Craig Abbey

Dr. Craig Abbey is a Researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), affiliated with the Vision and Image Understanding Lab. His work focuses on optimizing medical image analysis through mathematical modeling of human visual perception and engineering parameters like image processing algorithms. He held prior roles including Assistant Professor at UC Davis Biomedical Engineering and postdoctoral fellowships in Medical Physics. Abbey’s research integrates computational models with experimental psychophysics to improve medical imaging applications, particularly in breast cancer screening and CT/SPECT imaging.

• Educations: PhD in Applied Mathematics (University of Arizona, 1998)

Research interests center on how visual tasks (e.g., lesion detection) are influenced by image noise textures, display engineering, and visual adaptation effects. He explores AI-driven tools for enhancing radiologist performance and developing anthropomorphic model observers that replicate human visual search strategies in 3D medical imaging.

Recent work addresses sequential reading effects in mammography, non-Gaussian noise properties in CT, and deep learning-based denoising techniques for SPECT/CT. His studies highlight practical applications like optimizing screening protocols and improving diagnostic accuracy through adaptive image ordering.

Labs/Teams: Vision and Image Understanding Lab at UCSB.