Your PhD project will focus on Pioneering Fully MRI-Guided Radioembolisation for Liver Tumor Treatment in Your PhD Project!

We will develop, within a combined European Eurostars project DELIVR and a Low-field MRI project (Low-MR), a novel approach for precision radiation dosing during MRI-guided radioembolisation for liver tumours. The projects will result in a fully MRI-guided radioembolization in which interventional hardware (catheters and guidewires) is fully MR compatible, together with real-time tracking and dosimetry software for intraprocedural dose adjustment under MRI. Furthermore, we will introduce a novel low-field MRI apparatus to the procedure.

The projects are divided in four major subprojects wherein the technical aspects are developed that are necessary for real-time MRI-guided Radioembolisation:

• Development of MRI compatible and visible catheters and guidewires.
• Complementary (machine learning) algorithms for visualization of the catheter.
• Fast precision dosimetry software to guide treatment.
• Introducing radioembolization on Low-field MRI for the first time in the world.

These technical aspects must be combined and tested in phantoms, animal studies, and in case of positive results, also in patients. The combined techniques will be the main part of your project within the Radboudumc.

The first step for you will be to perform the preclinical proof-of-concept. The catheters will be equipped with an MR marker, which MRI can follow/track. These studies will allow the assessment of MR safety, heating, visibility, and dose estimation capabilities. Animal experiments using pig models will be performed to deliver the data needed for entering the clinical evaluation phase.

You will be positioned in the MAGIC research group of Prof Dr. Jurgen Fütterer and Dr Frank Nijsen at the Department of Medical Imaging, Radboudumc in Nijmegen and you will be part of a dynamic, multidisciplinary team. Within this project, you will work together with several colleague PhD candidates, senior researchers, and several companies that are involved in development of MR compatible hardware and tracking/dosimetry software.. Preclinical work and validation on patients treated with radioembolization will be performed in the Radboudumc.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Analysis of scientific data and the set-up of a list of parameters that will be investigated.
• Writing the animal study and acquiring Animal Ethics Committee approval.
• Phantom development and testing of catheters and software in different MRI scanner environments.
• The development of an image-guided radioembolization procedure in phantoms, ex-vivo and in-vivo animal models.
• Determine safety and effect on image quality in phantom studies.
• Determine precision of the tracking software and catheter visualization.
• Report in collaboration with a multidisciplinary group consisting of interventional radiologist, surgeon and (medical) physicists on a modified Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA).
• Perform tests on 1.5, 3.0 and low-field 0.55T MRI
• Introduce low-field MRI guided radioembolization into the clinical environment
• Report in English writing and communication with the collaborating partners.
• Write scientific publications and present findings at (inter)national scientific meetings.
• Work in a team with other scientists and clinicians to plan, discuss, and perform research in a stimulating environment.

You have a Master’s degree in Clinical technology / Technical medicine / Medicine and affinity with experiments in that area. You are eager to work on this multi-disciplinary translational project, in-depth pre-clinical feasibility and modelling studies in a laboratory and medical imaging environment combined with patient-related clinical research.

Furthermore:

• Demonstrated interest in solving complex modelling.
• An interest in high-tech medicine, clinical physics, and experience with medical imaging techniques (CT, MRI, SPECT).
• Permit to work with radioactivity (or willing to obtain this permit).
• Permit to work with laboratory animals; article-9 (or willing to obtain this permit).
• Well-developed communication and social skills directed towards working in a team.
• Enthusiastic and strong motivation to complete a PhD.

Fixed-term contract: 3 years.

