Radboud University Medical Center
The department of medical imaging of the Radboudumc is a leader in Europe in the field of patient-oriented technology for imaging diagnostics and image-guided therapy. We want to ensure that these developments are also applied in practice to ensure a “significant impact on healthcare.” To this end, the department has made a number of strategic choices and developed a vision for the future based on linking a broad palette of fundamental research to a limited number of clinical spearheads.
As Radboudumc, we want to be ahead of the curve in the formation of sustainable, innovative and affordable health care.” To make this a reality, as an imaging department we are developing concepts for a radical renewal of oncological care in our spearheads of breast, prostate, lung and pancreatic cancer. The choices are based on our inherent strengths and track record in these areas, but especially on the potential impact on care: Together, these 4 cancers cause 40% of cancer-associated DALYs (disability adjusted life years) in the EU. We focus on early detection and early, minimally invasive treatment (breast, prostate, lung) but also when extensive treatment is no longer useful (pancreas).
Here, our goal is to live up to the quadruple aim. In breast cancer, we are the furthest along: personalization of the screening policy and introduction of MRI in high-risk women will detect tumors earlier and more reliably, prevent lymphatic metastasis and create opportunities for earlier, minimally invasive therapy with less cost and fewer side effects. As a result, we believe we can dramatically improve outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, reduce the psychological burden on patients, and increase the job satisfaction of the healthcare professionals involved.
Role in the project
The department of medical imaging of the Radboudumc thus brings extensive knowledge in breast cancer screening, AI development and clinical implementation and is involved in the direct tasks of the project. Due to the focus on other cancers too, Radboudumc will play a pivotal role in the further use of the swarm network, leading the marketplace of ideas in WP 6.
Ritse Mann
Ritse Mann is breast and interventional radiologist at the Radboudumc in Nijmegen and the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam. He leads the Breast Imaging Group, performing research at both institutions. Topics within BIG span across the breast imaging domain, from AI development for various imaging modalities to clinical implementation and evaluation of psychosocial effects of new imaging paradigms. He is member of the executive board of the European society of breast imaging (EUSOBI) since 2015, current chairperson of the scientific committee and chair of the program planning committee of its annual meeting. He is associate editor for breast imaging of Radiology and advisory editorial board member to European radiology and its sub journals.
Tianyu Zhang
Tianyu Zhang was born and raised in China. After graduating from South China University of Technology as a graduate student in 2019, he began to study for a doctorate at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. He is currently engaged in scientific research in Regina Beets-Tan’s group in the Radiology Department of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, and Ritse Mann’s Breast Imaging Group (BIG) in RadboudUMC. His research focuses on machine learning and deep learning on breast imaging, and the development and evaluation of artificial intelligence for breast cancer diagnosis using multimodal data. His current projects include predicting molecular subtypes of breast cancer using multimodal data (mammography, ultrasound, MRI) based on deep learning, processing unstructured electronic health records and providing decision support based on natural language processing models, synthesis of missing MRI sequences based on generative adversarial models, prediction of breast cancer response to therapy based on radiomics, etc. In early 2023, under the leadership of Ritse Mann, he participated in the ODELIA project as a postdoctoral fellow.
Wendelien Sanderink
Wendelien Sanderink is a post-doctoral researcher at the Breast Imaging Group. Her research mainly focuses on minimally invasive treatment of breast cancers. Wendelien studied Technical Medicine at the University of Twente in Enschede with a Master in Medical Imaging & Interventions. In April 2016, she started her PhD on the project “Minimal invasive breast cancer excision using the breast lesion excision system under ultrasound guidance”. In 2021, she obtained her PhD degree on “Detection and minimally invasive treatment of small breast cancers”. In January 2020 she continued her work on the follow-up project “Minimally invasive breast cancer excision using vacuum-assisted biopsy under ultrasound guidance (MINIVAB)”. In early 2023, under the leadership of Ritse Mann, she participated in the ODELIA project as a postdoctoral fellow.
Nika Rasoolzadeh
Nika Rasoolzadeh completed her bachelor’s degree in the Electrical and Electronics Engineering department of Middle East Technical University. She pursued her master’s studies in the Institute of Applied Mathematics, focusing on ECG Imaging for the analysis of clinical electrocardiographic data.
In January 2024, she joined the Breast Imaging Group (BIG) at RadboudUMC to start her Ph.D. studies under the supervision of Dr. Ritse Mann. Her research interests revolve around medical data analysis, particularly through the application of machine learning methodologies. She participates in the ODELIA project as a Ph.D. candidate.