Physics and Medical Technology (VU medical centre)
The main research projects of the department Physics and Medical Technology (VUmc) are in fields of:
• brain imaging and neuro-physics (participation in the research institutes ICEN and VICI)
• cardiovascular and pulmonary physics (participation in ICaRVU)
• ophthalmic physics (participation in EMGO)
• skeletal physics and tissue engineering (participation in MOVE and STEGA)
• clinical physics
Current research projects in these fields are described briefly. For more information on current research projects:
• Website of the department of Physics and Medical Technology (http://www.vumc.nl/fmt).
• Blackboard: MNW master specialisation Biomedical Physics.
• Consult contactpersons or the coordinator (on appointment).
For more information:
• Website of the department of Physics and Medical Technology (http://www.vumc.nl/fmt)
• Master coordinator (on appointment)
dr. ir. Th.J.C. Faes
T +31 (020) 444 0178
Etjc.faes@vumc.nl (mentioning ‘Master BioMedical Physics’ as subject).
Brain imaging
Diseases of the brain are an increasing health problem in the western world (e.g. Alzheimer disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis). In the VUmc studies in this field are concentrated in the research institute ICEN. The PMT department has important contributions in this field which are mainly concentrated in three areas:
• Activation studies: aiming at generating certain reproducible responses in the brain which can be measured with the different brain imaging devices in the VUmc: magneto encephalography (MEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET).
• Analysis studies that are aimed to obtaining the best possible answer to a research question, given the raw data of experiments done in various activation studies. These studies often require many non standard mathematical procedures to detect and analyse the brain responses out of the recorded signals, which are contaminated with noise.
• Integration studies with deal with combining different brain imaging techniques, either in experimental set-up or in data analysis.
Contact person:
dr. J.C. de Munck
T +31 (020) 598 9898
E jc.munck@vumc.nl
Cardiovascular and pulmonary physics
Cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases are still a major cause of death in the western world. In the VUmc many departments are working in this field and all related research projects are part of the research institute: ICaR-VU (www.icar.med.vu.nl). Also the Physics and Medical Technology department has several projects within this theme, among others:
• Detailed analysis of cardiac contraction in man, obtained with specially developed MRI tagging techniques. This is essential to gain insight in possible deformations in the contraction patterns of the human heart in certain diseases like pulmonary hypertension, infarction, left ventricular hypertrophy and aberrant electrical excitation of the heart.
• New MRI techniques are being developed to quantify and study the blood flow through large vessels and through the cardiac valves in normal and pathological situations.
• The imaging technique Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is being redeveloped to measure and study the inflation and deflation of the lungs during artificial ventilation and in some diseases (e.g. pulmonary oedema). Successful termination of this project is of great importance to monitor ventilation in neonates and in intensive care patients where no alternative monitoring techniques are currently available.
Contact persons:
• MRI-tagging: dr. J.T. Marcus (jt.marcus@vumc.nl)
• MRI-flow: dr. M.B.M. Hofman (mbm.hofman@vumc.nl)
• EIT: dr. ir. T.J.C Faes (tjc.faes@vumc.nl)
Ophthalmic physics
At increasing age the accommodation response of the eye diminishes. Reliable vision is only possible with a properly working refracting system. Optical imperfections substantially decrease the quality of the retinal image. Recently, technical developments like refractive surgery make it possible to interfere with the system. However, essential knowledge about the optical properties of the main components that play a part (i.e. the cornea and the crystalline lens) is missing. Also an adequate theory to understand the process of accommodation and presbyopia is lacking.
The department Physics and Medical Technology carries out different projects in this field in collaboration with clinical and industrial partners, among others:
• Modelling the human eye lens during accommodation. This project aims at increasing knowledge about the forces that are acting on the human eye lens during accommodation. The final goal is to provide scientific data to the industry to develop an automatic focussing artificial implantable lens.
• Backed by the WHO (www.v2020.org/ 'the right to sight') a project has now been started, to design for young children in the developing world spectacles having lenses of special optics that can easily be adjusted to their individual need.
Contact person: dr. G.L. van der Heijde (gl.heijde@vumc.nl)
Skeletal physics and tissue engineering
Diseases of bones and joints are also of great concern, especially in elderly people. The World Health Organisation has pronounced this decade as the bone and joint decade (www.boneandjointdecade.org/). The department of Physics and Medical Technology has several research projects in cooperation with clinical and industrial partners to clarify the physical processes that play a role in these diseases. In the VUmc the projects covering this area are concentrated in the research institute MOVE (www.vumc.nl/hoofdframes/onderzoek/) and the STEGA foundation (www.vumc.nl/stega/). Some of the projects of the department PMT are:
• The cage project. At increasing age there is a chance that disks between the vertebra degrade and in some cases collapse. In this case a possible solution is the implantation of a device ('cage') in and between two vertebras to take over the mechanical function of the disk. The cage is made of bio-degradable material and is constructed so that after implantation bone should grow in it to form a permanent bridge between the vertebra. To study the bone growth in the cage the department PMT develops in cooperation with the Technical University Delft miniature implantable telemetric electronic devices that measure essential parameters of bone formation.
• Tissue engineering project, which aims at the study of making bone and cartilage from stems cells that are obtained from fatty tissue. In this project especially a study is made of the basic physical processes that stimulate the growth of bone and cartilage.
Contact person: dr. ir. T.H. Smit (th.smit@vumc.nl)
Clinical Physics (i.e.: Klinische Fysica)
According to the Dutch Federation of Clinical Physicists (Nederlandse Vereniging van Klinisch Fysici) there are five fields of expertice in clinical physics: audiology, nuclear physics, radiology, radiotherapy and general clinical physics. The department Physics and Medical Technology offers projects in the following groups:
The general and radiological clinical physics group as far as they are involved in research projects, these projects are mentioned above (MRI, fMRI, PET, EIT). Besides these research topics, there are more clinically related issues in the fields of imaging, such as:
• quality control aspects (e.g. usage of digital detectors and digital displays)
• new imaging techniques and their clinical applications (e.g. cardiac multi slice CT, MRI-diffusion tensor imaging, ultrasound in elastography)
• image guided surgery (usage of navigated instruments in neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery)
• robotic surgery
Contact person: dr ir. B.J. ten Voorde (bj.voorde@vumc.nl)
In the field of radiotherapy research topics are concentrated on:
• Image guided radiotherapy: The use of advanced imaging techniques for treatment planning and during the treatment in order to enhance the precision of the treatment. Special focus is issued on:
• 4D-radiotherapy (incorporation of respiratory motion in treatment planning and delivery
• using 4DCT and respiratory gating)
• cone beam CT (CT acquisition of patient on the treatment machine)
• use of PET-CT in radiotherapy
• Stereotactic radiotherapy: In stereotactic treatments specialized hardware is used to be able to treat with sub millimeter accuracy in patient positioning. Research topics focus on:
• use of advanced MRI techniques for target delineation of brain lesions
• advanced treatment techniques in the treatment of small lung tumors, spinal metastases, liver tumors
Contact person: dr J.P. Cuijpers (jp.cuijpers@vumc.nl).
