 08 15; 44(12):4572-4589. View Abstract
  14. BOston Neonatal Brain Injury Dataset for Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (BONBID-HIE): Part I. MRI and Manual Lesion Annotation. bioRxiv. 2023 Jul 03. View Abstract
  15. Maternal Childhood Abuse Versus Neglect Associated with Differential Patterns of Infant Brain Development. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2023 12; 51(12):1919-1932. View Abstract
  16. Segmentation ability map: Interpret deep features for medical image segmentation. Med Image Anal. 2023 02; 84:102726. View Abstract
  17. Patterns of Neural Functional Connectivity in Infants at Familial Risk of Developmental Dyslexia. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 10 03; 5(10):e2236102. View Abstract
  18. Deep Relation Learning for Regression and Its Application to Brain Age Estimation. IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2022 09; 41(9):2304-2317. View Abstract
  19. A Role for Data Science in Precision Nutrition and Early Brain Development. Front Psychiatry. 2022; 13:892259. View Abstract
  20. Increased Breastfeeding Proportion Is Associated with Improved Gross Motor Skills at 3-5 Years of Age: A Pilot Study. Nutrients. 2022 May 26; 14(11). View Abstract
  21. Deep learning of birth-related infant clavicle fractures: a potential virtual consultant for fracture dating. Pediatr Radiol. 2022 10; 52(11):2206-2214. View Abstract
  22. How Machine Learning is Powering Neuroimaging to Improve Brain Health. Neuroinformatics. 2022 10; 20(4):943-964. View Abstract
  23. Study protocol: retrospectively mining multisite clinical data to presymptomatically predict seizure onset for individual patients with Sturge-Weber. BMJ Open. 2022 Feb 04; 12(2):e053103. View Abstract
  24. Assessment of Maternal Macular Pigment Optical Density (MPOD) as a Potential Marker for Dietary Carotenoid Intake during Lactation in Humans. Nutrients. 2021 Dec 31; 14(1). View Abstract
  25. Global-Local Transformer for Brain Age Estimation. IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2022 01; 41(1):213-224. View Abstract
  26. Optimal Method for Fetal Brain Age Prediction Using Multiplanar Slices From Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Front Neurosci. 2021; 15:714252. View Abstract
  27. Maternal Childhood Maltreatment Is Associated With Lower Infant Gray Matter Volume and Amygdala Volume During the First Two Years of Life. Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci. 2022 Oct; 2(4):440-449. View Abstract
  28. Functional Connectivity in Infancy and Toddlerhood Predicts Long-Term Language and Preliteracy Outcomes. Cereb Cortex. 2021 08 04; 32(4). View Abstract
  29. Multi-channel attention-fusion neural network for brain age estimation: Accuracy, generality, and interpretation with 16,705 healthy MRIs across lifespan. Med Image Anal. 2021 08; 72:102091. View Abstract
  30. Quantification of magnetic resonance spectroscopy data using a combined reference: Application in typically developing infants. NMR Biomed. 2021 07; 34(7):e4520. View Abstract
  31. The prognostic significance of single-nucleotide polymorphism array-based whole-genome analysis and uniparental disomy in myelodysplastic syndrome. Int J Lab Hematol. 2021 Oct; 43(5):1062-1069. View Abstract
  32. Voxelwise and Regional Brain Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Changes on MRI from Birth to 6 Years of Age. Radiology. 2021 02; 298(2):415-424. View Abstract
  33. A Collaborative Dictionary Learning Model for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Segmentation on Multimodalities MR Sequences. Comput Math Methods Med. 2020; 2020:7562140. View Abstract
  34. Fully Automatic Arteriovenous Segmentation in Retinal Images via Topology-Aware Generative Adversarial Networks. Interdiscip Sci. 2020 Sep; 12(3):323-334. View Abstract
  35. Localizing central swallowing functions by combining non-invasive brain stimulation with neuroimaging. Brain Stimul. 2020 Sep - Oct; 13(5):1207-1210. View Abstract
  36. BRAIN AGE ESTIMATION USING LSTM ON CHILDREN'S BRAIN MRI. Proc IEEE Int Symp Biomed Imaging. 2020 Apr; 2020:420-423. View Abstract
  37. Editorial: Artificial Intelligence for Medical Image Analysis of Neuroimaging Data. Front Neurosci. 2020; 14:480. View Abstract
