Rik Vos

Rik Vos studied Applied Physics at Delft University of Technology and obtained his PhD degree with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Erasmus MC in 2010. He worked at the University of Florence, Italy, on medical ultrasound contrast agents, and he has worked for several years at TNO in R&D on industrial ultrasonic solutions. Currently he is assistant professor with Erasmus MC in high frame rate echographic imaging of the heart and blood vessels. He recently received a Dutch NWO-TTW-VIDI personal grant for a novel 3-D echocardiographic system that includes echo probe developments, 2-D and 3-D fast framing imaging, and physiological and clinical data interpretation.

Heart failure in slow motion
A decreasing heart function is increasingly common in the ageing population, yet difficult to diagnose in early stage. We develop novel high frame rate echography to analyse, in slow motion, minute details of cardiac motion and blood flow, which are indicative of cardiac function. In our studies we develop and validate the methodology using both research scanners and custom-programmed clinical machines. Thus we can distinguish between healthy and fibrotic hearts, and systolic or diastolic dysfunction. As a next step, we explore the use of the methodology in clinical practice. This work is supported by the public-private partnership between Hartstichting and NWO-STW through their call ‘earlier recognition of cardiovascular diseases’