Immersive real-time 3D ultrasound imaging in augmented reality: Contextual overlays for medical training & practice
DATE: Wednesday, October 29, 2025
TIME: 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ET
LOCATION: Virtual on Zoom; limited in-person spots available
SPEAKERS: Jason Hou, PhD Student in the MIT Media Lab, Conformable Decoders Group and April Anlage, PhD candidate, MIT Mechanical Engineering
ABSTRACT #1
Ultrasound imaging is non-radiative, portable, and widely used—but interpreting two dimensional (2D) slices in real time poses significant cognitive challenges, especially when spatial understanding is critical. Hou proposes a novel system for immersive, real-time, three dimensional (3D) ultrasound visualization using augmented reality (AR). Their approach reconstructs incoming ultrasound data into a dynamic 3D voxel representation that is overlaid directly on top of a real-world visual feed within an AR environment. This contextual overlay provides critical spatial reference points, ensuring operators remain oriented during live exploration of volumetric data.
In medicine, it can enhance guidance during critical procedures or live-examination and create intuitive training tools. Outside of healthcare, potential uses include nondestructive testing in manufacturing, biomechanical analysis, and immersive STEM education, where dynamic structure changes within an object are contextualized in real-time spatiotemporal resolution.
abstract #2
Ultrasound is a safe, portable, and inexpensive medical imaging modality. However, it can be difficult for inexperienced users to accurately and completely image a target. By tracking where a user has scanned, an ultrasound volume can be built. Using the information contained in the volume, scan-specific user guidance can be communicated. In this talk, Anlage will describe the ongoing development of a HoloLens 2 augmented reality (AR) application designed to efficiently guide a user through collecting a complete ultrasound scan over a given volume. With guided volume ultrasound, there is the potential to improve the education, training, and accessibility of ultrasound for medical imaging.
SPEAKER BIOS
Jason Hou is a PhD student at the MIT Media Lab and MIT HEALS Graduate Fellow. He has a broad range of interests and experiences spanning brain-machine-interfaces to augmented reality imaging systems. His current work explores immersive, real-time 3D ultrasound visualization in augmented reality, creating contextual overlays that enhance surgical guidance, live diagnostics, and training. A systems builder with broad interests across electronics, materials, and biomedicine, Jason is passionate about developing chronically implantable and wearable technologies that seamlessly monitor and modulate human health.
April Anlage is a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Her research focuses on clinical applications of volume ultrasound for improved repeatability. Prior to her Ph.D., April completed a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering at MIT with research focused on self-efficacy and community in remote engineering design classes. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho, Southern Africa, teaching high school math and physics from 2016-18 and graduated with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2016. Her other interests include hiking, participatory design practices, and STEM education.
About IMMERSED
The IMMERSED seminar series is an exploration into how immersive technology and new modalities for manipulating and understanding data are shaping innovations across science, engineering, and art. These events—a mixture of lectures, demonstrations, and tutorials—will offer a deep dive into a capability or set of capabilities and how they can be applied to various fields.
IMMERSED is sponsored by the MIT.nano Immersion Lab, which provides space, tools, and a platform to connect the physical to the digital, joining researchers through creative projects that bridge multiple disciplines.