Bowen
Xiang, Ph.D.
I build mixed-reality surgical navigation systems that help surgeons see what lies beneath — holographic guidance for image-guided interventions, with a focus on precision liver surgery.
On seeing inside the body.
My research develops mixed-reality surgical navigation — augmented-reality systems that overlay patient-specific anatomy directly onto the surgical field. Working at the intersection of 3D computer vision, biomechanics, and head-mounted display hardware, I design end-to-end systems that track instruments, compensate for organ deformation, and present stable holographic guidance to the surgeon in real time.
The central question I pursue: how do we make the digital anatomical model trustworthy enough to act on in the operating room? That means quantifying hologram stability, depth sensing accuracy, eye tracking precision, and subsurface target localization — and engineering the pipeline so every number earns the clinic's trust.
Mixed-Reality Surgical Navigation
Self-contained AR guidance systems on HoloLens 2 and Magic Leap 2 for laparoscopic and open liver surgery.
Intraoperative Surface Acquisition
Comparing contact-based digitization and noncontact depth sensing for model-to-patient registration of soft tissue.
Deformation Correction
Physics-informed registration pipelines that align preoperative imaging with the intraoperative organ.
Headset Validation
Quantitative benchmarks for hologram drift, eye-tracking angular error, marker tracking, and depth-camera precision.
Peer-reviewed work.
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J · 01Mixed Reality Surgical Navigation System for Liver Interventions with Comprehensive Validation using Subsurface Target LocalizationIEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering · 2025Under Review
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J · 02Journal of Medical Imaging · 12(5), 055001 · October 2025Journal
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J · 03Journal of Medical Imaging · 11(2), 025001 · March 2024Journal
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J · 04ReSNA: A Robotic-Enabled Surgical Navigation Assistant for Breast-Conserving SurgeryIEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L) · 2026Under Review
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J · 05Insertion Network for Image Sequence CorrespondenceJournal of Medical Imaging · 2026Under Review
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J · 06Clinical Evaluation of Deformation-Corrected Image Guidance for Laparoscopic Liver Surgery: A Prospective Blinded Randomized StudySurgery · 2025Under Review
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J · 07bioRxiv · 2020Journal
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C · 01Proc. SPIE 13927, Medical Imaging 2026: Image-Guided Procedures · April 2026Conference
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C · 02Proc. SPIE 13408, Medical Imaging 2025: Image-Guided Procedures · April 2025Conference
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C · 03Proc. SPIE 12466, Medical Imaging 2023: Image-Guided Procedures · April 2023Conference
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C · 04Proc. SPIE 13927, Medical Imaging 2026: Image-Guided Procedures · April 2026Conference
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C · 05Proc. SPIE 13927, Medical Imaging 2026: Image-Guided Procedures · April 2026Conference
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P · 01Self-Contained Surgical Navigation System in Augmented Reality Head Mounted DeviceU.S. Patent Application No. 63/757,494 · VU25032P1 · February 2025Patent
Trajectory & training.
Postdoctoral Researcher
- Technical evaluation of next-generation mixed-reality headsets (Magic Leap 2) — hologram stability, depth sensing precision, eye tracking accuracy, and marker tracking — to determine clinical suitability.
- Migrating the surgical navigation system to advanced MR platforms to enhance real-time performance, tracking robustness, and drive the technology closer to intraoperative implementation.
Doctoral Research
- Developed a comprehensive mixed-reality surgical navigation system for precision liver surgery integrating real-time tool tracking, deformation correction, and dynamic 3D anatomical visualization.
- Built an AR system on HoloLens 2 for in situ visualization of live ultrasound with retroreflective inside-out probe tracking.
- Designed and validated a holographic four-panel display mimicking traditional surgical navigation layouts.
- Compared noncontact and contact-based digitization approaches for soft-tissue model-to-physical alignment.
- Participated in the 2024 Space-Edge Accelerator Program (Blue Origin · Space Foundation) exploring biomedical innovations for space commercialization.
Capstone · Watkins Lab
- Built and validated a real-time dose calculator providing immediate dose-volume estimates to streamline clinical decision-making.
- Developed MATLAB scripts applying HGDS/LDS functions at target boundaries for accurate dose-volume histogram estimations.
Undergraduate Researcher · Zhu Lab
- Converted electron microscopy images into 3D colormaps for precise localization of neuronal excitation points.
- Analyzed microscopy data with an exponential decay model, revealing ~1 µm transmission distance for ACh and DA in astrocytes and neurons.
Degrees, awards, distinctions.
Education
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Ph.D., Biomedical EngineeringVanderbilt University · Nashville, TN2020 — 2025
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B.S., Biomedical EngineeringUniversity of Virginia · High Distinction2018 — 2020
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Biological Systems EngineeringVirginia Tech · Blacksburg, VA2016 — 2018
Awards & Service
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Thomas R. Harris Graduate FellowshipVanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering2020
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University Honors & Dean's ListCollege of Engineering · UVA2016 — 2020
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Reviewer · IEEE T-MRBTransactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics2026
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Reviewer · Comput. Methods Programs Biomed.Invited Reviewer2026
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Reviewer · Clinical Medical InsightsOncology · Invited Reviewer2025
Mentorship, instruction, platforms.
Mentoring & Teaching
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VISE Summer Fellow MentorMentee: Richie Dix · Vanderbilt2025
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VISE Summer Fellow MentorMentee: Nathan Hammond · Vanderbilt2024
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TA · Computational Analysis in BMEUniversity of VirginiaFall 2019
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TA · Linear Algebra IUniversity of VirginiaSpring 2019
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TA · Calculus IIIUniversity of VirginiaFall 2018
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TA · Quantitative Cell BiologyVirginia TechFall 2017
Selected Talks
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Surgical Navigation System for Liver Surgery Based on HoloLens 2Platform · SPIE Medical Imaging · IGPRM ConferenceFeb 2025
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A Comprehensive MR Surgical Navigation System for Liver SurgeryLive Demo · Nemertes Next Industry Conference · NashvilleApr 2025
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Comparison Study of Intraoperative Surface Acquisition MethodsPlatform · SPIE Medical Imaging · IGPRM ConferenceFeb 2023
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Comparison Study via Tracked Intraoperative UltrasoundVISE Research-in-Progress Seminar · VanderbiltAug 2022
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Genetically-encoded acetylcholine & monoamine sensorsInvited Speaker · CVCSNApr 2019