About me

Yiming Xiao graduated from the honours program of B. Eng. of Electrical at McGill University in 2009, with main concentrations in telecommunication and Automation & Control. In 2011 and 2016, Yiming completed his Master's and Doctoral degrees in Biomedical Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Louis Collins, at the Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University. His Ph.D. thesis focuses on imaging and image processing for the surgical treatment of Parkinson's disease. Between 2016 and 2017, he joined the PERFORM Centre, Concordia University as a postdoctoral associate with Dr. Hassan Rivaz to explore new ultrasound techniques for various clinical applications. Currently, he is a CIHR and BrainsCAN postdoctoral researcher under the supervision of Drs. Terry Peters and Ali Khan, at the Robarts Research Institute, Western University. In 2020, Yiming joined the Computer Science Department of Concordia University as an Assistant Professor, and is the principal investigator of the Health-X Lab.
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In his research, Yiming combines novel techniques in medical imaging principles, computer vision, and machine learning to improve the efficiency and accuracy of image-based diagnosis and medical procedures for the brain and body.

​​Research Interests

Medical image analysis and medical imaging principles (MRI & ultrasound)
Image segmentation, registration and fusion
​Machine learning
Image-guided neuro-surgery 
Medical image visualization / augmented reality
​

Education

2011 - 2016
​2009 - 2011
​2005 - 2009
Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering 
M.Eng. in Biomedical Engineering
B. Eng. in Electrical Engineering (Honors) 
McGill University, Canada
McGill University, Canada
​McGill University, Canada

Academic Experience

2020 - Present
2018 - 2020 
2016 - 2017
​April 2013
​2009 - 2011
Assistant Professor
Postdoctoral Associate
​Postdoctoral Associate
Visiting Researcher
Research Assistant
Concordia University, Canada
​Robarts Research Institute, Western University, Canada
PERFORM Centre, Concordia University, Canada
MediCIS-INSERM, University of Rennes I, France
McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, Canada

