Stefan van der Stel

In 2020, I obtained my Master degrees in Medicine and Biomedical Sciences from Universiteit Leiden. With technical advancements in the medical field, cancer treatment has improved manifolds impacting patient’s lives in positive ways. Prior experiences in clinical and technological research in addition to my current PhD position with Ruer’s group allow me to closely collaborate with medical specialists in the operating room and technical specialists of large companies. This enables the development of devices based on the requirement of surgeons using latest technology.

My research consists of two projects. The first project is focusing on the implementation of photoplethysmography imaging (iPPG) for intraoperative assessment of perfusion in intestinal and Commando (head and neck) surgeries. The aim is to detect areas which are inadequately perfused during surgery that can lead to poor healing of tissues postoperatively and thus turn into complications. The second project focusses on using high resolution optical imaging to detect microcalcifications in resection margins after breast conserving surgery (BCS). Given the fact that microcalcifications reside in or in close proximity of the tumor, detecting these calcifications in the resection margins will aid in providing real-time feedback to the surgeon whether the resection margins are tumor-free. This will help in achieving a balance in adequate oncological surgery and cosmetic outcomes.