At Radboud university medical center, you build on your future. We are committed to providing the best care, education, and research. And we are true to our word, because we help you develop and seize opportunities and give you the room to grow. As an employer, we believe that employees should feel vital and happy at work in all stages of life. We are also committed to creating a healthy and safe working environment. Our employment conditions contribute to that. What we offer:

• The salary depends on education. Scale 10 will be offered to MSc medical graduates; a gross monthly salary between €3.359 and € 5.292. Those holding degrees in other disciplines will be offered scale 10A: upon commencement of employment, you will start at scale 10A, step 0 (€2,901 based on a full-time appointment). Over a maximum period of 4 years, you will progress to scale 10A, step 3 (€3,677 based on a full-time appointment). You will also receive an 8% holiday allowance, an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a 47% to 72% bonus for working unsocial hours.
• Plenty of opportunities for personal development. You can take a variety of courses in our online learning environment. You can also share knowledge with colleagues through digital learning spaces – perfect for getting inspired and inspiring others.
• Your well-being and vitality are our priorities. For instance, you can enjoy a 40% discount on a sports subscription at the Radboud Sports Center along with access to the Healthy Professionals program designed to assist you in managing your energy. If you are going through a life-changing event, our Company Support Team and a personal coach are there to help you.
• Support in achieving a good work-life balance at every stage of your life. This includes advice and training courses (from ‘Millennial Dilemmas’ to ‘Your Career After 57’), activities at our own mindfulness center, and informal caregiving consultations if you have questions about juggling work and caregiving responsibilities at home.
• 168 holiday hours per year (23 days) based on a 36-hour working week.
• 26 weeks of parental leave, nine of which are paid.
• Pension accrual with the ABP Pension Fund. Radboudumc pays 70% of the pension premium.
• Discounts on health insurance and ten other types of insurance, from home insurance to legal assistance.
• An allowance for your travel expenses or a working-from-home allowance of €2 per day.

Radboudumc

The Department of Medical Imaging of the Radboudumc Nijmegen is headed by Prof. Dr. Mathias Prokop. The Radboudumc is an academic center with a focus on research, education, and patient care. The department has extensive expertise in imaging and uses state-of-the-art CT, ultrasound, MRI, and nuclear imaging. Advanced MRI facilities for both patient care and (animal experiments) research are available and accessible. Within the Department of Medical Imaging, oncology is an important focus of research and patient care. Both pre-clinical and clinical research can be performed in the animal lab (PRIME) and in the Medical Innovation & Technology expert Centre (MITeC), which is a conglomerate of three Operating Rooms (OR’s) in the newly built OR-complex in the Radboudumc.

Our project DELIVR
Each year, over 1.5 million people worldwide develop liver tumors. Selective Internal Radioembolization, is a treatment option for patients suffering from liver tumors that do not benefit from conventional therapy. During the treatment, radioactive microspheres are injected into the liver artery that supplies the tumour, where they lodge in and around the tumor and deliver a high local radiation dose. Radioembolization has emerged as a promising treatment modality in inoperable primary liver malignancies. However, challenges related to imprecise radiation dose estimation and difficulties in delivering the radiation accurately at the tumour location have hampered its full-scale clinical adoption. We aim to meet these challenges with the fully MRI guided SIRT technique at a standard MRI apparatus.

Research Institutes
At the moment there are more than 1,300 PhD candidates at our medical hospital. This number includes PhD candidates on our pay roll as well as external candidates (those employed somewhere else but researching on our premises). Read what it is like to pursue a PhD at the Radboud University Medical Center.

Radboudumc
Welcome to Radboud university medical center (Radboudumc), where scientific breakthroughs are born through the curiosity and passion of our collaborating researchers in a vibrant environment. We believe trust and excitement are crucial elements to achieving our goals, and we approach our research as teams and with the utmost rigor to make a significant impact on health and healthcare. Our researchers are driven by their fascination with the biological, psychological, and sociological mechanisms underlying health and healthcare. They collaborate with partners from all over the world to improve health outcomes for all. Radboudumc unites patient care, research, education, and corporate learning, which allows us to approach our mission to shape the health and healthcare of the future in an innovative and person-centered way.

Our ambition is to lead the way in the pursuit of prevention, sustainability, meaningful care. We believe that through our research, we can significantly improve the health and well-being of society. Join us on our mission to make a difference in healthcare. Become a part of our community of gifted researchers, professionals or patient partners who are dedicated to making a real impact on population health and healthcare.

Read what it is like to do a PhD at the Radboud University Medical Center.