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Applied Digital Signal and Image Processing Research Centre (ADSIP)

The Applied Digital Signal and Image Processing Research Centre (ADSIP) is unique in research and development of innovative signal and image processing, 3D/4D computer vision, radiation effects and instrumentation, as well as interactive and immersive digital environments through cross-fertilisation of ideas, exchange of results, and integration of approaches among multiple academic disciplines and application sectors.

Funded extensively by a diverse range of grant bodies and industry, ADSIP has led and collaborated with top research centres and world leading companies in a wide range of cutting edge research projects for various sectors such as aerospace, environment, manufacturing, medical, nuclear and submarine.

In industrial non-destructive evaluation, ADSIP collaborates with world leading aerospace companies and has developed a rich body of signal and image processing technologies for comprehensive, fast, and reliable inspection for advanced, complex shaped and large aerostructures based on various measurement modalities such as acoustography, acousto-ultrasound, radiography, shearography, thermography and ultrasound including phased-array ultrasound and laser ultrasound.

In medical non-invasive diagnosis, ADSIP leads a large European network on Engineering and Computational Science for Oncology; has pioneered acoustic emission and dynamic 3D facial scan as new paradigms for clinical assessment of knees based on joint movement and facial dysfunctions linked to stroke; and has developed a plethora of algorithms and software tools for improved planning and monitoring of cancer radiation therapy.

In radiation effects and instrumentation, ADSIP is the only UK partner of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory on high resolution coronal imaging for solar observations. With access to top neutron test facilities in the world (Los Alamos, TRIUMF, TSL), ADSIP collaborates closely with world leading aerospace companies on managing cosmic radiation on avionics, and with STFC on development of the world-leading Chipir beamline at ISIS.

In interactive and immersive digital environment, there is a wide range of research activities in this area from European wide collaboration on hyperspectral remote imaging of environment and regional collaboration on civil applications of unmanned aerial vehicles to various unique cross-disciplinary collaborations such as with sign linguists on dynamic hand gesture recognition for direct sign writing for the deaf community, with psychologists on development of one of the most comprehensive 3D dynamic facial articulation database, and with sport scientists on development of the world’s first interactive and immersive two player table tennis game.

Industrial non-destructive evaluation

The research expertise in this area covers a full spectrum of signal and image processing technologies to achieve automatic diagnosis and prognosis of aerospace and submarine structures based on multiple measurement modalities. Examples include:

  • Enhancement of signals and images severely corrupted by noise through exploitation of advanced computational techniques to increase measurement sensitivity;
  • Automatic high-precision mosaic construction to merge multiple and sparse images acquired from a physically large structure into a complete image;
  • Ultrasonic tomography based on full-matrix capture ultrasonic array;
  • Automatic 3D reconstruction of internal structures based on restricted and incomplete data sets;
  • Computer assisted geometric measurement via automatic image registration with component CAD models for complex structures to reduce data analysis time;
  • Computer assisted defect detection via CAD model based structure decomposition and computer assisted material evaluation (such as porosity content and bonding quality);
  • Intelligent fusion and integrated visualisation of inter-modality, multi-modality, and multi-dimension data sets (such as ultrasound, radiography and shearography) to increase of defect detectability and structure evaluation reliability;
  • Life cycle monitoring by computer assisted prognosis based on trend trajectory in transformed feature space.

Particularly significant impacts are:

  • Improved the safety and competitiveness of European aircrafts through the development and deployment of innovative signal and image processing technology to increase defect detectability and assessment reliability at reduced inspection time and costs;
  • A comprehensive set of algorithms and software tools for improved radiation therapy planning and delivery;
  • One of the most comprehensive dynamic 3D databases of human facial expressions for the research community and a novel statistical surface deformation model for facial articulations;
  • Dynamic 3D facial scan for face based health monitoring;
  • Commercially available Joint Acoustic Analysis System (JAAS) as a new clinical tool for dynamic knee joint assessment and a breakthrough discovery of acoustic emission based biomarker linked to knee ageing and degeneration;
  • Patented technology on a novel neutron spectrometer; and
  • Highest ever resolution images of the solar corona.

This is a list of the Applied Digital Signal and Image Processing Research Centre's most recent publications.

Working closely with this group is the Computer Vision and Machine Learning (CVML) Research Group from the School of Engineering.

Colleagues participated and came first in two competitions organised as part of the Endoscopic Vision Challenge “EndoVis” in September 2017 in Canada.

Head of Centre: Professor Lik-Kwan Shark

  • Dr Bashar Alrjoub
  • Dr Pedro H. Castellano
  • Professor Trevor Terrell (Emeritus Professor)
  • Professor Wenbo Mei (Beijing Institute of Technology)
  • Dr Mike Pywell (BAE Systems)
  • Dr Peter Dunne (AD Group)

Academic Staff

  • Dr Darren Ansell
  • Dr Geoff Hall
  • Dr Fraser Hatfield
  • Professor Bogdan Matuszewski
  • Dr Stephen Mein
  • Dr Wei Quan
  • Dr Martin Varley

Honorary Research Fellows

Contact Details:

ADSIP Research Centre University of Central Lancashire C&T Building, Fylde Road Preston Lancashire PR1 2HE UK

Telephone, Fax and Email

Tel: +44 (0)1772 893312 (for general enquiries) Tel: +44 (0)1772 893253 (for contacting Prof. Lik-Kwan Shark, Head of the Centre) Fax: +44 (0)1772 892915 Email: (for general enquiries) cepsoffice@uclan.ac.uk Email: (for contacting Prof. Lik-Kwan Shark, Head of the Centre) LShark@uclan.ac.uk

