Biomedical Physics
Prof. Franz Pfeiffer
Research Field
Our interdisciplinary research portfolio is focused on the translation of modern x-ray physics concepts to biomedical sciences and clinical applications. We are particularly interested in advancing conceptually new approaches for biomedical x-ray imaging and therapy, and work on new kinds of x-ray sources, contrast modalities, and images processing algorithms. Our activities range from fundamental research using state-of-the-art, large-scale x-ray synchrotron and laser facilities to applied research and technology transfer projects aiming at the creation of improved biomedical device technology for clinical use. From a medical perspective, our work currently targets early cancer and osteoporosis diagnostics.
Address/Contact
James-Franck-Str. 1
85748 Garching b. München
+49 89 289 12552
Fax: +49 89 289 12548
Members of the Research Group
Professors
| Photo | Degree | Firstname | Lastname | Room | Phone | |
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Prof. Dr. | Julia | Herzen | PH: 2082 | +49 89 289-14532 | |
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Prof. Dr. | Franz | Pfeiffer | PH: 2093 | +49 89 289-12551 |
Office
| Photo | Degree | Firstname | Lastname | Room | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Nelly | de Leiris | PH: 2091 | +49 89 289 12552 |
Scientists
| Photo | Degree | Firstname | Lastname | Room | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Dr. | Klaus | Achterhold | PH: 2087 | +49 89 289-12559 | |
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M.Sc. | Jana | Andrejewski | – | +49 89 289-10902 | |
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M.Sc. | Johannes | Brantl | – | +49 89 289-10902 | |
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Karin | Burger | – | +49 89 4140-6231 | ||
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Dr. | Madleen | Busse | – | +49 89 289-10802 | |
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Dr. | Martin | Dierolf | MSB: E.204 | +49 89 289-12560 | |
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M.Sc. | Manuela | Frank | – | +49 89 289-10883 | |
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M.Sc. | Benedikt | Günther | – | +49 89 289-10807 | |
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M.Sc. | Alex | Gustschin | – | +49 89 289-10843 | |
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M.Sc. | Nikolai | Gustschin | – | +49 89 289-10843 | |
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M.Sc. | Lisa | Heck | – | +49 89 289-10905 | |
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M.Sc. | Juanjuan | Huang | – | +49 89 289-10861 | |
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Dr. | Ernst | Huenges | – | – | |
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M.Sc. | Stephanie | Kulpe | – | +49 89 289-10820 | |
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PD Dr. | Tobias | Lasser | MI: 03.13.061 | +49 89 289-19427 | |
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M.Sc. | Korbinian | Mechlem | – | +49 89 289-12672 | |
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M.Sc. | Johannes | Melcher | MSB: 1.110 | +49 89 289-10846 | |
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M.Sc. | Wolfgang | Noichl | – | +49 89 289-12844 | |
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M.Sc. | Simon | Pinzek | – | +49 89 289-10883 | |
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M.Sc. | Carolin | Pirkl | – | – | |
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Dr. | Florian | Schaff | – | – | |
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M.Sc. | Rafael | Schick | – | +49 89 289-12754 | |
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M.Sc. | Clemens | Schmid | – | +49 89 289-10905 | |
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M.Sc. | Josef | Scholz | PH: 2702 | +49 89 289-12562 | |
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M.Sc. | Thorsten | Sellerer | PH: 2702 | +49 89 289-12672 | |
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M.Sc. | Theresa | Urban | – | +49 89 289-10820 | |
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M.Sc. | Manuel | Viermetz | – | +49 89 289-10861 | |
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M.Sc. | Konstantin | Willer | – | +49 89 289-10820 | |
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Dipl.-Phys. | Marian | Willner | PH: 2710 | – |
Students
| Photo | Degree | Firstname | Lastname | Room | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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B.Sc. | Philipp | Buchberger | – | – | |
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B.Sc. | Jule | Heuchert | – | – | |
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Patrick | Ilg | – | – | ||
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B.Sc. | Ivan | Kokhanovskyi | – | – |
Other Staff
Teaching
Course with Participations of Group Members
Offers for Theses in the Group
- Advanced image processing for clinical darkfield chest X-ray applications
- suitable as
- Master’s Thesis Condensed Matter Physics
- Master’s Thesis Nuclear, Particle, and Astrophysics
- Master’s Thesis Biophysics
- Master’s Thesis Applied and Engineering Physics
- Master’s Thesis Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics
- Supervisor: Franz Pfeiffer
- Application of Machine Learning / AI-based image processing to X-ray dark-field imaging
This project will focus on applying modern machine learning / AI-based image processing methods to grating-based X-ray dark-field imaging with the aim of improving medical diagnostics and reducing radiation exposure to patients.
