Professor Anselmo Paiva: Using Computer Vision to Tackle Medical Issues with a Little Help from Elsevier Author Services

On a regular work day, Professor Anselmo Cardoso de Paiva can be found teaching in a lecture hall at the Federal University of Maranhão in Brazil or working in its Applied Computer Research Lab, where he is the coordinator.

His research is focused primarily on medical image processing, but also on computer graphics, and virtual and augmented reality, fields in which he has accumulated over two decades of experience—a feat reflected in the staggering number of publications he has to his name: 232 and counting. He holds seven patents and is the recipient of dozens of national and international awards and titles. He is also member of the editorial boards of several journals and peer reviewer for several others.

It all began during his own days as a student at university, when he was studying for his master’s degree in civil engineering. His course material about computer graphics captured his interest so much that he shifted gears and decided to pursue a PhD in informatics.

During his doctorate, incidentally, the types of images he worked with were in the field of medicine. His introduction to medical imaging research marked the beginning of his nearly twenty-year-long relationship with computed tomography for lung cancer detection and treatment, the areas in which he has been able to do some of his most impactful work.

His latest contribution to the field revolves around using x-ray images to detect the appearance of abnormal structures in the lung, diagnose the abnormalities with respect to the disease that causes it (pneumonia, tuberculosis, cancer, etc.), and predict the progression and prognoses of these diseases. His most recent paper, proposing a method to effectively diagnose dry eye syndrome is also in line with his goal of conducting research that makes a real difference in people’s lives.

It should come as no surprise then that communicating his research clearly and accurately is of extreme importance to Professor Paiva. This is because having a paper accepted in a quality peer-reviewed journal has a big role to play in ensuring it successfully reaches his target audience.

“Nowadays, my students have begun to participate in programs that allow them to study abroad, particularly in English speaking countries. So, they are more proficient in English than I am. But I may need some help. Usually, when we write a paper, we use the automatic English language reviewing tools to polish it and send it off to a journal. If it comes back with comments suggesting it be looked over by native English speakers, we use services such as Elsevier Author Services.”

Speaking of how Elsevier Author Services has consistently helped him, he says: “They are not just correcting the grammar or typos. They also improve upon the sentence construction and structure so that the paper becomes much better written. Now, whenever we submit to an Elsevier journal, we use their author service, should funding permit. If a colleague asks for a recommendation regarding such services, we always direct them to Elsevier. Elsevier has sort of become our brand.”

The impact of his team’s research is already bearing fruit. Their methodology for tracking lung disease progressions during follow-up visits and predicting prognoses over a two- to four-year period has generated considerable discussion and interest among specialists treating these diseases, even lung cancer. With his latest project, “Imagens Médicas: Processamento, Análise e Visualização” (Medical Imaging: Processing, Analysis, and Visualisation), and others, for Professor Paiva, work means continuing to aim for breakthroughs in computer vision for the treatment of diseases. And he knows who to call on when it’s time to prepare a manuscript for publication.