Themes

The Delft Health Initiative focuses on three research themes

Medical imaging and image processing

Enhancing and combining physical imaging technologies such as MRI, CT, PET, SPECT and ultrasound permits the extraction of anatomical and functional information leading to better diagnoses. Early and differential diagnosis increases the effectiveness and safety of treatment. Techniques that can visualize individual living cells – and even the molecules in those cells – reveal the mechanisms behind the development of diseases. Tracers that attach to tumour cells make them easier to see, so the surgeon knows precisely where to operate. Image processing technologies also assist surgeons while the operation is in progress, displaying the operating area with great precision using minuscule cameras.

Cure and care technology

Minimally invasive surgery and automated monitoring systems relieve the workload of medical staff and increase patient compliance. They provide patients with more freedom of choice and make them more self-reliant. How? A keyhole operation causes far less damage to the patient than a conventional operation which substantially shortens the recovery time and therefore the length of hospital stays. Autonomous robots or steerable instruments navigate in and around the body under full control. Biosensors carry out measurements in the body and sound the alarm if there is a bacterial infection that could endanger the patient. Advanced models from cellular to organ level provide additional information that makes diagnoses more accurate. Anonymised images from smart cameras in patients’ homes facilitate monitoring of and warrant patient safety during the recovery process. Hazardous situations are detected at an early stage so paramedics can arrive on the scene sooner in an emergency.

Targeted molecular technology

An understanding of how diseases develop down to the molecular level will enable drugs to be tailor-made with the result that therapies will become more effective. TU Delft is developing fast microscopic and spectroscopic technologies to study individual molecules and how they interact. We are using modern bioinformatics to develop algorithms that will give us an understanding of the contribution that molecules, cells and organs make to physical function – and sometimes dysfunction.

Special target-seeking molecules are being developed that will enable
radioactive substances to be targeted at tumours precisely, thus reducing or even completely avoiding damage to the surrounding tissue.

Modern image processing technologies not only provide detailed pictures of organs and how they are functioning; by quantifying anatomical structures and function, they can also reveal aberrations.