MRI and Augmented Reality for Better Spinal Surgery Wins at Research Expo 2026

Story by:

• Ioana Patringenaru - [email protected]

Share This:

• Share this story on Linkedin
• Share this story on Facebook
• Share this story on Threads
• Share this story on Twitter
• Share this story via email

Article Content

Mechanical engineering Ph.D. student Songyuan Lu won the grand prize at this year's Research Expo, where more than 150 students presented their research posters across the six departments at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Lu's work focuses on computer-assisted surgery using MRI and augmented reality.

During the event, more than 100 judges from industry, many of them alumni or members of the Jacobs School's Corporate Affiliates Program, assessed the rigor of students' research and their ability to explain the work. Each year, judges choose six best poster winners - one from each Jacobs School academic department. From this group, a faculty jury picks the best overall poster. While everyone attending the event can vote for a people's choice award, judges also bestow an award for transdisciplinary collaboration.

Collaborations that drive relevance and outstanding research are two of the ingredients that propelled the Jacobs School of the ninth-best engineering school in the nation according to U.S. News this year, said Dean Albert P. Pisano.

"We are not only doing good work, we are doing good work that matters and is important for the public good," Pisano said. "Today is about giving students an opportunity to communicate the importance of their work to a community of our industry collaborators."

Pisano specifically thanked premier sponsor Viasat, partner sponsor Qualcomm and contributing sponsors ASML and Leidos. He also welcomed and thanked Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs, who attended Research Expo 2026. Irwin Jacobs and his late wife, Joan, gave a gift in 1998 that led to naming the school the Irwin and Joan Jacobs School of Engineering.

Radiation-free back pain procedures

Lu, this year's overall winner, is part of the research group of emeritus professor Frank E. Talke in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Lu's project aims to provide an alternative to the current use of radiation-producing X-ray imaging during procedures for spinal back pain. "We want to cut back on the amount of radiation that both patients and physicians are exposed to," Lu said.

Currently, physicians use an X-ray imaging method called fluoroscopy during procedures for back pain to determine where in the spine to inject the medication that helps control a patient's pain. Lu and Talke, with Dr. Farshad Ahadian, a professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at UC San Diego Health, propose using MRI and augmented reality instead.

The process, which they are still perfecting, consists of first creating a 3D model of the spine from MRI images. The model is then displayed on augmented reality goggles worn by the physician. As a result, the surgeon sees not only the outer surface of the patient's body during a procedure, but also the anatomy of the patient below the skin, allowing the surgeon to determine the best injection site for delivering pain medication. MRI markers and QR-like registration markers on both the virtual model and the patient ensure that the virtual model is aligned accurately on the patient's back.

The research team on the project also includes bioengineering undergraduate students Steven Hui and Isabelle Garlepp and high school student Sherry Huang.

"This research is an interdisciplinary project that requires contributions from bioengineering, mechanical engineering, computer vision, materials science, robotics, and medical instrumentation," said Professor Talke, who was one of the four founding chairs of the Center for Memory and Recording Research at UC San Diego.

Lu will receive $1,500 for the Research Expo grand prize, named after the Jacobs School's founding dean, Lea Rudee. Each department poster winner receives $700, while the people's choice award receives $500. Finally, the winners of the transdisciplinary collaboration award receive $1,000.