Aortic deformation research has a long history within the UT, started long before the multi-modality medical imaging (M3I) group was founded. The basis has been laid in the thesis of Almar Klein (UT 2011). Thereafter, the clinical elaborations have been given substance by the PhD work of Maaike Koenrades (UT 2019) and Jaimy Simmering (UT 2023).

The main goal of the Stented Vascular Triplet (SVT) project is improving the treatment for patients with aortic aneurysms by optimizing the stentgraft design based on in vivo, in vitro and in silico geometry and flow dynamics.

The tools to reach this goal are:

1. In depth analysis of in vivo deformation of stentgrafts;
2. Initiating and continuing studies on the influence of pulsatile blood flow on stentgraft deformation and flow quantification parameters;
3. Further development of patient specific phantoms that form the bridge between in vivo and in vitro observations;
4. In depth evaluation of in vitro deformation and flow quantification in aortic aneurysm phantoms, with and without endografts placed in them;
5. Initiate research into the contribution of in silico phantoms.

During this PhD you will continue and potentially initiate clinical studies focussing on the deformation of the aorta and stentgraft during the cardiac cycle, during the respiratory cycle and during follow-up. Also you will increase the knowledge on the interaction between stentgraft deformation during the cardiac cycle and its impact on blood flow patterns. To this end, you will continue collecting the data from clinical trials, analysing this data and draw conclusions from this together with the team, including the R&D staff of the supporting stentgraft manufacturers and several clinical AAA expert centres. And last but not least, you will combine the findings of both the in vivo and in vitro projects by merging the deformation and flow information into new and improved settings. Within the project you will collaborate closely with a post-doc and another PhD candidate, also assigned to the project.

The SVT project is funded by the Top Technology Twente Connecting Industry program of the University of Twente in collaboration with Terumo Aortic. The project is located within the Multi-Modality Medical Imaging (M3i) group in the TechMed Centre of the UT in very close collaboration with the Physics of Fluids (PoF) group and Mathematics of Imaging and AI (MIA). It will be supervised by prof. dr. R (Bob) H. Geelkerken, prof. dr. Michel M.P.J. Reijnen, dr. Erik. Groot Jebbink and Hadi Mirgolbabaee.

• You have affinity with healthcare and vascular pathology in particular;
• You have affinity with phantom and experimental studies;
• You have affinity with scientific programming;
• You have, or are about to acquire, a MSc. degree, ideally in Technical Medicine;
• You are a motivated, enthusiastic and curious team player;
• You are eager to acquire new basic, translational and clinical competencies;
• You have the ambition to play a pivotal role, together with the other team members, in the further development of this research line;
• You have excellent communication skills which you will use to lead frequent consultation with R&D of Terumo Aortic;
• You are proficient in English. Dutch is not required, but there will be an opportunity to learn.

• A full-time 4-year PhD position

As a PhD student at UT, you will be appointed to a full-time position for four years, with a qualifier in the first year, within a very stimulating and exciting scientific environment;

• Excellent mentorship and a stimulating international research environment with excellent facilities;
• Your salary and associated conditions are in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO-NU), including a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, and a solid pension scheme;
• You will receive a gross monthly salary ranging from € 2.770,- (first year) to € 3.539,- (fourth year);
• A minimum of 29 holidays per year in case of fulltime employment;
• Free access to sports facilities on campus;
• A family-friendly institution that offers parental leave (both paid and unpaid);
• Encouragement for a high degree of responsibility and independence, while collaborating with close colleagues, researchers and other staff;
• A dynamic and international environment, combining the benefits of academic research with a topic of high clinical and industrial relevance, excellent working conditions, an exciting scientific environment, and a green and lively campus;
• For technical medicine alumni, it is possible to maintain clinical skills through our close collaboration with Medisch Spectrum Twente.

The project is hosted by the Multi-Modality Medical Imaging (M3i) group in the TechMed Centre of the UT, though in very close collaboration with the Physics of Fluids (PoF) group. The project is a long-standing collaboration between several research groups at the UT and commercial partners that started in 2012 and has expanded since. The team consists of Technical Physicians, Biomedical Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Vascular Surgeons and Physicists that are all collaborating on a daily base and who are all very approachable.

Many facilities are available for the project: We are equipped with state of the art hybrid OR facility, MRI scanners, research labs, high end ultrasound equipment. The vascular surgeons in the team facilitate visits to multiple hospitals to extent the research there.

About the organisation

M3i is embedded in the TechMed center of the University of Twente. The vision of the TechMed Center is that the development, evaluation and appropriate implementation of technology enables sustainable and personalized health. To achieve this, the TechMed Center brings together students, scientists, healthcare professionals and entrepreneurs. The TechMed Center not only facilitates research into new technology, but also works on implementing innovations in practice and training healthcare professionals for the rapidly changing medical world.