Background

I received my MPhys degree at Warwick University. For my masters project I modelled a magnetic spin system, applying varying external forces to cause the spin states to change. This was to drive a thermodynamic system to produce a cooling cycle.

PhD Research

My PhD project involves the use of signal processing to extract useful sample information from measured data. Recently I have written code to apply a sparse deconvolution method, which excels at distinguishing thin layers of materials. THz has a strong potential in biomedical applications, as it is highly sensitive to the water content of skin. Many skin conditions, such as melanoma, vary in water content compared to healthy tissue. To better understand results which could indicate a skin condition in a patient I am investigating the usual variation in measurements between people, and what factors affect these results.

Research Topics

Signal processing, THz TDS, THz in vivo skin measurements, compressed sensing, patient independent parameters, sparse deconvolution, finite rate of innovation, frequency wavelet domain deconvolution.

Teaching

I am currently demonstrating first year labs.

Conference Publications

X. R. Barker and E. Pickwell-MacPherson, 2019 44th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, "In vivo THz Measurements of Human Skin: Investigating the Dependence on Ethnicity and Arm Dominance" (IEEE, 2019).

Conference Presentations

2019 4-5 December, TERANET UK-THz Meeting, UK, London

Poster: 'Adapting Sparse Deconvolution for in vivo skin Measurements'

2019 1-6 September, IRMMW-THz Conference, Paris, France

Poster: 'In vivo THz Measurements of Human Skin: Investigating the Dependence on Ethnicity and Arm Dominance'

Position: PhD Student

Start Date: October 2018

Supervisor: Emma MacPherson

Contact Details:

Office: P4.31
Lab: P4.23
E-Mail: x.barker@warwick.ac.uk
Address: Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.