For the remote assessment, clinicians ask patients/families to send facial images, lateral hand photos and other material prior to telehealth appointments. Submission of photos is often part of the triage process for all types for appointments. However, common issues are the quality of the photos, related to the pose and that only a frontal image is taken. This is a challenge to the efficiency of telehealth in complex cases, such as children with neurocognitive and rare conditions. The aim is to develop methods and workflows to better assist clinicians with telehealth assessment and triage of children with rare diseases.

• Future Students

• Faculty of Science & Engineering
  • Science courses

• Higher Degree by Research

• Australian Citizen
• Australian Permanent Resident
• New Zealand Citizen
• Permanent Humanitarian Visa
• International Student

• Merit Based

• The value of the stipend scholarship is $28,092 per annum (tax free) which will be indexed annually for the duration of the award.
• The duration of the award shall be for three years.
• In addition, this scholarship would include a tuition fee waiver for a successful international student.
• Please note for international students’ medical insurance this is an additional cost which is not covered by the scholarship (self funded by the student).

1

The student must meet the academic entry requirement for admission into the Doctor of Philosophy program including the English 
proficiency levels set by Curtin University https://study.curtin.edu.au/higher-degree-by-research/

• The successful student will have a background in computer science or related fields with strong programming experience.
• A background in app programming, photogrammetry, image processing, and/or applied mathematics is desirable.

Please email Dr Petra Helmholz on Petra.Helmholz@curtin.edu.au for further information.

The successful candidate must enrol into a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program (full-time study mode).

The successful student must enrol full-time into the PhD program at Curtin University, make continued progress, and meet their Milestone 1, 2 and 3 requirements.

For further information please contact:

Dr Petra Helmholz,
Senior Lecturer, Spatial Sciences
Tel: +61 8 92663369
Email: petra.helmholz@curtin.edu.au

The following stages/pathways for the research have been identified. 

1. The user is asked to take three images of the patient’s face using a home developed app. The images are then used to render a 3D mask for visual inspection by the clinicans.
2. The user sends a short video of their face which can be used to extract 3D geometry information using structure from motion approaches. 
3. The user is asked to send a 3D image of their face using the 3D image capture hardware in latest generation smart phones.  

The outputs of stage 2 and 3 can then be used on the Cliniface platform (www.cliniface.org).