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TU Delft launches Tech for Health

Today, TU Delft launches Tech for Health | Better healthcare thanks to Delft technology. The university is shining a spotlight on its research innovations that contribute to the improvement of healthcare, especially in countries like The Netherlands.

Measuring system using laser beams and helium bubbles helps top skaters go for gold

TU Delft, NOC*NSF, KNSB and Innovation Lab Thialf have been using the Ring of Fire measuring system to analyse top Dutch speed skaters. The measuring system was used last week in Heerenveen to measure and visualise the air resistance around a moving skater.

Windsurfing virus particles can bridge 1.5 metres

Can a light breeze nullify the 1.5-metre measure indoors? It looks like it could, says Saša Kenjereš (Chemical Engineering) in a new article in Annals of Biomedical Engineering. He modeled the way virus particles leave a talking person's mouth, as well as how far particles can travel in both quiescent and moving air. In doing so, he found that a virus can surf along on a slight tailwind and thus travel much farther than in an environment in which the air is completely still. In a room with stationary air, 1.5 metres seems to be a safe distance. But a barely perceptible breeze allows virus particles to bridge such a gap with relative ease.

Breathing (more) easily through aerospace engineering

A team of researchers, led by Prof. Leroux at ETH Zürich, have developed a new personalized biodegradable 3D printed stent for the windpipe. The scientific publication of the group, including researcher Kunal Masania of the faculty of Aerospace Engineering TU Delft, is published today in Science Advances.

New Medical Delta program AI for Computational Life Sciences accelerates and improves drug development

Medical Delta will start its fifteenth scientific program this month: Medical Delta AI for Computational Life Sciences. The program combines Artificial Intelligence (AI), bioinformatics and life sciences. It bridges scientific research to drug development and clinical usage for different diseases and disorders, including tuberculosis and brain disorders.

New Medical Delta program AI for Computational Life Sciences accelerates and improves drug development

Medical Delta will start its fifteenth scientific program this month: Medical Delta AI for Computational Life Sciences. The program combines Artificial Intelligence (AI), bioinformatics and life sciences. It bridges scientific research to drug development and clinical usage for different diseases and disorders, including tuberculosis and brain disorders.

Delft researchers build artificial chromosome

Biotechnologists at Delft University of Technology have built an artificial chromosome in yeast. The chromosome can exist alongside the natural yeast chromosomes, and serves as a platform to safely and easily add new functions to the micro-organism. Researchers can use the artificial chromosome to convert yeast cells into living factories capable of producing useful chemicals and even medicines.

The Dutch are in favour of the introduction of a vaccination certificate as a reward

For us to be able to get Covid-19 under control, approximately 70% of the Dutch population would need to be vaccinated. There is considerable support among the Dutch population for the introduction of a vaccination certificate to encourage people to have themselves vaccinated. A vaccination certificate would offer people who have been vaccinated more freedom, for example to keep up their usual activities during an outbreak or to attend events at which maintaining a distance of 1.5m between people is not possible. This has become apparent from representative research among 1,640 Dutch people that was conducted by researchers from TU Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam, RIVM, Maastricht University and Roskilde University.

Delft researchers chart the potential risks of 'free-floating DNA'

We don’t realize it, but loose strands of DNA end up in nature via our wastewater. As of yet, it is unclear how much this 'free-floating DNA' impacts environmental and public health. Researchers at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) have now found a way to determine just how much potentially harmful DNA ends up in our wastewater. They have developed a method that can isolate such ‘free floating DNA’ from wastewater, which gives them the means to determine the extent of the problem. The results of their work will officially be printed in Water Research in February 2021, but have already been pre-published online.

TU Delft software for determining contagion risk for specific locations

TU Delft professor of aerodynamics Fulvio Scarano, together with fluid mechanics expert Lorenzo Botto and simulation expert Wouter van den Bos, has developed software to calculate the risk of Covid-19 contagion at specific locations. The model virtually places a sick person in the space in question and simulates how quickly virus particles spread. The TU Delft researchers hope that designers will use the software to make predictions for determining whether an aircraft, classroom or restaurant, for example, is safe. The plug-in will probably become available in February.

Delft researchers develop blood oxygenation sensor for premature babies

Doctors have to keep a close eye on babies that are born prematurely, and brain oxygenation is perhaps the most important thing to monitor. Up to 50 percent of premature babies suffer brain damage, leading to neurological problems. Researchers at Delft University of Technology have now developed a wireless sensor that monitors the health of the baby's brain in a simple, inexpensive and comfortable way for the child.

Researchers peer deep inside tissue

One of the challenges in optical imaging is imaging the inside of tissue in high resolution. Traditional methods allow us to look to a depth of approximately one millimetre. Researchers at Delft University of Technology have now developed a new method that can penetrate up to four times as deep: up to around four millimetres. The healthcare sector in particular may benefit from the new technique in the future.

