Health and Wellbeing

The health and wellbeing theme addresses the challenges related to the design and implementation of miniaturized biomedical systems for Precision Medicine, Personalized Care, and Healthy Lifestyle. It spans from material research and technology development, through device and circuit design, to signal processing and system implementation. It covers both in-vivo and in-vitro devices and systems as well as advanced imaging and diagnostic instrumentation.

Technological challenges are miniaturization, accuracy and reliability, energy efficiency, biocompatibility, manufacturability and costs. The aim is to contribute to faster and more accurate diagnostics, to advanced therapy, to an improved quality of life (also for healthy people to improve productivity and overall societal participation), and more in general for a better care, more efficient and less costly. Examples of programs within the teams are the hDMT initiative (organ-on-a-chip platform); intelligent catheters for intervention; steering deep brain stimulation probes.

The groups in the EEMCS involved in the Health and Wellbeing theme are well-positioned to address the abovementioned challenges as there is already a significant activity in this area, good interaction with other research groups, both nationally and internationally, and the expertise required in material science, technology development, circuit design and system integration is present.

This theme covers biomedical technology, from sensors and materials to electronics, signal processing, and systems.
Some specific directions are:

"In vitro": e.g. organs-on-chip
"In vivo": e.g. bioelectronics for low power wireless technology and implantable stimulators, such as cochlear implants and neural stimulators for treatment of tinnitus.
biomedical signal processing and imaging, e.g. ultrasound sensor arrays, high-tesla MRI, audio signal processing, in particular for improved understanding with hearing aids.

Projects under this theme

NXTGEN Hightech - Biomedical Production Technology 3

Technology platforms for organs-on-chip

Graph Signal Processing in Action

Graph signal processing, Graph topology identification, Graph filtering, Dynamic graphs, Graph learning, Functional ultrasound, Recommender systems

Personalized Auditory Scene Modification to Assist Hearing Impaired People

Algorithms to personalize the presented auditory scene for improved speech intelligibility and sound localization hearing impaired users

Model Based Parameter Estimation to Assist Hearing Assistive Devices

To jointly estimate all acoustic scene parameters that are required to successfully improve the speech intelligibility and preserve the spatial cues.

Smart Organ-on-Chip

Developing a Standardized and Modular open technology OoC platform as a new Approach to Recapitulate human Tissues: the SMART OoC

Developing immunocompetent human organ-on-a-chip models with integrated lymph drainage for drug discovery and testing

Developing immunocompetent human organ-on-a-chip models with integrated lymph drainage for drug discovery and testing.

Single Cell and Cell-Type Resolution Bi-Directional Neural Interface for an Artificial Retina

This project focuses on the design of a massively parallel bi-directional neural interface capable of interacting with neurons at their native resolution.

Prostate cancer detection using ultrasound

Tensor techniques to improve the analysis of (3D+time) ultrasound images

Delft Tensor AI Lab

Tensor-based AI methods for biomedical signals

Restoring Cardiac Mechanical Function by Polymeric Artificial Muscular Tissue

Three-dimensional Ultrasound Imaging Through Compressive Spatial Coding

Develop smart compressive coding masks to make 3D ultrasound imaging cheap and widely applicable.

Multimodal, multiresolution brain imaging

Developing a novel brain imaging paradigm combining functional ultrasound and EEG

Ultra-X-treme: Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging for Extended Diagnosis and Treatment of Vascular Disease

The NWO Perspectief Programme Ultra-X-treme is a 4 Meuro programme in which 5 academic centers and 8 companies collaborate to develop patient-specific ultrasound-based techniques to diagnose and treat vascular disease

Computational neuroscience and bio-inspired circuits and algorithms

Low-power neuro-inspired or neuromorphic circuits and algorithms; low-power circuits and systems for neural interfacing.

Medical Delta Cardiac Arrhythmia Lab

Part of a larger program (with Erasmus MC) to unravel and target electropathology related to atrial arrhythmia

Imaging Needles

In this project, we will develop deep tissue needle-probes for multi-modal molecular imaging

Monitoring infant brain perfusion by trans-fontanel echography

In this project we will develop a device that uses 3D ultrasound to monitor brain perfusion in preterm infants.

Netherlands Organ-on-Chip Initiative

To develop new microphysiological platforms to better predict the effect of medicines, based on a combination of human stem cells and microtechnology.

ATiNaRI: Asynchronous Time-domain Neural Recording Interfaces

3D Intra-Cardiac Echography

In this project, novel transducers, integrated electronics and visualization methods will be developed that will enable real-time 3D ultrasound imaging at the tip of a catheter

AFFIP -- Atrial Fibrillation FIngerPrinting: Spotting Bio-Electrical Markers to Early Recognize Atrial Fibrillation by the Use o

STW and DHF project (14728). Program leader: Dr. N.M.S. de Groot (ErasmusMC), workpackage leader WP4, High Density Mapping Array: prof.dr.ir. W.A. Serdijn

Integrated Circuits for Intra-Vascular Ultrasound Imaging

In this project, we develop integrated circuits to enable the next generation of 3D intra-vascular ultrasound probes

InForMed

An Integrated Pilot Line for Micro-Fabricated Medical Devices

Integrated Near Field sensOrs for high Resolution MicrowavE spectRoscopy

The goal of this project is the creation of a new class of sensors, enabling fast and accurate dielectric characterization of biological samples, with high-sensitivity and high-spatial resolution.