The project will mainly involve data analysis and image processing (primarily in Python).
Character of thesis work: mainly computational physics & image processing
For more information, please contact: Florian Schaff (florian.schaff@tum.de) or Franz Pfeiffer (franz.pfeiffer@tum.de)
- suitable as
- Master’s Thesis Condensed Matter Physics
- Master’s Thesis Nuclear, Particle, and Astrophysics
- Master’s Thesis Biophysics
- Master’s Thesis Applied and Engineering Physics
- Master’s Thesis Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics
- Supervisor: Franz Pfeiffer
- Evaluation of limited angle, sparse sampling CT algorithms for head and chest CT applications
This project will focus on the potential usage of advanced CT reconstruction algorithms (i.e. model-based iterative CT and CNN-based denoising) for reducing the number of projections in neuro-radiological CT applications. The project will be carried out in close collaboration with the Department of Radiology at the TUM Klinikum Rechts der Isar and an external industrial collaborator.
Character of thesis work: mainly computational physics & image processing
For more information, please contact: Clemens Schmid (clemens.schmid@tum.de), Tobias Lasser (tobias.lasser@tum.de), or Franz Pfeiffer (franz.pfeiffer@tum.de).
- suitable as
- Master’s Thesis Condensed Matter Physics
- Master’s Thesis Nuclear, Particle, and Astrophysics
- Master’s Thesis Biophysics
- Master’s Thesis Applied and Engineering Physics
- Master’s Thesis Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics
- Supervisor: Franz Pfeiffer
- Evaluation of spectral photon-counting detectors for improvements in 2D (panoramic) dental imaging applications
This project will explore the use of latest hybrid-pixel photon-counting detectors for improving the image quality in 2D (panoramic) dental imaging applications. More specifically, the project aims at developing advanced dual-energy/ spectral artefact reduction algorithms and their experimental demonstration of their applicability in preclinical experiments. The project will be carried out in close collaboration with an industrial collaboration partner in the Munich area.
Character of thesis work: experimental physics (50%) & image processing (50%)
For more information, please contact: Thorsten Sellerer (thorsten.sellerer@tum.de), Franz Pfeiffer (franz.pfeiffer@tum.de)
- suitable as
- Master’s Thesis Condensed Matter Physics
- Master’s Thesis Nuclear, Particle, and Astrophysics
- Master’s Thesis Biophysics
- Master’s Thesis Applied and Engineering Physics
- Master’s Thesis Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics
- Supervisor: Franz Pfeiffer
- Evaluation of spectral photon-counting detectors for improvements in 3D (cone-beam CT) dental imaging applications
This project will explore the use of latest hybrid-pixel photon-counting detectors for improving the image quality in 3D (cone-beam CT) dental imaging applications. More specifically, the project aims at developing advanced dual-energy/ spectral artefact reduction algorithms and their experimental demonstration of their applicability in preclinical experiments. The project will be carried out in close collaboration with an industrial collaboration partner in the Munich area.
Character of thesis work: experimental physics (50%) & image processing (50%)
For more information, please contact: Thorsten Sellerer (thorsten.sellerer@tum.de), Franz Pfeiffer (franz.pfeiffer@tum.de)
- suitable as
- Master’s Thesis Condensed Matter Physics
- Master’s Thesis Nuclear, Particle, and Astrophysics
- Master’s Thesis Biophysics
- Master’s Thesis Applied and Engineering Physics
- Master’s Thesis Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics
- Supervisor: Franz Pfeiffer
- Machine Learning/ AI algorithms applied to advanced phase- and darkfield-CT reconstruction algorithms.
This project will focus on applying machine learning algorithms/ AI to improve reconstruction algorithms for advanced CT imaging, namely grating-based phase- and darkfild-CT. The project will involve working with PyTorch and/or TensorFlow/Keras, and will be carried out within a collaboration with TUM Informatics (PD Dr. Tobias Lasser).
