UTFacultiesTNWNewsTjitske Bannink wins the Vooijs Award

Tjitske Bannink wins the Vooijs Award

Tjitske Bannink has won the Prof. Dr. G.P. Vooijs Award for her thesis "Implementation of 3D technologies in the anaplastology workflow." This award is given to the most clinically relevant graduation research from the Technical Medicine program in the Netherlands. During the 2022 Technical Innovation in Medicine conference, she received the Vooijs Award 2020-2021, which comes with a prize of 1,000 euros.

Tjitske Bannink won the award for her Master's degree in research from the Technical Medicine program at the University of Twente. Her research aimed to improve the process of making face prosthetics for people with facial defects, such as those caused by a surgical operation that removed part or all of the nose or ear due to cancer. Patients can experience significant functional and psychological issues which can be reduced by a proper prosthetic. The process of wound healing and manual creation of the prosthetic can be complex and time-consuming, often taking up to 6 months. Such a long waiting period can have a significant impact on the quality of life of these patients.

Tjitske Bannink worked on developing new computer-controlled and automated methods for designing and creating face prosthetics to improve this process. Prof. Vooijs says, "Tjitske Bannink's research is a beautiful example of using technology for concrete clinical questions. Tjitske has designed highly innovative and creative solutions in a traditionally craft-based world." The results of her research are now being applied in clinics. She made it possible for patients to receive a temporary prosthetic immediately after nose surgery. Tjitske's research was conducted at the head and neck oncology and surgery department of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek.

PROF. DR. G.P. VOOIJS AWARD

The award is named after Prof. Dr. G.P. Vooijs and was awarded for the ninth time. Peter Vooijs was affiliated with the University of Twente as the Medical Director of the MIRA research institute and as the scientific director of the Technical Medicine program. Through his emphasis on conducting scientific clinical research and his intensive guidance of clinical internships, he laid the foundation for the clinical relevance of the Technical Medicine programme in medical practice. This year, there were eight Technical Medicine alumni nominated for the award. The jury then selected the three best candidates from this group. In addition to Tjitske Bannink, these were Nadine Corens and Kevin Groot Lipman.