PhD in Contrast Ultrasound Imaging of Nanobubbles Cancer Diagnostics

PhD in Contrast Ultrasound Imaging of Nanobubbles for Cancer Diagnostics

Organisatie:
Department of Electrical Engineering

Want to help replace painful prostate biopsies with smarter ultrasound? Join MOMENTUM, an NWO-funded project developing nanobubble-enhanced ultrasound imaging for cancer diagnostics, and design the pharmacokinetic models and signal analysis methods that turn nanobubble transport into a diagnostic biomarker.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the Netherlands, and its diagnosis still relies heavily on invasive biopsies. More accurate, noninvasive ultrasound imaging could reduce this burden considerably, but current contrast agents cannot fully capture the abnormal blood vessels that feed a tumor. Nanobubbles, a new generation of ultrasound contrast agent far smaller than those used today, promise to change that by reaching into the tumor tissue itself.

We are looking for a motivated PhD candidate to develop the modeling and signal analysis methods that turn nanobubble ultrasound imaging into a quantitative diagnostic tool. You will work with imaging data acquired from lab-grown vascular models and translate the changes they show over time into pharmacokinetic and spatiotemporal models that describe how nanobubbles move through and beyond the microvasculature. The resulting parameters are candidate biomarkers for tumor angiogenesis, with prostate cancer as the initial clinical focus.

This PhD position is part of MOMENTUM, a project funded by the NWO Open Technology Programme that combines microfluidics, bubble physics, and ultrasound signal processing to bring nanobubble imaging closer to clinical use. You will collaborate closely with a fellow PhD candidate, a postdoc, and a technician working on the other parts of the project at TU/e and the University of Twente, as well as with industrial and clinical partners including Bracco, Angiogenesis Analytics, and the Amsterdam UMC.

This position will be embedded in the Biomedical Diagnostics (BM/d) lab (Signal Processing Systems group, Department of Electrical Engineering, TU/e), and you will be supervised daily by dr. Simona Turco (s.turco ), together with prof. Massimo Mischi.

• A master's degree (or an equivalent university degree) in Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field.
• Strong background in signal processing, statistical or kinetic modeling, and quantitative data analysis.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as MATLAB and Python.
• A research-oriented attitude, analytical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team and interest in collaborating with industrial and clinical partners.
• Strong interest in medical ultrasound imaging and cancer diagnostics.
• Fluent in spoken and written English (C1 level).

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station.

In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate assessment after nine months. You will spend a minimum of 10% of your four-year employment on teaching tasks, with a maximum of 15% per year of your employment.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities , scale P (min. € 3,204 - max. € 4,051 gross base salary per month (full-time)).
• In addition to your base salary, you will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus, both calculated based on your annual gross…