3D Plane-wave ultrasound matrix transducer for carotid artery diagnosis

In this project, we will develop a very powerful, three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound system for real-time imaging of the carotid arteries.

History

Moore4Medical

Accelerate Innovation in emerging medical devices with open technology platforms

Health.E Lighthouse Support Initiative

A Brain-on-Chip Platform for Focused Ultrasonic Stimulation

We intend to develop an innovative brain-on-chip platform to decode the mechanisms underlying ultrasonic neu-romodulation.

POSITION-II: innovation in smart medical instruments

Ultrasound Integrated Patch for Medical Diagnostics

In this project, we will develop flexible, programmable transducer modules for ultrasound body patches

Spatially specific peripheral nerve stimulation with focused ultrasound

ReaSONS 2 Demo: Realtime Sensing of Neural Signals Demonstrator

Demonstrator of recording tiny neural signals on top of the stimulus and artifact. NWO Demonstrator Grant.

A Sustainable MRI System to Diagnose Hydrocephalus in Developing Countries

Development of a low-cost MRI scanner including processing

Organ-on-Chip in Development

Developing a European roadmap for the development of organ-on-chip technology

Intelligent Catheters in Advanced Systems for Interventions (INCITE) – WP2 Imaging

Earlier recognition of cardiovascular diseases

Atrial Fibrillation FIngerPrinting: Spotting Bio-Electrical Markers to Early Recognize Atrial Fibrillation by the Use of a Bottom-Up Approach

Good Vibrations - Fast and Robust Wave Field Computations in Complex Structures Using Krylov Resonance Expansions

Using Krylov subspace reduction techniques to solve wave field problems in complex media (resonanting nano-scale devices and seismic exploration)

InForMed: D4 - Steering deep brain stimulation probe (Chip-in-Tip)

Dielectric enhanced MRI

Modeling and analyzing the effect of high permittivity pads in MRI imaging

Spatially Correct Multi-Microphone Noise Reduction Strategies suitable for Hearing Aids

multichannel signal processing algorithms to help hearing aid users

Sensing Devices for Organ on Chip Technology

Heterogeneous Inception

Developing and deploying a unified design methodology and tools for system-level design and verification of heterogeneous systems

BiopsyPen: A portable coherent tomography scanner

Non-Invasive High Resolution Near-Infrared Imaging for Hemodynamics Monitoring and Tumor Detection

Large high-resolution imaging sensor aimed at the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and functional imaging of the brain

Three-Dimensional CMOS Photon Counting for Medical Imaging and Cancer Diagnostics

SPAD technology for TOF-PET applications

Ultra-fast GSDIM super resolution microscopy using a SPAD-array camera

Visualization of nanoscopic cellular structures using nonswitchable standard fluorophores

MASSIVE - Autonomous Vital Sign Monitoring

In this research program, we work on electroceuticals that wirelessly receive power and wirelessly transmit vital signs like body temperature, ECG, EMG, EEG and ECoG.

Miniature ultrasound probes for real-time 3D imaging and monitoring of cardiac interventions

This research project will enable the next generation of miniature ultrasound probes for real-time 3D transesophageal echocardiography, suitable for use in small children and newborns.

REASONS – Realtime Sensing of Neural Signals

This project targets the development of a completely new readout system for measuring the so called electrically evoked compound action potential (eCAP) coming from the auditory nerve.

Novel multimodal endoscopic probes for simultaneous PET/ultrasound imaging for image-guided interventions

Development of new, higher performance imaging techniques with multimodal capability for endoscopic procedures in diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy and in surgical oncology.

Intelligibility enhancement for speech communication systems

Can we do "precoding" of speech signals to enhance their intelligibility at the receiver, taking channel distortions and environmental noise into account?

Fully Networked, Digital Components for Photon-starved Biomedical Imaging Systems

Array of single-photon detectors arranged in a network of tens of dies for application in PET imaging

Sensors and Circuits on Catheters

How to bring highly miniaturized circuits, sensors and actuators to the tip of the catheters and other minimal invasive surgical instruments?

SINs - Smart Implantable Neurostimulators

In this research program we push the research and development of technology for research on and treatment of a multitude of brain disorders, a.o., tinnitus and addiction.

Smart Flexible Sensors for in-vivo Coronary Circulation Diagnostics

Combined pressure and flow sensor, so small that it can be positioned in the tip of the guide wire used in heart angioplasty surgery

Living Chip: Stretchable Multi-Electrode Array for drug screening with stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes

Stem cell derived human cardiomyocytes are used to detect cardiotoxic side effects of newly developed drugs

Intelligibility Enhancement of Noisy Speech

The objective of the project is to develop a speech enhancement system which specifically aims at improving the intelligibility of the speech signal.

CMOS-Compatible Hot-Wire CO2 Sensors

In the project, we have developed CMOS-compatible CO2 sensors that detect the CO2-dependent heat loss of a suspended hot-wire transducer using dedicated precision readout electronics.