News

These shoes are made for falling

…And that’s just what they do. No, it’s not a bad cover version of Nancy Sinatra’s sixties hit. It’s the conclusion of researchers at Delft’s faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (IDE) who have been investigating the suitability of shoes for the elderly. When it comes to shoes, it’s never been a case of one size fits all. Yet the researchers argue that it’s not just shoe size that matters, but the shape of footwear – especially in the over 65 age bracket. Well-fitting and correctly-shaped shoes can improve balance, stability, comfort and safety.

A beautiful alarm beside your hospital bed

In hospitals, sounds, beeps and other noises constantly tell staff and patients what’s going on; up to 700 alarm signals a day, or once every two minutes. But only about 2% of these signals require actual attention or direct action. This can lead to'‘alarm fatigue'. How do we solve this?

Delft sensors monitor performance in wheelchair sports

Rienk van der Slikke has developed a technique to monitor individual wheelchair mobility performance using small sensors. On Friday 25 May, he will be awarded his PhD at TU Delft for his work on the subject.

The TU Delft spin-off NightBalance acquired by Philips

Philips has acquired NightBalance, the Delft University of Technology spin-off company that has developed a ‘Sleep Position Trainer’, to treat positional obstructive sleep apnea and positional snoring. Founder and CEO Eline Vrijland-Van Beest is thrilled that her company will be joining Philips. “Together, we will develop innovative solutions that help people around the world sleep better at night.”

Royal honours for three TU Delft professors

TU Delft professors Isabel Arends, Jenny Dankelman and Andy van den Dobbelsteen each received a royal honour this year.

Gerwin Smit nominated biggest scientific talent 2018

Dr.ir. Gerwin Smit from Biomechanical Engineering, 3mE faculty, TU Delft, has been nominated by New Scientist for the title of biggest scientific talent in the Netherlands and Flanders.

Researchers build DNA replication in a model synthetic cell

Researchers at Delft University of Technology, in collaboration with colleagues at the Autonomous University of Madrid, have created an artificial DNA blueprint for the replication of DNA in a cell-like structure.

NWO grant of €17 million for the development of electron microscopy in the Netherlands

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded a grant of more than 17 million euros for the further development of the Netherlands Electron Microscopy Infrastructure (NEMI). The network consists of five university medical centres and eight universities, with Utrecht as the coordinating university. The grant will enable the scientists to combine various technologies in the field of electron microscopy and as a result to learn more about the composition and coherence of the biological and material micro-world.

'Paternal’ and ‘maternal’ DNA in fungi active at different times

Many types of mushroom have two different nuclei in their cells, one from the ‘father’ and another from the ‘mother’. Researchers at the universities of Delft, Utrecht and Wageningen have discovered that the genes from the parental DNAs are expressed at different times in mushroom development. “This means that when genes involved in mushroom formation are identified, we first need to find out whether the paternal or maternal nucleus is active,” says TU Delft doctoral candidate Thies Gehrmann.
The research results were published in the journal PNAS on 11 April 2018.

Access to surgery for everyone

Jenny Dankelman, full professor of biomechanical engineering, has received €120,000 from the Delft University Fund for her research project ‘Let’s make surgery safer and available for everyone’.

Designing and testing medical instruments without expensive prototypes

Complex new medical instruments often do not make it beyond the expensive and time-consuming prototype phase. With this in mind, Ewout Arkenbout developed a new, virtual development method allowing for instruments to be evaluated and adjusted at an earlier stage. On Monday 12 February, Arkenbout will be awarded his PhD at TU Delft for his work on this subject.

Signifant funding for smart & cheaper medical devices

Jenny Dankelman, full professor of minimally invasive surgery and interventional techniques, and Tim Horeman, assistant professor of sustainable surgery at the Department of BioMechanical Engineering, will receive significant funding from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (NWO/ZonMw) for their research initiative entitled ‘SMART Surgical system: High-quality medical devices making minimally invasive surgery applicable to low-resource settings’.

TU Delft develops virtual coach for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder

In the future, a virtual coach could make a positive contribution to the therapy of people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as war veterans or people who suffered sexual abuse in their youth. Such a coach could motivate people to persist with therapy and help them to recall traumatic memories as part of exposure therapy. The virtual coach was developed by Myrthe Tielman, who will be awarded her PhD at TU Delft on Thursday, 25 January.

Building ‘scaled-down synchrotron’ begun

Detecting a hidden layer in a top work of art by Rembrandt, identifying metal fatigue in ships, predicting arteriosclerosis: these are just a few of the possible applications of Smart*Light, a synchrotron that fits on a table. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology and Delft University of Technology will build and develop this X-ray source within a consortium of other universities and companies. The high-intensity X-ray beam that this device will produce is now only available via large, expensive and scarce facilities. A symposium on Tuesday 23 January gets the research project officially under way.

People are the key to success in the operating theatre

Professor Jack Jakimowicz will be bidding farewell to the IDE faculty in November, where he has been professor of Safety in Healthcare since 2007. His association with TU Delft goes back much further, however. In the 1990s, he already worked with engineers and researchers on improving the instruments and safety of minimally invasive surgery as a surgeon at the Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven.

'A conversation about informal care always feels premature, until it is too late...'

'You think to yourself: we'll do that over the Christmas holidays, or on a rainy day. Inevitably, however, you end up too busy doing other things.' Talking to your parents in a timely manner about their care situation in the future is very difficult. But it is important, as a lot of things can come at the same time when parents suddenly need care. Researcher Eefje Ernst designed and tested a method that helps families and informal caregivers on this front.

Supporting heart patients with sensors and data

The idea of setting up a research program with Philips Design and the Hartstichting (Dutch Heart Foundation) to improve efficiency in care and prevention for patients with cardiovascular disease began just over two years ago. Last summer the ‘CardioLab’ was launched. Maaike Kleinsmann is director and lead researcher at the lab. Her goals with Cardiolab are ambitious.