The project PeTRUS led by Srirang Manohar, with Jeroen Veltman, Erik Koffijberg (HTSR) and Seno Medical Instruments (Tx, USA) has been granted as a public-private project with Holland High Tech, the High-Tech Systems and Materials top sector (TKI HTSM).
Diagnosis of prostate cancer involves transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided biopsy, based on abnormal digital rectal palpation or elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. However, despite being the gold standard, TRUS-guided biopsy can miss up to 47% of tumours and under-diagnose up to 38%. Furthermore, the untargeted sampling method leads to the detection of low-risk tumours that may not be harmful, resulting in over-diagnosis, unnecessary surveillance and over-treatment.
The key scientific objective of PeTRUS is to optimize and enable photoacoustic-enriched Transrectal Ultrasound (TRUS). Photoacoustics can visualize blood vessels and measure blood oxygen saturation (sO2). This is relevant because higher vascularity and lower sO2 are important functional biomarkers in malignancies. The technical goal is to optimize the diagnostic capabilities of the hybrid modality in an endorectal probe under development by Seno Medical and investigate how the technology can be brought into clinical practice and society. The integrated feature set of PeTRUS will provide a real-time map of ROIs in the gland for a targeted biopsy that can potentially become the new gold standard.
Vacancies: We are looking for a PhD position to start by 1 January 2024:
You have a Master degree in Biomedical Engineering or Applied Physics. You have experience or interest in imaging and materials as in those used to make phantoms. The work is largely experimental. Take contact with s.manohar@utwente.nl.