From imaging to analysing: how Delmic’s new FAST-EM system is changing electron microscopy

Delmic is launching an automated ultra-fast system, FAST-EM, which uses 64 electron beams. Reliable and extremely fast, FAST-EM is aimed at imaging biological samples without the need to constantly babysit the machine.

TU Delft start-up develops ‘living coffin’

The TU Delft student start-up Loop has developed a living coffin made from mycelium. The Living Cocoon helps the body to ‘compost’ more efficiently, removes toxic substances and produces richer conditions in which to grow (new) trees and plants.

First Clinical Technology Master's students graduate in the LDE context

To bridge the ever-widening gap between technological innovation and medicine, the new Clinical Technology programme within the LDE alliance was launched six years ago.

Charting the way to minimal cells

Ironically, the closer we get to building a living cell, the less we are able to understand it. During the three-day virtual workshop “Reconstituting biology - charting the way to minimal cells”, cell-building researchers agreed this complexity is what makes cells so interesting.

A breakthrough in 3D printing

Although 3D printing may sound futuristic and creative, results so far have often been rather recti-linear. Chengkai Dai just obtained his PhD at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at TU Delft for his work on a new method of 3D printing, which might just become the standard practice.

Spinoza Prize for Nynke Dekker

NWO has announced that TU Delft's Nynke Dekker has been awarded an NWO Spinoza Prize. The Spinoza and Stevin Prizes are the most prestigious awards in Dutch science. Besides Nynke Dekker, prizes were also awarded to prof. dr. ir. Jan van Hest (TUE), prof. dr. Pauline Kleingeld (RUG) and prof. dr. Sjaak Neefjes (LUMC/UL). Prof. dr. Linda Steg (RUG) en prof. dr. Ton Schumacher (AVL/LUMC/UL) have been awarded a Stevinprize. Each of the laureates will receive 2.5 million euros to spend on scientific research and related activities.

Impulse health & technology research with nine new Medical Delta professors

Nine professors are now allowed to call themselves ‘Medical Delta professors’. They received a dual appointment at two or more academic institutions (LUMC, Leiden University, TU Delft, Erasmus MC, Erasmus University) that are affiliated with Medical Delta. This will boost health & technology research once again.

TU Delft launches first eight TU Delft AI Labs

How can artificial intelligence (AI) accelerate scientific progress? Delft scientists will investigate this question in eight new 'TU Delft AI Labs'.
Maakt wandelen en fietsen je gelukkig en gezond?

Can walking and cycling make us healthy and happy?

Do walking and cycling make people healthier, or are healthier people more inclined to travel actively? And how does the coronavirus affect our travel behaviour? These are the kinds of questions that scientist Maarten Kroesen is investigating. In his view, situations are often not as simple as they might seem at first glance. He is nevertheless convinced of one thing: we should be walking and cycling more.

How copper can damage a cell

Copper is important for many processes in our body. Among other things, it supports the production of red blood cells, metabolism, and the formation of connective tissue and bones. Copper is also known to play a role in diseases such as cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately, we do not yet know exactly what that role entails. Researchers from Delft University of Technology and the Polish Academy of Sciences have now discovered a new piece of the puzzle. In order to be able to do its work, copper binds to different types of proteins in the cell. And although the complexes that are formed in this process are not harmful in themselves, temporary 'intermediate forms' appear to arise during the binding, which can lead to damage to the cell. The results of the research have been published in Angewandte Chemie.

Talking the walk: tailored healthcare

Hospitals want happy and satisfied patients. And they need them, because healthcare is a competitive market. Especially when it comes to non-life threatening procedures, public hospitals face serious competition from private clinics, where there is an increasing focus on the patient experience, or the ‘patient journey’ as it is called. But how do you create the right patient experience and good, manageable tailored care? Bob Groeneveld researched this question using one common procedure as an example: a total hip replacement.

Making yeast dizzy to learn more about our own traits

What can yeast teach us about ourselves? Quite a lot, says Werner Daalman, a PhD-candidate in the group of Liedewij Laan who is defending his thesis on Wednesday 13 May. Daalman has studied how baker’s yeast decides in which direction to grow. It turns out that random differences in the quantity of the proteins involved in cell growth play a key role in this process. Such random variations in protein quantity are likely to be an important factor in other cellular processes as well. Not only in yeast, but also in human cells.

Smart optics against smart parasites

This Wednesday May 6th, Tepitome ‘Tope’ Agbana successfully defended his PhD on ‘Smart Optics Against Smart Parasites’, at Delft University of Technology (3ME faculty). The defence took place at the Senate room of the Aula while four other committee members joined via Skype . Agbana’s research concerns the early detection of malaria, which is the leading cause of death among pregnant women and young children: 11% of maternal and 20% of under–five deaths are attributed to malaria every year.