Selected Publications
​ 
​Refereed journal articles
  1. M. Aktar, D. Tampieri, H. Rivaz, M. Kersten-Oertel, and Y. Xiao, "Circulation Scoring in Ischemic Stroke using 4D CT angiography with low-rank and sparse matrix decomposition," International Journal of Computer-Assisted Radiology and Surgery, accepted, 2020.
  2. J.C. Lau, Y. Xiao, R Haast, G. Gilmore, K. Uludag, K.W. MacDougall, R. Menon, A.G. Parrent, T.M. Peters, and A.R. Khan, “Direction visualization and characterization of the human zona incerta and surrounding structures,” Human Brain Mapping, accepted, 2020
  3. Y. Xiao, J.C. Lau, D. Hemachandra, G. Gilmore, A.R. Khan, and T. Peters, “Image guidance in deep brain stimulation surgery for Parkinson's disease: a comprehensive review,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, accepted, 2020.
  4. Y. Xiao, J.C. Lau, T. Anderson,J. DeKraker, D. Louis Collins, T.M. Peters, and A.R. Khan, “An accurate registration of the BigBrain dataset with the MNI PD25 and ICBM152 atlases,” Scientific Data, 2019. [download data: OSF, OpenNeuro]
  5. R. Vassallo, A. Rankin, S. Lownie, H. Fukuda, H. Kasuya, B. Lo., T. Peters, Y. Xiao, "Determining blood flow direction from short neurovascular surgical microscopic videos," Healthcare Technology Letters, 2019.
  6. Y. Xiao, Hassan Rivaz, Matthieu Chabanas, M. Fortin, I. Machado, Y. Ou, M.P. Heinrich, J.A. Schnabel, X. Zhong, A. Maier, W. Wein, R. Shams, S. Kadoury, D. Drobny, M. Modat, I. Reinertsen, “Evaluation of MRI to ultrasound registration methods for brain shift correction: The CuRIOUS2018 Challenge,” IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2019.
  7. A. Karlberg, E.M. Berntsen, H. Johansen, A. Skjulsvik, I. Reinertsen, H.Y. Dai, Y. Xiao, H. Rivaz, P. Borghammer, O Solheim, L. Eikenes, "18F-FACBC PET/MRI in Diagnostic Assessment and Neurosurgery of Gliomas," Clinical Nuclear Medicine, 44(7), 550-559, 2019.
  8. N. Masoumi, Y. Xiao and H. Rivaz, “Inter-modality affine registration using evolutionary strategy (ARENA),”International Journal of Computer-Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 14(3), 441-450, 2018.
  9. R. Vassallo, H. Kasuya, B.W.Y. Lo, T. Peters, Y. Xiao, “Augmented-reality guidance in cerebral vascular surgery using microscopic video enhancement,” Healthcare Technology Letters, 5(5), 158-161, 2018.
  10. Y. Xiao, M. Fortin, M. Battie, and H. Rivaz, “Population-averaged MRI atlases for automated image processing and assessments of lumbar paraspinal muscles,” European Spine Journal, 27(10), 2442-2448, 2018. [download data]
  11. Y. Xiao, S. Drouin, I.J. Gerard, V. Fonov, B. Aubert-Broche, Y. Ma, M. Kersten-Oertel, D. Tampieri, and D. Louis Collins, "An augmented-reality system prototype for guiding transcranial Doppler ultrasound examination", Multimedia Tools and Applications, 77(21), 27789-27805, 2018.
  12. Y. Xiao, M. Boily, H. Hashemi, and H. Rivaz, "High-dynamic-range ultrasound: application for imaging tendon pathology," Ultrasound in medicine and biology, 44(7), 1525-1532, 2018.
  13. Y. Xiao, H. Rivaz, H. Kasuya, S. Yokosako, C. Mindru, J. Teitelbaum, D. Dirhan, D. Sinclair, M. Angle, and B. Lo, “Intra- operative video characterization of carotid artery pulsation patterns in case series with post-enderterectomy hypertension and hyperperfusion syndrome,” Translational Stroke Research, 9(5), 542-548, 2018.
  14. Y. Xiao, L. Eikenes, I. Reinertsen, and H. Rivaz, “Nonlinear deformation of tractography in ultrasound-guided resection of low-grade gliomas,” International Journal of Computer-Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 13(3), 457-467, 2018.
  15. R. Shams, Y. Xiao, F. Hebert, M. Abramowitz, R. Brooks and H. Rivaz, “Assessment of rigid registration quality measures in ultrasound-guided radiotherapy,” IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 37(2), 428-437, 2018.
  16. A.M. Karlberg, E.M. Bernsten, H. Johansen, M. Myrthue, O. Solheim, I. Reinersten, H.Y. Dai, A. Skyjulsvik, A. Jarstein, Y. Xiao, H. Rivaz, and L. Eikenes, “Case study: Multimodal 18F-fluciclovine PET/MRI and ultrasound-guided neurosurgery of anaplastic oligodendroglioma,” World Neurosurgery, 108, 989e1-989.e8, 2017.
  17. Y. Xiao, V. Fonov, S. Beriault, F.A. Subaie, M.M. Chakravarty, A.F. Sadikot, G. Bruce Pike, Gilles Betrand, and D. Louis Collins, “A dataset of multi-contrast population-averaged brain MRI atlases of a Parkinson's disease cohort,” Data in Brief, 12, 370-379, 2017.
  18. Y. Xiao, M. Fortin, Geirmund Unsgård , Hassan Rivaz and Ingerid Reinertsen, “REtroSpective Evaluation of Cerebral Tumors (RESECT): a clinical database of pre-operative MRI and intra-operative ultrasound in low-grade glioma surgeries,” Medical Physics, 44(7), 3875-3882, 2017. [download data]
  19. M. Omidyeganeh, Y. Xiao, M.O. Ahmad, and H. Rivaz, “Estimation of strain elastography from ultrasound radio- frequency data by utilizing analytic gradient of the similarity metric,” IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 36(6), 1347-1358, 2017.
  20. Y. Xiao, C. X. B. Yan, S. Drouin, D. De Nigris, A. Kochanowska, and D. Louis Collins, "User-friendly freehand ultrasound calibration using Lego bricks and automatic registration,” International Journal of Computer-Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 11(9), 1703–1711, 2016.
  21. S.Beriault, Y. Xiao, D. Louis Collins, and G. Bruce Pike, “Automatic SWI venography segmentation using conditional random fields," IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 34(12), 2478-2491, 2015.
  22. Y. Xiao, V. Fonov, S. Beriault, I.J. Gerard, A.F. Sadikot, G. Bruce Pike, and D. Louis Collins, “Patch-based label fusion segmentation of brainstem structures with dual-contrast MRI,” International Journal of Computer-Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 10(7), 1029-1041, 2015.
  23. Y. Xiao, V. Fonov, S. Beriault, F.A. Subaie, M.M. Chakravarty, A.F. Sadikot, G. Bruce Pike, and D. Louis Collins, “Multi- contrast unbiased MRI atlas of a Parkinson's disease population,” International Journal of Computer-Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 10(3), 329-341, 2015. [download data]
  24. Y. Xiao, P. Jannin, T. D’Albis, N. Guizard, C. Haegelen, L. Florent, M. Verin, and D. Louis Collins, “Investigation of morphometric variability of subthalamic nucleus, red nucleus and substantia nigra in advanced Parkinson’s disease patients using automatic segmentation and PCA-based analysis,” Human Brain Mapping, 35, 4330–4344, 2014. [Segmentation pipeline]
  25. Y. Xiao, S. Beriault, G. Bruce Pike, and D. Louis Collins, “Multi-contrast multi-echo FLASH MRI for targeting the subthalamic nucleus,” Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 30, 627-640, 2012.
  26. M. Shah, Y. Xiao, S. Francis, D. Arnold, D. Louis Collins and T. Arbel, “Evaluating Intensity Normalization on MRI of Human Brain with Multiple Sclerosis,” Medical Image Analysis,15, 267-282, 2011.

