BME PhD Preliminary Exam Announcement for Sukwoo Shaun Hong (Y. Kim, advisor)

Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation beginning at 1:30 PM.

Title: Standardized intelligent radiomics of conjunctiva photographs for systemic microvascular diseases

Date: December 11^th, 2025

Time: 1:30 PM

Location (virtual): https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/my/shaungh

Committee:

Young L. Kim, Chair

Steven R. Steinhubl

Ulrike Dydak

Yunjie Tong

Rachel K. Surowiec

Abstract:

The tiny, intricate network of blood vessels in our inner eyelid is a hidden window to our body’s overall health. Many serious diseases (e.g., malaria, anemia, hypertension during pregnancy), from acute to chronic conditions, leave subtle, invisible signatures on these microvessels long before other symptoms appear. However, reading these signs is impossible for the human eye, and current diagnostic tools are often invasive, expensive, or unavailable in community settings.

This project introduces spatiotextural approach called conjunctival radiomics. We use an ordinary smartphone to take a simple, safe photograph of the inner eyelid. Then, sophisticated computer algorithms analyze the image to quantify thousands of textural and structural patterns in the microvasculature that the naked eye cannot see.

The goal is to develop and lock a standardized pipeline that reliably extracts quantitative biomarkers from conjunctival photographs captured with unmodified, off-the-shelf smartphones. We will first prove the platform’s validity by testing its ability to screen for diseases with well-known microvascular damage: malaria in children and high blood pressure in pregnancy. We will then deploy the platform to make a new discovery: identifying hidden, clinically important subtypes of anemia based on their unique microvascular signatures.

If successful, this research will establish a low-cost and accessible screening tool that can help clinicians in schools and local clinics identify at-risk patients earlier, guiding confirmatory testing and enabling more timely care.