PhD candidates on New Ultrasound Technology

UltraHB : Ultrafast Ultrasound for the Heart and Brain aims at deploying high-framerate ultrasound imaging (1000 to 10000 frames per second) techniques to visualize and quantify blood flow from the very slow flows present in the microvessels of the brain to the fast and highly dynamic blood flow in the heart and large blood vessels. This project within the Medical Delta 2.0 program will build on current projects in our group in the fields of cardiovascular flow, brain perfusion, 3D ultrasound imaging and ultrasound contrast agents and will be performed in close collaboration with TU Delft.

Toucan: we have recently shown that ideas from compressive sensing provide a novel and attractive approach to bring 3D imaging to many applications: a simple plastic coding mask can compress the 3D information in such a way that you need far less sensors. This concept can extend the imaging capabilities of commercial 2D ultrasound probes to 3D, but also enables new types of wearable imaging.

For these research projects we are looking for two enthusiastic candidate PhD-students.

PhD 1: The PhD student on UltraHB will concentrate on the development of ultrafast ultrasound methods for 2D and 3D flow imaging in the heart and large vessels, with and without contrast agents, up to clinical pilot studies. There will be a close collaboration with researchers and clinicians in related projects in our lab. This work will be carried out under the supervision of Dr. Jason Voorneveld, Dr. Hans Bosch and Prof. Nico de Jong.

PhD 2: The PhD student on TOUCAN will work on compressive imaging devices that can be used to image the human carotid artery for diagnostic purposes. The research will specifically focus on: 1) 3D ultrasound imaging of atherosclerotic plaques using a regular probe and coding mask, 2) long-term monitoring of the pulse-wave velocity and other cardiovascular parameters inside the carotid artery. This work will be carried out under the supervision of Dr. Hans Bosch, in collaboration with Neuroscience (Dr. Pieter Kruizinga) and the Circuits & Systems group at TU Delft (Prof. Geert Leus). There will be a close collaboration with researchers working on the compressive sensing signal processing and the application in mouse brain imaging.

We are seeking enthusiastic PhD students that meet the following requirements:

• A MSc in a relevant area (Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Biomedical Engineering), with knowledge of or affinity with ultrasound imaging, ultrasound image processing and/or signal processing;
• Experience with programming (Matlab, Python, C++);
• Experience in measurements/experimental setups;
• Creative, pro-active with good analytical skills and a sound academic attitude;
• Excellent communication skills in English, both in writing and speaking;
• Good team-players and able to work in a collaborative environment with other PhD students/researchers and supporting institutions.

You will receive a temporary position of 4 years. The gross monthly salary is € 2.422,- in the 1st year and increases to € 3.103,- in the 4th year (scale OIO). The terms of employment are according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement for Dutch University Medical Centers (CAO UMC).

The Department of Biomedical Engineering (Thorax Center) is a group of over 50 researchers performing highly innovative research in cardiovascular diagnosis and therapy. We focus on translational research in ultrasound imaging and image processing, ultrasound contrast agents for molecular imaging and drug delivery, intravascular imaging techniques and hemodynamics. The Biomedical Engineering Department is composed of engineers, biologists and clinicians, closely collaborating on cutting-edge cardiovascular research. Its vibrant working environment attracts highly motivated researchers from all over the world.