​ Refereed conference articles
  1. W. Xia, M. Fortin, J. Ahn, H. Rivaz, M.C. Battie, T.M. Peters, and Y. Xiao, "Automatic paraspinal muscles segmentation in patients with lumbar pathology using deep convolutional neural network," the 22nd International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI), accepted, 2019.
  2. N. Masoumi, Y. Xiao and H. Rivaz, "MARCEL (inter-Modality Affine Registration with CorrELation ratio): an application for brain shift correction in ultrasound-guided brain tumor resection,” MICCAI 2017 Brain Lesion (BrainLes) workshop, LNCS 10670, 55-63, 2017.
  3. Y. Xiao, A. Alamer, V. Fonov, B. Lo, D. Tampieri, D. Louis Collins, H. Rivaz, and M. Kersten, “Towards automatic collateral circulation score evaluation in ischemic stroke using image decompositions and support vector machines,”Molecular Imaging, Reconstruction and Analysis of Moving Body Organs, and Stroke Imaging and Treatment, LNCS 10555, 158-167, 2017.
  4. Y.Xiao,I.J.Gerard,V.Fonov,D.DeNigris,C.Therrien,B.Aubert-Broche,S.Drouin,A.Kochanowska,D.Tampieri,and D. Louis Collins, "Atlas-guided transcranial Doppler ultrasound examination with a neuro-surgical navigation system: case study", the 4th MICCAI workshop on Clinical Image-based Procedures: Translational Research in Medical Imaging (CLIP), LNCS 9401, 19-27, 2016.
  5. S.Bériault, S. Drouin, A. F. Sadikot, Y. Xiao, D. Louis Collins, and G. Bruce Pike, "A Prospective Evaluation of Computer-Assisted Deep Brain Stimulation Trajectory Planning," Clinical Image-Based Procedures. From Planning to Intervention. LNCS 7761, 42-49, 2013.
  6. S. Beriault, Y. Xiao, L. Bailey, A. F. Sadikot, G. Bruce Pike, and D. Louis Collins, “Computer-Assisted Deep Brain Stimulation Targeting with Multiple Active Contacts,” Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention– MICCAI 2012, Part I, 487–494, Heidelberg, Springer, 2012.
  7. Y. Xiao, L. Bailey, M. Chakravarty, S. Beriault, A. F. Sadikot, G. Bruce Pike, and D. Louis Collins, “Atlas-based segmentation of the subthalamic nucleus, red nucleus, and substantia nigra for deep brain stimulation by incorporating multiple MRI contrasts,” International Conference on Information Processing in Computer-Assisted Interventions (IPCAI), LNCS 7330, 135-145, Springer, 2012.
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Edited works
  1. Large-Scale Annotation of Biomedical Data and Expert Label Synthesis and Expert Label Synthesis and Hardware Aware Learning for Medical Imaging and Computer Assisted Intervention. International Workshops, LABELS2019, HAL-MICCAI 2019, and CuRIOUS2019, Held in Conjunction with MICCAI2019, Shenzhen, China, Oct13 and 17, 2019.
    Editors: L. Zhou, N. Heller, Y. Shi, Y. Xiao, R. Sznitman, V. Cheplygina, D. Mateus, E. Trucco, X.S. Hu, D. Chen, M. Chabanas, H. Rivaz, I. Reinertsen
  2. Simulation, Image Processing, and Ultrasound Systems for Assisted Diagnosis and Navigation, International Workshops, POCUS 2018, BIVPCS 2018, CuRIOUS 2018, and CPM 2018, Held in Conjunction with MICCAI 2018, Granada, Spain, September 16–20, 2018, Proceedings, LNCS 11042, 2018.
    Editors: D. Stoyanov, Z. Taylor, S. Aylward, J.M.R.S. Tavares, Y. Xiao, A. Simpson, A. Martel, L. Maier-Hein, S. Li, H. Rivaz, I. Reinertsen, M. Chabanas, and K. Farahani.
  3. IET’s Healthcare Technology Letters Special Issue on Augmented Environments for Computer-Assisted Interventions & Cerebral Data Visualization, Healthcare Technology Letters, 5(5), 2018.
    Guest editors: C.A Linte, M. Kersten-Oertel, Z. Yaniv, and Y. Xiao.

