Research lines at Radiology and Nuclear Medicine (for researchers)

The scope of research at the department of radiology and nuclear medicine is to improve existing and develop new imaging techniques and methods and image guided intervention. This encompasses the technical development as well as the evaluation of accuracy, reproducibility, efficiency, implementation, and patient acceptance of new techniques and methods.

With current and new imaging techniques and methods, large data sets are acquired necessitating the development of image processing techniques for optimized and efficient data evaluation.

Principal investigators
At this moment there are eight major research lines led by a principal investigator.

  • Advanced MR Physics: Prof. A.J. Nederveen, PhD
    Research is aimed at designing and validating new MRI methods, mainly in the field of neurovascular, muscular and abdominal imaging, both at 3T and at 7T. Novel acquisition and reconstruction methods are developed to decrease the scan-time substantially, diminishing the burden of undergoing MRI  for patients. Quantitative approaches are key in this research in an effort to bridge the gap between the measured MRI signals and the (‘real’) underlying processes in the body.  
  • Artificial intelligence for cardiovascular image analysis: Henk Marquering, PhD Research is focused on artificial intelligence for computer vision applied to quantitative analyses of cardiovascular and neurovascular images.
  • Gastrointestinal: Prof. J. Stoker, MD, PhD  Research is aimed at development and evaluation of imaging techniques for gastro-intestinal diseases, especially colorectal cancer, Crohn’s disease, gastrointestinal motility and advanced imaging of liver and pancreas. Improving accuracy and reducing burden are themes common to the research in this field.
  • MRI in rheumatoid and metabolic diseases: Prof. M. Maas, MD, PhD Research is focused on MRI in rheumatoid diseases and metabolic disorders, such as association between MRI-findings and disease activity in knees of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) patients.
  • Neurovascular: Prof. C.B.L.M. Majoie, MD, PhD Research is aimed at development and evaluation of imaging techniques and image guided interventions of neurovascular disorders such as intracranial aneurysms and stroke. Further research includes the generation of in silico models for the pathophysiology and treatment of acute ischemic stroke applied to virtual populations of stroke patients with the goal to create a full in silico stroke trial platform. .
  • Neuropsychotropic: Prof. L. Reneman, MD, PhD To develop and apply state of the art imaging techniques to investigate effects of drugs on the human brain and its development. Long-term ambitions and goals are to investigate the neuropharmacological basis for psychiatric diseases in childhood and adolescence, and, ultimately, to predict treatment outcome – using a multidisciplinary approach.

Other research
Further research is concentrated on:

  • Cardiovascular: R.N. Planken, MD, PhDResearch is aimed at development, clinical implementation and evaluation of imaging techniques and image guidance for interventions in cardiovascular diseases; heart valve disease, coronary artery disease, aortic disease and congenital heart disease.
  • Cardiovascular: Prof. J.A. Reekers, MD, PhD Research is aimed at treatment of patients with critical limb ischemia, quality of life after treatment and new interventional procedures and implementation of these procedures in routine practice (embolization in patients with symptomatic uterine fibroids).
  • Image analysis from 3D and 4D medical images: G.J. Streekstra, PhD Research is devoted to development of new image formation methods and associated image analysis from 3D and 4D medical images.
  • Gastrointestinal imaging: evidence based radiology: Shandra Bipat, PhD Evaluation of imaging techniques for diagnosis and staging of gastro-intestinal diseases by analyzing primary findings and by summarizing the evidence (systematic reviews and meta-analysis). The results of these reviews and meta-analyses serve as the cornerstone for the development of guidelines.