Skip to main content
Dr. Philipp Köhler
Helmholtz Munich | ©Philipp Köhler

Dr. Philipp Köhler

Group Leader Medical Sensors Group

Advancing the state-of-the-art of medical technology is greatly impacting people’s lives. Our compact and portable sensing technology is setting new standards for the early detection and monitoring of widespread diseases.

Advancing the state-of-the-art of medical technology is greatly impacting people’s lives. Our compact and portable sensing technology is setting new standards for the early detection and monitoring of widespread diseases.

CV

Dr. Philipp Köhler started his career by completing a Bachelor and Master in Physics at the Technical University of Munich, while also taking courses in Biomedical Physics. He then received the Cavendish Laboratories departmental scholarship at the University of Cambridge, where he obtained a second Master in Nanotechnology and finished his PhD in Physics with a focus on spectroscopy and optics. In parallel he gained experience by working at the Cancer Research UK on the Addenbrooke’s hospital site using fluorescence from DNA origami structures as markers in multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT). To expand his knowledge transfer skills to bring novel research to the market he attended courses at the Cambridge Judge Business School and worked for the London based startup Cortirio, which builds devices to detect traumatic brain injuries through functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Fascinated by MSOTs imaging capabilities he joined Helmholtz Munich in late 2019 focusing his energies on advancing optoacoustic sensing by acquiring funding, developing prototypes, organizing clinical investigations and performing market studies. He became the group leader of Medical Sensors in September, 2021.

Our Focus

Originating from optoacoustic imaging, Dr. Köhler and his team are developing novel optoacoustic sensors that bring the advantages of imaging modalities to a much greater patient cohort by enabling low-cost measurements in a much smaller and portable form-factor. Existing imaging methods are mostly universal tools that solely create an image, but rely on expert medical knowledge for an accurate interpretation of the results. This group’s sensors are specifically designed for each medical indication and use advanced data analysis methods such as Machine Learning and AI for an accurate and objective classification of diseases and their progression without the need for imaging. Relevant applications include diabetes and its complications, cardiovascular disease or dermatology, where an early and objective detection enables a more targeted and effective treatment.

Fields of Work and Expertise

Medical SensorsOpticsData AnalysisPrototypingKnowledge TransferMarket Research and Commercialization

Personal Background

2021

Group Leader “Medical Sensors”

2015

Masters in Physics, Technical University of Munich

2016

Masters in Nanotechnology, University of Cambridge

2018

Medical Device Consultant at Cortirio, London

2019

PhD in Physics, University of Cambridge

Honors and Awards

  • Go-Bio Initial Grant, BMBF
    2020

  • Helmholtz Innovation and Translation Prize Winner
    2020

  • Medical Valley Award (From Research to Startup Grant), Erlangen
    2020

  • Honorary Vice-Chancellor’s Award, University of Cambridge, UK
    2015

Gold Star Awards Luxury Background
suppa - stock.adobe.com

Publications

Helmholtz Munich

https://push-zb.helmholtz-muenchen.de/frontdoor.php?source_opus=55861&la=en

2021 Medrxiv

Pouyan Mohajerani, Juan Aguirre, Murad Omar, Hailong He, Angelos Karlas, Nikolina-Alexia Fasoula, Jessica Lutz, Michael Kallmayer, Hans-Henning Eckstein, Anette-Gabriele Ziegler, Martin Füchtenbusch, Vasilis Ntziachristos

2019 Medical Physics

Serafeim Moustakidis, Murad Omar, Juan Aguirre, Pouyan Mohajerani, Vasilis Ntziachristos

Affiliation & Network

Affiliation:
Helmholtz Munich, IBMI
Technische Universität München, CBI

Network:
International Photoacoustic Standardisation Consortium (IPASC), University of Cambridge