โSignal Processing in the AI eraโ was the tagline of this yearโs IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, taking place in Rhodes, Greece.
In this context, Brent de Weerdt, Xiangyu Yang, Boris Joukovsky, Alex Stergiou and Nikos Deligiannis presented ETRO’s research during poster sessions and oral presentations, with novel ways to process and understand graph, video, and audio data. Nikos Deligiannis chaired a session on Graph Deep Learning, attended the IEEE T-IP Editorial Board Meeting, and had the opportunity to meet with collaborators from the VUB-Duke-Ugent-UCL joint lab.
Featured articles:
- De Weerdt, B. et al., โDesigning Transformer Networks for Sparse Recovery of Sequential Data Using Deep Unfoldingโ (https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10094712)
- Yang X. et al., โRelevance Propagation through Deep Conditional Random Fieldsโ (https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10095075)
- Stergiou A. et al., โPlay it back: Iterative attention for audio recognitionโ (https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10096532, developed at the University of Bristol)
4D CT scanners add the dimension of time to three-dimensional images and visualise the movement of the heart in detail. The imec.icon project DIASTOLE, involving VUB, UZ Brussel and imec, is paving the way to safely implement 4D scans in heart surgery.
Researchers from the radiology department of VUB-UZ Brussel developed a model to calculate the radiation dose of 4D scans on the skin, and immediately applied it to draw up a safe protocol. For a usable 4D scan, on the one hand the quality has to be sufficient, on the other hand you want to avoid the radiation dose being too high at certain places on the body. Unlike classic CT scans, a 4D scan repeatedly irradiates the same region of the body, so we need to specifically monitor the dose to the skin.
https://press.vub.ac.be/cardiology-prepared-for-the-fourth-dimension
Sarah Al Omari got awarded a PhD Fellowship fundamental research for her research “Exploring Neuromuscular Fatigue in Stroke Survivors: Central-Peripheral Interplay and the Potential of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS)” under supervision of Eva Swinnen, David Beckwรฉe, Mahyar Firouzi and Bart Jansen.
Johan Stiens has been participating in the 3-day (Jan. 27โ29, 2026) national brainstorming session โโ๐๐ด๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ: ๐๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต๐ป๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐โโ.
The KVAB โ Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts invited Prof. Dr. Richard Reilly, Professor of Neural Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, as โthinkerโ for the Thinkerโs Programme โโ๐๐ด๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ: ๐๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต๐ป๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐โโ.
This week, Prof. Reilly is engaging with key stakeholders on the most pressing themes.
โจ SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTEXT AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDUSTRY
We have the technology. But older adults need citizen-centric tech, not tech-centric solutions.
We have the data, but our health data are fragmented and remain siloed. And citizens are left out.
How do we enable safe, ethical data exchangeโonce, with the citizen at the centreโand base funding on societal ROI?
โจ A NEED FOR A SKILLED HEALTH WORKFORCE โ TRAINING
Technology is rapidly reshaping care, but skills must keep up.
New curricula, early interdisciplinarity, user-centred engineering, and guidance for informal caregivers are needed.
And how do we build the talent pipeline that ageing urgently needs, making ageing a career students want to choose?
โจ NUTRITION
Healthy ageing isnโt just about nutrients.
Itโs about pleasure, affordability, companionshipโand the microbiome.
With world-class food tech research in Flanders, how do we turn science into better ageing in place?
โจ PREVENTION
Falls and dementia are not inevitable; they are largely preventable.
Prevention is our most powerful lever, yet it receives only a fraction of health spending.
What policy frameworks can capture its ROI and drive systemic change to protect our health system?
โจ How can technology support physical and brain health?
How do we deal with:
ยท sarcopenia monitoring
ยท housing challenges
ยท boosting cognitive reserve
ยท shifting from fall detection to fall prevention
ยท mastery of sensor data
ยท person-centred dementia care
ยท etc.
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You van visit the LEGO urban planner again and design your climate-resilient city at โDag van de Wetenschapโ (Science Day) on Sunday 26 November at Muntpunt.
- ETRO moves from Transitorium to Building K.
- Climatised clean room and a panel with diverse (deadly) gasses are installed.