CHDR has been ahead of the curve in human drug research for years. Their innovative measurement methods and biomarkers help spot early signs of whether a new drug has potential. And everything they earn goes straight back into better research, all with one goal: improving patient care. Since October 2025, this collaboration has a permanent home in Enschede. At the hospital, science, technology and clinical practice come together—literally. Professor Jan Buitenweg and Professor and neurologist Michel van Putten provide objective measurements and analyses that are key to testing new treatments—like medications—long before they hit the market.
The ‘Bike test of Pain'
Professor of Biomedical Signals and Systems Jan Buitenweg is tackling one of healthcare’s most complex challenges: chronic pain. How can the pain system be measured objectively, without interference from mood or context? Chronic pain affects millions, while developing new medications often takes 10–15 years and costs billions. If efficacy and safety can be assessed early, it saves time, money, and unnecessary risks for patients. This is why Buitenweg collaborates with the CHDR. “Because CHDR reinvests its profits into research, success feeds back into the system: better measurement, better testing, better care,” he explains.
His team employs selective stimuli and advanced analyses to understand how the nervous system processes pain. In phase 1 studies, they introduce controlled ‘challenges’: healthy volunteers are temporarily and safely made more sensitive to pain. “Think of it as the pain bicycle test,” Buitenweg says. “Just as cardiologists provoke heart issues to measure them, we briefly challenge the pain system—to then observe whether a drug normalises it.” The outcome? Earlier insight into efficacy and side effects. For pharmaceutical companies: removing low-potential drugs from the development pipeline before the most expensive stages. For patients: faster access to safe and affordable pain relief.
Measuring what medicines truly do
“We do not primarily conduct drug research,” explains neurologist and professor Michel van Putten. “Our added value lies in reliably measuring the effects of medicines on the brain and muscles.” His team uses tools such as EEG—a highly sensitive instrument—sometimes combined with magnetic stimulation of the cerebral cortex. Through advanced signal analysis, computational modelling, and system identification, they investigate how EEG changes correlate with shifts in brain networks. These may reflect desired effects, such as seizure suppression, or unwanted side effects, like disrupted sleep. Translating brain activity into physiological and biological parameters offers deep insight into how drugs influence brain function.
This blend of clinical expertise and technical depth is characteristically Twents. While pharmacologists focus on concentrations and clearance, the University of Twente provides the readouts: intelligent measurement and analysis methods that reveal how a drug affects brain function or sleep architecture. “That is knowledge the CHDR does not possess, and why they collaborate with us,” says Van Putten.
Students and drug research
Both Van Putten and Jan Buitenweg actively involve master’s students in their research. These students often spend 7 to 9 months as part of the research team, both at the University of Twente and in clinical settings. They work with real research data: learning to detect measurement artefacts, developing analysis methods, and validating their findings in practice at MST or CHDR. This combination of fundamental scientific challenges and societal relevance inspires students—and makes UT alumni highly sought-after professionals.
For students in Biomedical Engineering, (Technical) Medicine, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, Data Science, and even Industrial Design and Creative Technology, this field offers a wealth of opportunities. From designing electrodes and exploring sustainable materials (to reduce disposables), to enhancing user experience—such as making long tests more tolerable or faster—there is room for innovation across disciplines. “This is challenge-based learning in a real clinical context,” says Jan Buitenweg enthusiastically.