Current Funded Projects

  • Automatic defect seeking and geometry characterisation by intelligent beam forming and scanning through ultrasonic arrays, funded by BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines.
  • Acoustic emission as a non-invasive biomarker for quantitative dynamic assessment of knee joint repair in clinical trials and stratified medicine, funded by MRC, in collaboration with Lancaster University and Imorphics Ltd., and supported by Blackpool Teaching Hospital, Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, National Institute for Health Research Cumbria and Lancashire Comprehensive Local Research Networks, University College London Institute of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science, University Hospital of Morecambe Bay, Universities of Liverpool and Manchester.
  • En-ComE: Energy harvesting powered wireless monitoring systems based on integrated smart composite structures and energy-aware architecture, funded by EPSRC, in collaboration with AgustaWestland, BAE Systems, Cranfield University, DSTL, TRW Conekt, and Zartech.
  • (SEMEOTICONS), funded by EU 7th Framework Programme, in collaboration with the Italian National Research Council (CNR), the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH) in Greece, Linköping University in Sweden, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Centre de Recherche en Nutrition Humaine Rhône-Alpes in France, INTECS and COSMED in Italy, FORTHNET S.A. in Greece, and DRACO Systems in Spain.Semeiotic oriented technology for individual’s cardiometabolic risk self-assessment and self-monitoring
  • Enclosed space neutron spectrometer: Proof of concept, funded by STFC.
  • Growing autonomous system mission management applications (GAMMA), funded by RGF, in collaboration with North West Aerospace Alliance, BAE Systems, National Nuclear Laboratory, and Universities of Liverpool, Lancaster, Manchester, and Salford.
  • 3D tomographic display and analysis of FMC acquisition, funded by BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines, in collaboration with University of Bristol and AMEC.
  • High-Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C), in collaboration with NASA and Harvard Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

Previous Funded Projects

  • Feasibility study for assessing the use of dynamic 3D imaging system for quantification of facial dysfunctions, funded by National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network.
  • (TeRaFS), funded by EPSRC, in collaboration with Christie Hospital, Liverpool John Moores University, Cergy Pontoise University, Preston Acute Hospitals Trust, and Universitat Otto-von-Guericke Magdeburg. Technology in radiotherapy feasibility studies
  • Computer assisted inspection and 3D visualisation of foreplane, funded by BAE Systems.
  • (ECSON), funded by EPSRC, in collaboration with 10 partners from Europe and USA. Engineering and Computational Science for Oncology Network
  • Deformable registration of volumetric images with incomplete or missing data, funded by British Council and Polish National Research Council, in collaboration with AGH University of Science and Technology in Poland.
  • Single event effects design for electronics reliability (SEEDER), funded by TSB, in collaboration with BAE Systems, MBDA, Smiths Aerospace, Goodrich, QinetiQ, and Universities of Lancaster and Surrey.
  • Metrology guided radiation therapy (MEGURATH), funded by EPSRC, in collaboration with Christie Hospital and Liverpool John Moores University.
  • Acoustic emission: a new technique for assessing and monitoring knee arthritis, funded by ARC.
  • PACCAR Robotics and Vision Laboratory, funded by PACCAR.
  • Preservation of aerospace electronic system reliability in the atmospheric neutron environment (SPAESRANE), funded by DTI, in collaboration with BAE Systems, MBDA, Smiths Aerospace, Goodrich, QinetiQ, and Universities of Lancaster and Surrey.
  • Biofeedback in immersive digital environments for medicine, sports and rehabilitation, funded by HEFCE.
  • Dynamic real-time disparity maps with Catmull-Clark surface models, funded by Vision, Video and Graphics EPSRC network of excellence, in collaboration with Heriot-Watt University.
  • (PIMHAI), funded by EU INTERREG IIIB and in collaboration with seven European partners. Platform for analysis of multispectral and hyperspectral images from acquisition to interpretation for environmental monitoring and decision making
  • Visualisation of complex data sets, funded by HEFCE.
  • Enhanced CAD based NDT software for foreplane inspection, funded by BAE Systems.
  • Technologies and techniques for new maintenance concepts (TATEM), funded by 6th EU Framework Programme and in collaboration with 70 European partners.
  • Structure integrity evaluation of superplastic forming and diffusion bonded aircraft components by ultrasonic phased array system, funded by R/D Tech.
  • Integration of nondestructive testing (INDeT), funded by EU 5th Framework Programme and in collaboration with 13 European partners.
  • Ultrasonic signal processing for automatic evaluation of diffusion bonding quality, funded by BAE Systems.
  • Structural integrity evaluation by 3D ultrasonic non-destructive testing, funded by HEFCE.
  • Improved NDE concepts for innovative aircraft structures and efficient operational maintenance (INCA), funded by EU 5th Framework Programme and in collaboration with 18 partners from Europe, Canada and USA.
  • Advancing acoustography for rapid non-destructive inspection of complex aircraft structures, funded by EPSRC, and in collaboration with BAE Systems and Santec Systems in USA.
  • CAD based NDT data processing and visualisation, funded by Alenia Aerospazio in Italy.
  • Advanced integrated NDT concepts for unified life-cycle (INDUCE), funded by EU 4th Framework Programme and in collaboration with 13 European partners.
  • Lossless image compression of multi-data sets for multi-sensor non-destructive testing systems, funded by British Council and Hong Kong Research Grants Council, and in collaboration with City University of Hong Kong.
  • Data integration and processing system for non-destructive testing of aircraft components (DIAPS), funded by EPSRC and in collaboration with BAE Aerospace.

Completed Research Degree Projects