// Character of thesis work: mainly computational physics & image processing
// For more information, please contact: Tobias Lasser (tobias.lassser@tum.de), Clemens Schmid (clem.schmid@tum.de), or Franz Pfeiffer (franz.pfeiffer@tum.de)
- suitable as
- Master’s Thesis Condensed Matter Physics
- Master’s Thesis Nuclear, Particle, and Astrophysics
- Master’s Thesis Biophysics
- Master’s Thesis Applied and Engineering Physics
- Master’s Thesis Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics
- Supervisor: Franz Pfeiffer
- Pre-clinical evaluation of spectral photon-counting detectors for chest X-ray cancer and tuberculosis screening
This project will explore the use of latest hybrid-pixel photon-counting detectors for improving the diagnostic accuracy of chest X-ray examinations. More specifically, this work will use dedicated phantoms for assessing the potential clinical benefit of photon-counting-based material decomposition algorithms for better lung cancer and tuberculosis detection. The project will be carried out in close collaboration with the Department of Radiology at the TUM Klinikum Rechts der Isar.
Character of thesis work: experimental physics (50%) & image processing (50%)
For more information, please contact: Thorsten Sellerer (thorsten.sellerer@tum.de), Franz Pfeiffer (franz.pfeiffer@tum.de)
- suitable as
- Master’s Thesis Condensed Matter Physics
- Master’s Thesis Nuclear, Particle, and Astrophysics
- Master’s Thesis Biophysics
- Master’s Thesis Applied and Engineering Physics
- Master’s Thesis Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics
- Supervisor: Franz Pfeiffer
- Quantitative X-ray dark-field imaging
This project will focus on methods to extract quantitative structural parameters from grating-based X-ray dark-field imaging that enable hardware independent studies in medical and material science applications.
The project will mainly involve experimental (laboratory) work, and image processing (primarily in Python).
Character of thesis work: experimental physics (50%) & image processing (50%)
For more information, please contact: Florian Schaff (florian.schaff@tum.de) or Franz Pfeiffer (franz.pfeiffer@tum.de)
- suitable as
- Master’s Thesis Condensed Matter Physics
- Master’s Thesis Nuclear, Particle, and Astrophysics
- Master’s Thesis Biophysics
- Master’s Thesis Applied and Engineering Physics
- Master’s Thesis Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics
- Supervisor: Franz Pfeiffer
- X-ray diffraction imaging at a compact synchrotron source
This project will focus on investigating the potential X-ray diffraction imaging at a compact synchrotron source. The student will design, conduct and evaluate experiments at the world's first X-ray source of its kind, the Munich Compact Light Source.
The project will mainly involve experimental (laboratory) work, and image processing (primarily in Python).
Character of thesis work: experimental physics (50%) & image processing (50%)
For more information, please contact: Florian Schaff (florian.schaff@tum.de) or Franz Pfeiffer (franz.pfeiffer@tum.de)
- suitable as
- Master’s Thesis Condensed Matter Physics
- Master’s Thesis Nuclear, Particle, and Astrophysics
- Master’s Thesis Biophysics
- Master’s Thesis Applied and Engineering Physics
- Master’s Thesis Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics
- Supervisor: Franz Pfeiffer
Current and Finished Theses in the Group
- Recent Developments in Grating-Based Phase-Contrast Breast Computed Tomography
- Abschlussarbeit im Masterstudiengang Physik (Biophysik)
- Themensteller(in): Julia Herzen
- Application of Spectral Differential Phase Contrast in Breast Imaging
- Abschlussarbeit im Masterstudiengang Physik (Biophysik)
- Themensteller(in): Julia Herzen
- Image Registration for Dynamic Darkfield X-Ray Radiography
- Abschlussarbeit im Masterstudiengang Physics (Applied and Engineering Physics)
- Themensteller(in): Franz Pfeiffer
- Dosimetry with a First Darkfield Patient Radiography System
- Abschlussarbeit im Masterstudiengang Physik (Biophysik)
- Themensteller(in): Franz Pfeiffer
- Erweiterung und Validierung eines Bildrekonstruktionsrahmens für ein neuartiges Protonen-CT-System für Kleintiere
- Abschlussarbeit im Masterstudiengang Physics (Applied and Engineering Physics)
- Themensteller(in): Franz Pfeiffer
- Inductive Stimulation of the N. Phrenicus
- Abschlussarbeit im Masterstudiengang Physics (Applied and Engineering Physics)
- Themensteller(in): Franz Pfeiffer
- Quantitative Phase-Contrast Imaging for Biomedical Applications
- Abschlussarbeit im Masterstudiengang Physik (Biophysik)
- Themensteller(in): Julia Herzen