  38. Infant FreeSurfer: An automated segmentation and surface extraction pipeline for T1-weighted neuroimaging data of infants 0-2 years. Neuroimage. 2020 09; 218:116946. View Abstract
  39. Maternal Dietary Intake of Omega-3 Fatty Acids Correlates Positively with Regional Brain Volumes in 1-Month-Old Term Infants. Cereb Cortex. 2020 04 14; 30(4):2057-2069. View Abstract
  40. Putative protective neural mechanisms in prereaders with a family history of dyslexia who subsequently develop typical reading skills. Hum Brain Mapp. 2020 07; 41(10):2827-2845. View Abstract
  41. Mining multi-site clinical data to develop machine learning MRI biomarkers: application to neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. J Transl Med. 2019 11 21; 17(1):385. View Abstract
  42. Deformable MRI-Ultrasound registration using correlation-based attribute matching for brain shift correction: Accuracy and generality in multi-site data. Neuroimage. 2019 11 15; 202:116094. View Abstract
  43. Evaluation of MRI to Ultrasound Registration Methods for Brain Shift Correction: The CuRIOUS2018 Challenge. IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2020 03; 39(3):777-786. View Abstract
  44. Publisher Correction: Probing tumor microenvironment in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma during chemoradiation and adjuvant temozolomide with functional MRI. Sci Rep. 2019 Jun 14; 9(1):8721. View Abstract
  45. Perioperatively Inhaled Hydrogen Gas Diminishes Neurologic Injury Following Experimental Circulatory Arrest in Swine. JACC Basic Transl Sci. 2019 Apr; 4(2):176-187. View Abstract
  46. Probing tumor microenvironment in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma during chemoradiation and adjuvant temozolomide with functional MRI. Sci Rep. 2018 11 20; 8(1):17062. View Abstract
  47. Field of View Normalization in Multi-Site Brain MRI. Neuroinformatics. 2018 10; 16(3-4):431-444. View Abstract
  48. Quantitative Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Mapping May Predict Seizure Onset in Children With Sturge-Weber Syndrome. Pediatr Neurol. 2018 07; 84:32-38. View Abstract
  49. Quantitative Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Mapping May Predict Seizure Onset in Children With Sturge-Weber Syndrome. Pediatric Neurology. 2018. View Abstract
  50. Cancer imaging phenomics toolkit: quantitative imaging analytics for precision diagnostics and predictive modeling of clinical outcome. J Med Imaging (Bellingham). 2018 Jan; 5(1):011018. View Abstract
  51. ABCD1 dysfunction alters white matter microvascular perfusion. Brain. 2017 Dec 01; 140(12):3139-3152. View Abstract
  52. Radiomics in Brain Tumor: Image Assessment, Quantitative Feature Descriptors, and Machine-Learning Approaches. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2018 02; 39(2):208-216. View Abstract
  53. Automatic Categorization and Scoring of Solid, Part-Solid and Non-Solid Pulmonary Nodules in CT Images with Convolutional Neural Network. Sci Rep. 2017 09 01; 7(1):8533. View Abstract
  54. eCurves: A Temporal Shape Encoding. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2018 04; 65(4):733-744. View Abstract
  55. Using clinically acquired MRI to construct age-specific ADC atlases: Quantifying spatiotemporal ADC changes from birth to 6-year old. Hum Brain Mapp. 2017 06; 38(6):3052-3068. View Abstract
  56. Multicenter validation of prostate tumor localization using multiparametric MRI and prior knowledge. Med Phys. 2017 Mar; 44(3):949-961. View Abstract
  57. Phase II study of tivozanib, an oral VEGFR inhibitor, in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. J Neurooncol. 2017 02; 131(3):603-610. View Abstract
  58. MUSE: MUlti-atlas region Segmentation utilizing Ensembles of registration algorithms and parameters, and locally optimal atlas selection. Neuroimage. 2016 Feb 15; 127:186-195. View Abstract
  59. Brain extraction in pediatric ADC maps, toward characterizing neuro-development in multi-platform and multi-institution clinical images. Neuroimage. 2015 Nov 15; 122:246-61. View Abstract
  60. Methodology to study the three-dimensional spatial distribution of prostate cancer and their dependence on clinical parameters. J Med Imaging (Bellingham). 2015 Jul; 2(3):037502. View Abstract
  61. Handbook of Biomedical Imaging; Methodologies and Clinical Research. Graph-based Deformable Image Registration. 2015. View Abstract
