In cooperation with medical scientists and biologists, microscopic image data is analyzed statistically and modeled using methods from stochastic geometry. For example, we investigate the spatial arrangement of chondrocytes (cartilage cells) in joints affected by osteoarthritis, in close cooperation with the "Zentrum für Regenerationsbiologie und Regenerative Medizin" of the Universitätsklinikum Tübingen. These cells form specific patterns close to the cartilage surface, which rearrange or even disappear with the onset and progression of arthritis. In addition, we work with the institute of pharmaceutical biotechnology of Ulm University on the quantification and analysis of protein sediments in cell populations.

Possible topics for a thesis in the context of these projects are the following:

• Segmentation and analysis of 2D and 3D microscopic images of cartilage tissue: Image processing (cell extraction) and statistical analysis of the extracted point patterns, comparison of healthy cartilage and cartilage affected by arthritis, and fitting of stochastic models (random point processes) to the data.
  
  
• Implementation of statistial methods to analyze 3D microscopic data of protein networks.

Moreover, both cooperators (in Ulm and Tübingen) offer the opportunity to get to know the topics and fields of application during an internship.

If you are interested, please contact Prof. Schmidt or Lisa Handl.

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