Achievements

Prizes & recognitions
2nd Prize in the 4th annual McGill GMCA Business Case Competition, 2017
​Top 20 finalists of NSERC'S 'Science Exposed' scientific image contest, 2016
Best presentation in innovative research at Denis Melancon Neuroradiology Conference, 2015
The Joan and Warren Chippindale Outstanding Student Award, Montreal Neurological Institute, 2015
2014 MICCAI Educational Challenge, 1st Prize (expert panel awards) - winning video: Your friendly guide to human brain atlases
John F. Davis award (2nd place), Department of Biomedical Engineering,  McGill University, 2014
Great Distinction, McGill University, 2009
Student of Dean’s Honor List, McGill University, 2005-2009
Charles Michael Morssen Gold Medal for Exceptional Engineering Promise, McGill University ,2009
William L. Everitt Student Award of Excellence, International Engineering Consortium,2009

Scholarships & fellowships
2020-2023
2019-2022
​2018-2020
​2016-2018
​2016
​2015
​2015
2014-2016
2014-2015
2014-2015
2011-2014
2011-2014
​2009-2011

2009-2011
2009
2006-2009

2005-2009
BrainsCAN Postdoctoral Fellowship (Tier I)
CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship
BrainsCAN Postdoctoral Fellowship (Tier II)
PERFORM Postdoctoral Fellowship 
Quebec Bioimaging Network Postdoctoral scholarship
Jeanne Timmins Costello Award
Quebec Bioimaging Network Ph.D. scholarship
BME Excellence Award
John McCrae Fellowship
Graduate Excellence Fellowship
Bourse de doctorat de recherche pour étudiants étrangers
Graduate Excellence Fellowship (BME recruitment)
IEEE Life Member Graduate Study Fellowship
(one new recipient is selected each year worldwide)
Principal’s Graduate Fellowship
Provost's  Graduate Fellowship
James McGill Award (3 academic years)
(awarded annually to top 5% of the students in Engineering)
Hugh Brock Entrance Scholarship (4 academic years)
Western University
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Western University
PERFORM Centre, Concordia University
​QBIN
Montreal Neurological Institute
QBIN
McGill University
McGill University
McGill University
FQRNT
McGill University
IEEE

McGill University
McGill University
McGill University

McGill University

Selected Talks and Presentations

Invited talk, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McMaster University
Invited talk for PERFORM ABC seminar series
Podium presentation for Denis Melancon Neuroradiology Conference
Invited talk for Montreal Neurological Hospital Neurosurgical Research Day
Podium presentation for 2014 MICCAI workshop on the 2nd Deep Brain Stimulation Methodological Challenges 
Podium presentation for the 3rd International Conference on Information Processing in Computer-Assisted Interventions
Hamilton, Canada
​Montreal, Canada
Montreal, Canada
Montreal, Canada
Boston, USA
Pisa, Italy
Apr, 2019
October, 2016
October, 2015
​June, 2015
September, 2014
June, 2012

Teaching

Lecture: "A brief introduction to the principles of MRI"  for ELEC 498/691 Medical Image Processing, Concordia University [Lecture slides]

Event Organization

2020 MICCAI Learn2Reg Challenge (Learn2Reg2020)
The 2nd MICCAI Challenge 2018 for Correction of Brain shift with Intra-Operative Ultrasound (CuRIOUS 2019)
The 1st MICCAI Challenge 2018 for Correction of Brain shift with Intra-Operative Ultrasound (CuRIOUS 2018)
The 1st MICCAI Workshop on Cerebral Data Visualization (CereVis 2018)
​Brain Hack Western 2018

Ad-hoc reviewer


Journals
International Journal of Computer-Assisted Radiology and Surgery, Neuroimage, Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Journal of Medical Imaging, Ultrasonics, Medical Physics, Frontiers in Neuroscience, Data in Brief, IEEE Transaction in Medical Imaging, IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders


Conferences
International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI), The IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI), MICCAI workshop on Augmented Environments for Computer-Aided Interventions (AE-CAI), The Annual Imaging Network Ontario Symposium (IMNO)