  62. SPIE Medical Imaging. Quantification of Tumor Changes during Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Longitudinal Breast DCE-MRI Registration. 2015; 9414. View Abstract
  63. Right ventricle segmentation from cardiac MRI: a collation study. Med Image Anal. 2015 Jan; 19(1):187-202. View Abstract
  64. Deformable registration for quantifying longitudinal tumor changes during neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Magn Reson Med. 2015 Jun; 73(6):2343-56. View Abstract
  65. Comparative evaluation of registration algorithms in different brain databases with varying difficulty: results and insights. IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2014 Oct; 33(10):2039-65. View Abstract
  66. Audits of the quality of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in Shandong Province, China, 2006 to 2011. Am J Infect Control. 2014 May; 42(5):516-20. View Abstract
  67. Neuroanatomical classification in a population-based sample of psychotic major depression and bipolar I disorder with 1 year of diagnostic stability. Biomed Res Int. 2014; 2014:706157. View Abstract
  68. Evaluation of prostate segmentation algorithms for MRI: the PROMISE12 challenge. Med Image Anal. 2014 Feb; 18(2):359-73. View Abstract
  69. Multi-atlas skull-stripping. Acad Radiol. 2013 Dec; 20(12):1566-76. View Abstract
  70. Integration and relative value of biomarkers for prediction of MCI to AD progression: spatial patterns of brain atrophy, cognitive scores, APOE genotype and CSF biomarkers. Neuroimage Clin. 2014; 4:164-73. View Abstract
  71. Hierarchical Pd-Sn alloy nanosheet dendrites: an economical and highly active catalyst for ethanol electrooxidation. Sci Rep. 2013; 3:1181. View Abstract
  72. Neuroanatomical pattern classification in a population-based sample of first-episode schizophrenia. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2013 Jun 03; 43:116-25. View Abstract
  73. Development and Validations of a Deformable Registration Algorithm of Medical Images: Applications to Brain, Breast and Prostate Studies. 2012. View Abstract
  74. Validation of DRAMMS among 12 Popular Methods in Cross-Subject Cardiac MRI Registration. Biomed Image Regist Proc. 2012 Jul; 7359:209-219. View Abstract
  75. Temporal shape analysis via the spectral signature. Med Image Comput Comput Assist Interv. 2012; 15(Pt 2):49-56. View Abstract
  76. DRAMMS: Deformable registration via attribute matching and mutual-saliency weighting. Med Image Anal. 2011 Aug; 15(4):622-39. View Abstract
  77. Detecting mutually-salient landmark pairs with MRF regularization. IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging: From Nano to Macro (ISBI). 2010; 400-403. View Abstract
  78. Simultaneous geometric--iconic registration. Med Image Comput Comput Assist Interv. 2010; 13(Pt 2):676-83. View Abstract
  79. Sampling the spatial patterns of cancer: optimized biopsy procedures for estimating prostate cancer volume and Gleason Score. Med Image Anal. 2009 Aug; 13(4):609-20. View Abstract
  80. Non-rigid registration between histological and MR images of the prostate: a joint segmentation and registration framework. Mathematical Method in Biomedical Image Analysis (MMBIA). 2009; 125-132. View Abstract
  81. DRAMMS: deformable registration via attribute matching and mutual-saliency weighting. Inf Process Med Imaging. 2009; 21:50-62. View Abstract
  82. Multiparametric tissue characterization of brain neoplasms and their recurrence using pattern classification of MR images. Acad Radiol. 2008 Aug; 15(8):966-77. View Abstract
  83. Registering histologic and MR images of prostate for image-based cancer detection. Acad Radiol. 2007 Nov; 14(11):1367-81. View Abstract
  84. Simultaneous estimation and segmentation of T1 map for breast parenchyma measurement. IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging: From Nano to Macro, (ISBI). 2007; 332-335. View Abstract
  85. Probabilistic segmentation of brain tumors based on multi-modality magnetic resonance images. IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging: From Nano to Macro, (ISBI). 2007; 600-603. View Abstract
  86. System and Method for Automatic Extraction of Spinal Cord from 3D Volumetric Images. 2007. View Abstract

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